“No. I just… I left. Grabbed my bike and came here.” Blake pulled away, swiping at his eyes. “I’m sorry, Dad. I shouldn’t have provoked him. I know Mom’s happy with him, and I don’t want to mess that up.”

“Stop.” Lucius gripped Blake’s shoulders, making sure his son looked him in the eye. “You did nothing wrong. A grown man put his hands on you. That’s assault. That is unacceptable.”

What he didn’t tell his son was that Guillermo Edwards had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Because there were rules in Lucius David’s world – laws he upheld, codes he lived by. But there was one rule that superseded everything else: You don’t touch his son.The Mother’s Denial

Carmela Edwards, formerly Carmela David, was at her sister’s house when Lucius called. She’d married Guillermo because he was everything Lucius wasn’t: present, attentive, and financially stable without the constant threat of a bullet ending it all. No more 3:00 AM calls about officer-involved shootings, no more waiting up wondering if today was the day she’d become a widow.

But lately, Guillermo had been different – shorter temper, drinking more, working later hours. His relationship with Blake had deteriorated from cool to hostile.