MEANWHILE, THE BROTHERS had continued their planning in the living room.
“Thank you for coming, brother,” Vitor said again, still amazed that his brother was home.
“I’m glad to be able to stand with you and protect your family,” Gerard replied.
“They’re your family too, you know,” Vitor pointed out.
“Perhaps.”
“She will be my wife soon and my daughter is your niece.”
“I love you, brother and I will defend them, but I won’t let myself care for them as you want me to. I’m sorry, but my caring for them will only complicate my efforts to protect them. I need to be precise and methodical. Emotion has no place in that,” he said, staring down at the map before them.
“You haven’t let yourself care for anyone new since mom and dad died, have you?” he asked, already knowing the answer to the
