Page 8 of Galen

“Galen Arrow,” Mario whispered, his voice barely audible.

The name sent a shiver down Bianca’s spine. She had heard of the Arrow brothers, of course. Everyone in the city had. They were infamous for their ruthlessness, their willingness to do whatever it took to maintain their power. And anyone who crossed them … well, they didn’t live to tell the tale.

“What have you done, Mario?” she asked, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

There was no anger in her voice now, only a deep, aching sadness. Mario’s gaze dropped to the floor, and for a long moment, he said nothing. Bianca could see the struggle on his face, the way he wrestled with his own guilt and fear. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he began to speak, his voice halting and choked with emotion.

“I … I made a mistake,” he confessed. “A big one. I was desperate, Bianca. The business … it was slipping away, and I thought I could turn things around. I thought … I thought if I made one big move, I could fix everything.”

Bianca’s heart sank as she listened to him. This was the first time she had ever heard her father speak so openly, so vulnerably. But instead of feeling sympathy, she felt a rising sense of dread.

“What did you do?” she asked again, her voice trembling.

Mario swallowed hard, his eyes filling with tears. “I … I betrayed the Arrows. I thought I could play both sides, make enough money to set us up for life. But I was wrong, Bianca. So wrong.”

The truth hit her like a punch to the gut. Her father had betrayed one of the most dangerous families in the city, and now they were both paying the price.

“Why didn’t you just stay out of it?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Why couldn’t you have just … I don’t know, retired or something? Why did you have to drag me into this?”

Mario shook his head, his expression one of utter despair. “I never wanted this for you, Bianca. I kept you out of my world for a reason. I … I thought I could protect you. But now … now it’s too late,” he whispered.

Bianca couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up, her hands shaking with a mix of fear and anger.

“You were supposed to protect me, Mario! You were supposed to be my father! But instead, you dragged me into this nightmare!”

She wanted to scream at him, to let out all the pent-up anger and frustration she had felt for years. But as she looked at him, sitting there, broken and defeated, she felt all the fight drain out of her. What was the point? Nothing she said or did would change the situation they were in.

“What’s going to happen to us?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Mario looked up at her, his eyes full of guilt and sorrow.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But whatever happens, just remember I love you, Bianca. I always have,” Mario said.

She turned away from him, unable to look at him any longer. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. Crying wouldn’t solve anything. She needed to be strong, to figure a way out of this mess. But as she stood there in the cold, sterile cell, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hopelessness wash over her.

What had she done to deserve this? All she had ever wanted was a normal life, away from the shadows of her father’s past. But now, that past had come crashing down on her, and she had no idea how to escape it.

As she sat back down, she realized that the only way out of this was through Galen Arrow. If she could somehow convince him to let her go, maybe—just maybe—she could find a way to save herself and her father.

But as she thought back to the way he had looked at her, with that dangerous mix of curiosity and desire, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him—or if she could trust herself around him.

****

I poured myself another glass of vodka and stared out the window. The city sprawled out before me, lights twinkling like a sea of artificial stars.

My apartment wasn’t the penthouse like Devlin’s, but it was high enough to offer a view most people would envy. I had chosen to keep an apartment in Arrow Tower for convenience, a place close enough to the heart of the empire my brothers and I had built, yet far enough from the rot at its core. Now, I regretted that decision. I should have bought a place in the suburbs, somewhere quiet, away from the memories that haunted me.

Not the Arrow estate, though—never the estate. That place was a mausoleum of nightmares, filled with the echoes of violence and fear. A place that had shaped me, Devlin, and Carver into the men we were today.

I took another sip, feeling the burn as the vodka slid down my throat. My thoughts kept circling back to Mario and Bianca. What the hell had I done?

Bringing them here—alive, no less—was a mistake. A colossal, uncharacteristic mistake. I should have ended it cleanly, quickly. No loose ends, no witnesses. That was how we did things, how I always did things. So why hadn’t I?

Because of her. That woman—Bianca—she had gotten under my skin. I hadn’t been thinking straight the moment I laid eyes on her. Dark hair, green eyes, curves that could drive a saint to sin.

But it wasn’t just her looks. There was something in the way she had stared me down, defiant even with a gun pointed at her father’s head. That spark of fire in her eyes had caught me off guard, and that never happened. Not to me.

A sharp knock on the door broke my reverie. I groaned, knowing who it had to be.

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