Page 66 of Brutal Union
"Not anymore," I say, the truth burning my throat. "Marco signed them an hour ago. They might not hold up in court with the water damage, but they show intent. That's enough for the families."
"Just like that?" Liam can't hide his surprise. "The great Marco Rosetti let you go?"
"He got what he wanted. The alliance broken, my family destroyed." I force my voice to stay dead, emotionless, selling the deception with everything I have. "I was just collateral damage. A means to an end."
The words burn like acid because part of me wonders if they're true. Was I ever more than a conquest? More than a stolen prize to display?
"He never wanted me," I continue, each word carefully chosen to sound believable. "Just wanted to humiliate the Irish, break the alliance. Now that it's done, I'm expendable."
"And you'd marry me? After everything?"
"Better than being nobody's nothing," I say, and that at least feels true.
Liam's eyes glitter with triumph as he processes my words. Here she is, his stolen bride, the woman whose theft started a war, walking back into his hands voluntarily. The ultimate victory over Marco Rosetti.
"You're not the same woman from the altar," he observes, and there's something like respect in his voice. "That girl was terrified. You're… different."
"Marco Rosetti will do that to a person," I say, and the honesty of it makes him smile.
He returns to his chair, the leather creaking again, that sound that makes me think of different leather, different chairs, different hands on my body. "Alice goes free tonight. Untouched. With money for school. Enough to disappear completely."
"That's the deal," I state. "Take it or I walk."
He glances at Christopher, some silent communication passing between them. My skin crawls imagining what they're planning for me, but I hold my ground.
"Deal. Alice goes free tonight. Money for school, new identity if she wants it."
"I want to see her first. Say goodbye."
"Of course." His smile widens. "Can't have you thinking we're monsters."
The irony would be funny if I could feel anything beyond this yawning emptiness. We're all monsters here. The only difference is which cage I choose.
"We'll marry properly this time," he says. "No interruptions."
The door opens and they bring Alice in from wherever they've been keeping her in the compound. She's crying before she even sees me, reaching for me with desperate hands. Her dress, the same torn white nightgown from the cemetery, is muddy and ruined, her hair tangled from the struggle, but she's whole. She's alive. The strawberry shampoo she still uses is still faint behind all the mud, and I memorize the scent.
"Val!" She crashes into my arms, sobbing against my shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I said things, I didn't mean—"
"Shh." I stroke her hair, memorizing the feeling. "It's okay. You're okay."
"They said you came back. That you're staying." She pulls back to look at me, confusion and hope warring in her eyes. "But Marco—"
"Is done," I finish for her. "Listen to me, Alice. You're leaving tonight. They're giving you money, enough to start over anywhere."
"Not without you."
"Yes, without me." I frame her face with my hands, making her look at me. "This is my choice. My sacrifice. You get to be free."
Understanding dawns in her eyes, followed by horror. "No.Val, no, you can't—"
"I can and I will." I pull her close again, whispering in her ear. "Mother would want this for you. One cage or another, baby. At least this one saves you."
She's shaking her head, protesting, but I've already made my choice. Some of us are meant for cages. The lucky ones get to choose which one.
"Take the money," I tell Alice firmly. "Go to California. Study something beautiful. Fall in love with someone normal. Live the life Mother wanted for us."
"This is my fault," she sobs. "If I hadn't run—"
