Page 57 of Widow's Walk

Betrayal. It ripples through me like fire in my veins.

Dario is the only one to speak. He doesn’t object. He explains it will have to be further discussed.

Discussed.

Whether I live or die will be a simple matter of discussion.

But I know they won’t refuse their offer. Why would they? If they don’t take the deal, someone else will. And the outcome will remain the same.

I’ll be left with no family, making me useless. Then I’ll end up tossed onto the heap of corpses of my kin or cast aside like trash.

Either way?

Fuck. That.

It’s finally time for me to take possession of my own life.

Chapter twenty-two

Blackwell

I’ve been sitting here silently seething as every moment passes.

To walk in here anddemandthat I marry their daughter when I already have a fiancée. I agree that the Ortizs should be erased, their legacy burned to ash. They’re weak. Corroded. Dangerous in the stupidest, sloppiest ways. But Sinclair isnot them, only in name. And without the name, the marriage is no longer profitable.

But the idea of replacing her, discarding her like it means nothing, it’s gut-punching, hitting somewhere deep. Somewhere I don’t wish to acknowledge.

It makes it hard to breathe.

I haven’t moved a muscle since the Bozzellis left. My body locked up so tight, I know my muscles will ache tomorrow. But when my father comes back into the room after escorting our guests out, I can’t remain reticent anymore.

“I’m not doing it.”

My father sighs as he lowers himself back down behind his desk. “I don’t see any way around it, Blackwell. Refusing their offer, they would align themselves with someone else, making us their enemy.”

“How so? We could still aid them and take out the Ortizs, but is it necessary to marry his daughter?”

“You know how this works,” he says with a patronizing firmness that makes my fists twitch. “Your engagement to Sinclair was never out of affection. It was a power move.”

“And now we’re going to wipe them out. If they’re so easy to uproot from the circle, why align ourselves to begin with?” I say more vehemently than intended. Trying to come up with every reason possible to refuse it.

His face hardens in disappointment. “She was not your only option. I gave you plenty to choose from, and after dragging your feet for years, you still chose the Ortizs.”

Yes, I chose Sinclair.

Because the Ortizs were bottom of the barrel. Her father is aging out of relevance. Her brothers are arrogant, reckless, and vapid. Destined for an early grave. Their empire was a crumbling fortress I could walk into and claim without bloodshed. Little mess and no effort at all.

It was supposed to be the easiest choice.

But it’s not so simple anymore.

I knew she would be a task, but I didn’t realize she would be the entire complication. Until she became an addiction I refuse to quit.

Now, every time I earn one of those rare, genuine smiles, it feels like a prized victory. Knowing that I’m one of the very few to do so.

And when she truly laughs, the sound reverberates off the walls like a song no one dares to interrupt and miss a note. Out of admiration or fear. It’s all the same to her.

And now, when I touch her, she doesn’t flinch like she used to. That alone feels like something sacred. A privilege thatno oneelse has.

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