Three days away from home would always be two too many. I preferred the sce of my fortress to any five-star hotel or resort. The saying was true: there was no ce like home. As beautiful and exciting as Japan was, I couldn’t wait to get home. I think I was more excited to get home than I had been about signing my name on the dotted line at the close of the deal.

    “Arigato,” I said, shaking Hinata Iko’s hand as I stood.

    I could tell that our business rtionship would be seamless. His tech start-up had scaled to a multimillion-dor corporation over the past decade. When his file came across my desk, I was all too eager to start the merger with me taking a forty-nine percent stake, leaving him as the majority owner.

    Since most of the details had already been hashed out prior to my arrival, we were able toe to an agreement two days ahead of schedule. That wasn’t an invitation for me to stay and enjoy the country. I was going the fuck home.

    I grabbed my briefcase from the table, giving him a final nod before making my exit. I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket to check my missed calls. Somebody had been blowing me up for thest hour or more.

    Anybody who knew me, knew damn well I was out of the country on business. I didn’t take personal calls when I was doing business. Anything I couldn’t handle could be handled by my assistant or Four. Seeing that Four was actually the one who had reached out to me had my brow scrunching together in confusion.

    Once I was out of Hinata’s building, I immediately spotted the limo he’d sent to pick me up from the hotel. The driver saw meing out of the building and jumped out to open the back door for me. After sliding in the backseat, I hit Four’s name to see why the hell he’d called me three times, knowing I was in a meeting.

    “What’s good?” I asked as soon as he answered.

    “It’s Ang, man.”

    Hearing my sister’s name immediately made my heart sink. I hadn’t seen her in close to ten years, and my heart was still in tatters due to her betrayal. As much as I resented her, I didn’t want anything happening to her. My sister was my first love and had caused me more heartache than any woman I had ever known, even our alcoholic, neglectful mother.

    I groaned, mentally preparing myself for the worst. I found out the hard way that my sister was addicted to drugs after she stole from me to help finance her drug-dealing pimp of a boyfriend’s business. I gave her any and everything she could have ever wanted. I even built an entire apartment on the top floor of my house for her to live rent-free while also paying her out of the ass for being my assistant.

    The woman who helped raise me repaid me by wiping my nose and choosing another man over me. Her betrayal made me cut her off indefinitely. That didn’t mean I didn’t care about her anymore. I just didn’t have shit for her.

    “What happened?” I asked, preparing myself for the worst.

    “She’s been blowing up the business line. Her and some dude got busted.”

    “And what the fuck does she want me to do about it?”

    “You need to talk to her yourself, man. Call the number I’m sending you within the next hour.”

    “I’m not fucking calling her, man. I know damn well that’s not why you called me,” I fussed.

    “It’s not her number, man. It’s the number she gave me. I looked it up, and it’s the Department of Family and Children’s Services.”

    “What the hell do I need to call them for?”

    “I don’t know, bro. Make the call,” he told me.

    I ended the call before I said something I didn’t mean. There was no reason for me to call Ang or Children’s services. She’d made the bed, and now her ass had to lie in it. As soon as I stuffed my phone back in my pocket, it rang again. Four really pissed me off with his persistence sometimes. I snatched my phone out of my pocket and swiped the screen so I could curse his dog-ass out and let him know what I said was final.

    “Yeah!” I barked into the receiver.

    “Steel, I know you hate me, but I need you,” Ang sobbed.

    It was an ambush. It didn’t fucking matter. I wasn’t giving in to her maniption.

    “I’m not bailing you out, so why the fuck did you call me?” I asked my sister.

    “I know you don’t want anything to do with me. This isn’t about me. It’s the kids.”

    “Kids?”

    Ang had kids. I hadn’t heard a peep from her in the past eight years at least. Of course, I knew life went on but damn. My sister had kids that I knew nothing about.

    “Brother, please!”

    “What the hell do you want me to do, Angie?” I quizzed.

    “I need you to get my kids. They’re going to throw them in the system if no onees to get them.”

    “I didn’t even know you fucking had kids until two seconds ago. Now tell me again what the fuck you want me to do?” I asked her.

    “I just need you to take them to keep them from going into foster care. I may never see them again if they take them,” she cried.

    “Maybe that will be the wake-up call you need. I tried to save you, Ang. Do you remember that? Do you remember me doing everything in my power to make you happy? Do you recall how you shitted on me? Be grateful that you walked away with your life.”

    “I know you hate me, Steel. I can’t me you for that. You’re right. I’m probably getting what I deserve, but my babies don’t deserve to suffer because of my mistakes.”

    “I don’t know what to tell you, Angie. Even if I wasn’t out of the country, I don’t know shit about raising kids.”

    “Think about it, please,” she said, right before the call disconnected.

    That was fine with me. I was done talking. I was done rescuing her.

    “Take me to the airport,” I told the driver. Since my business in Japan had concluded, I was taking my ck ass home. Besides, I had to go get my wife.hr

    The nagging feeling that my sisters’ kids were somewhere in the world, scared and possibly being mistreated, ate me alive as I walked a hole in my office floor.

    “How was your flight?” Sicily, my housekeeper, asked as she stood in front of the open door.

    “Exhausting, but we closed. I will probably have to go to Cuba next week. I’ll let you know.”

    “I know you’re d to be back home. I’m not going to be in your hair. Everything is in order,” she verified.

    Sicily was the best. She understood I needed things to be a certain way at all times. Sicily knew to make sure to have fresh linen on my bed, the refrigerators in both my office and bedroom needed to be fully stocked, and, as a tradition, I usually took a long soak and rxed with a ss of bourbon and a cigar after returning home from an out-of-town business deal. She was right on time, standing at my door, waiting with my drink when I returned from Japan this morning. After a thirteen-hour flight, I needed to unwind, not to mention the disturbing call I’d gotten from my sister.

    During my flight, I sent Four an email to let him know to call and see what I needed to do to get my sister’s kids. ording to him, all I had to do was show up before close of business Monday to im my status and willingness to act as a temporary guardian.

    I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I didn’t even know how many damn children Ang had. All I knew was they didn’t deserve to be thrown to the wolves. She and I had already experienced the horrors of growing up in the foster care system. I didn’t want that for them or anyone else for that matter.

    I shrugged out of my suit jacket as I continued through the house toward my bedroom. I didn’t want to stop moving because I knew that would give me time to talk myself out of what I was about to do. There was no way I could live with myself if I abandoned those innocent children.

    My sister on the other hand could still kiss my ass.

    I still had a hard time not putting a bullet between her boyfriend’s eyes. So, the fact that he lived long enough to give her children was saying a lot. On the other hand, I had been out of touch with Ang for so long that I wasn’t even sure if she still had the same man or not. As much as I hated Rodney, I prayed that my sister didn’t throw away our rtionship over a nigga that she wasn’t even with anymore. They deserved each other.

    I dropped my jacket on the bed and removed my nine from the small of my back. I didn’t take my gun off my jet when I traveled out of the country, but I didn’t like moving around without it otherwise. It didn’t matter how far removed I was from the streets these days. They were still in me. There were still people lurking and hoping to catch me slipping. Slipping was something I didn’t do.

    After grabbing my wallet and making sure I had everything I needed, I headed back out. I had a few hours before the office was set to close. Apparently, the children had spent the night in a temporary location where I was set to meet a social worker to get them. Nothing in the world made me nervous these days, but the idea of having children in my home put me on edge.

    “Headed back out?” Sicily asked as I moved toward the front door.

    Her voice brought me back to reality. I needed to make some kind of preparations for the kids. “Uh . . . yeah. Prepare two of the bedrooms down here. My sister’s children areing to live here for a while.”

    “Your sister?”

    “Yes, Sicily,” I groaned, knowing there would be follow-up questions that I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to. She knew how I was about questions, so hopefully she would keep it brief. I was irritable enough as it was.

    “I didn’t even know you had a sister, Mr. Gray. How many will there be? Is sheing with them?”

    “I don’t know and no. Just make sure the rooms are ready for them. I’ll be back tonight sometime.”

    I had a four-hour drive ahead of me and no clue what was waiting for me when I got there.

    After a long boring drive, I pulled up to a house that looked like it had been abandoned for years. If it weren’t for the car parked in front of me and the woman standing on the porch holding a clipboard, I would have thought it was. I double checked the address to verify that I was in the right ce. ording to the message I read over three times, I was.

    I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what I walked into when I showed up at the address Four sent me. The house was small and quaint, and it wasn’t in the best neighborhood. Still, I knew those ces had to be thoroughly checked out before they were approved. That wasn’t saying much because Ang and I had lived in some of the most deplorable conditions known to man when we were in the system.

    The thought of my flesh and blood going through half of what we had to endure made me sick to my stomach. As long as I had anything to do with it, those kids would never miss a meal or have to wonder if they were safe. As long as I could help it, they would have the best of everything and be thoroughly protected.

    The foul stench of dried urine and mildew greeted me as I stepped onto the porch where the social worker stood. Apparently, my disgust was written all over my face because she immediately went into defense mode.

    “Mr. Gray, I’m sure these aren’t the ideal conditions for your loved ones, but this was the only ce we could find on such a short notice. I assure you that the children are fine.”

    “Have you been inside?” I quizzed.

    “No, sir. I just arrived.”

    “Well, how can you assure me of anything?” I asked as I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

    As if they were waiting on my arrival, someone swiftly whipped the door open. A redheaded woman who was at least sixty years old answered the door smoking a cigarette. Plucking the cigarette from her lips, I flicked it into the overgrown grass before stepping past her into the house.

    “Ms. Gale, this is Mr. Gray. He’s here to pick up the children who were ced in your custodyst night.”

    “They right there,” she announced from somewhere behind me.

    I didn’t have to look around much to find them since they were the only ck children in the room where six children were asleep on the floor. In a perfect world, I would have taken them all. This was no ce for a child or even an adult to live. So much for the social worker’s guarantee. I reached down and picked the little girl up first, cradling her in my arms before scooping up the boy.

    “Just these two?” I asked, turning to the two women.

    “Yes, only them.”

    “What are their names? I haven’t spoken to my sister in a while.”

    “King and Evie. He’s just turned four years old and she’s two.”

    “OK.”

    It didn’t matter how strong I was. I felt awkward holding the children. They were so little. It crushed me to see how dirty they were. The little girl’s clothes were soaked with urine, almost sending me into a rage. At the same time, I knew little kids peed in the bed so I couldn’t me the temporary guardian for that.

    I was just d that I was here now. As I looked between my niece and nephew, their sweet faces caused my heart to seize up in my chest. The little girl stirred in my arms, and I prayed that she didn’t wake up. I needed to get them to someone who knew what to do with them. I wasn’t qualified to care for anybody’s children. At the same time, I knew I had to be better suited to take care of them than the people in this house.

    “You’ll need to get car seats for both of them,” the social worker informed me as she followed me outside.

    “I want my mommy,” the boy said as I opened the back door of my car and put him down.

    Fuck.

    He looked so much like me when I was his age that it was scary. Even hearing him cry for his mama hit home. There were so many nights that I cried for my mama before I realized that there was no use. Hopefully that wouldn’t be my nephew’s fate.

    “Your mom wants me to take care of you until she gets back,” I said as I buckled him into the seat belt that didn’t fit his little body.

    “I know you. Your name is Uncle Steel. It’s pictures of you at my mama house.”

    Why did that cause a subtle flutter in my chest? Not only did my sister’s son know who I was, but she had pictures of me.

    “You’re right,” I confirmed with a nod.

    Before I could get too excited about him recognizing me an ear-piercing shriek caused both of us to screw our faces up. Wriggling to get out of my grasp, Evie wailed and screamed to the top of her lungs.

    “She wants my mommy,” King informed me.

    “I know, buddy,” I said, shaking my head and closing the door.

    As I walked around to the other side to put her in the car, she kicked and screamed like hell. Evie was a strong little thing. After securing her in the seat to the best of my ability, I hopped in the front seat hoping she would settle down soon.

    “Are you hungry, buddy?” I asked King, looking over my shoulder to see his face.

    “Yes,” he nodded eagerly. “I didn’t eat yesterday ’cause they got my mommy while she was cooking breakfast for me and Evie. I didn’t like those people at the jail, but they gave me a juice.”

    I was fuming. A four-year-old boy had no business at anybody’s jail. At least they were amodating to some extent. That didn’t mean I wanted him there. Knowing that they were starving had me making a beeline to the nearest drive-thru. It was lunchtime, so I grabbed kid’s meals for them and passed them over the back seat.

    “Can she feed herself?” I asked King.

    He didn’t have to answer because as I looked back at them, she was tearing into her bag and grabbing a handful of fries.

    “Yeah, she’s greedy. That’s what my mama said,” King replied.

    “I’m sure she’s hungry.”

    I considered stopping to grab car seats for the kids, but I had no idea what kind of seats to get. Plus, I didn’t want to get out of the car and leave them or take them into anybody’s store, knowing they were filthy. I was only minutes into my drive by the time I looked back and noticed that both of them were asleep. At least there was that.