Chapter 3 - The Ring of the Syndicate
"Marrying... you?"
The words tasted absurd, impossible, and terrifying all at once. I pulled my face away from his touch, stepping back until the edge of the leather bookshelf pressed against my lower spine.
"You heard the man," Nolan whimpered from the floor, his voice pathetic and hollow. "Evelyn, just... just say yes. If Dominic takes over the debt, we won't end up in federal prison. We'll still have a place to live—well, whatever place he lets us keep."
I ignored my brother entirely, keeping my eyes locked on Dominic Vale. The man who had just dismantled Malcolm Pryce’s entire extortion scheme in under two minutes wasn't doing it out of charity. Men like Dominic Vale didn't save drowning kittens; they collected them.
"Why?" I asked, my voice ringing clear and steady in the quiet study. "Why would the head of the Vale syndicate care about Hart Atlantic? And why would you marry me instead of letting Pryce take the company?"
Dominic didn't blink. He closed the distance between us with slow, deliberate steps, caging me in by placing one large hand against the bookshelves right beside my head.
"Hart Atlantic owns the primary deep-water berth at the South Boston container terminal," Dominic said, his voice dropping into that deep, gravelly baritone that made the hair on my arms stand up. "Pryce wanted to use your company to launder his casino debts through international freight lines. If he had succeeded, the federal maritime commission would have seized the terminal, and my shipping routes to Europe would have been compromised for six months."
"So I'm a strategic asset," I whispered, a bitter taste rising in my mouth. "Just another piece of shipping infrastructure to secure your supply chain."
"You are a great deal more than shipping infrastructure, Evelyn," Dominic murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips before rising back to meet my eyes. "Your father and I had an understanding. Before he died, he knew Pry circling like a vulture. He asked me to protect you."
"Protect me by making me your wife?" I scoffed, though my heart was hammering a frantic, traitorous rhythm against my ribs. "That sounds less like protection and more like a hostile takeover."
"Call it whatever you like," Dominic replied, his tone hardening into absolute, unshakeable finality. "The alternative is losing everything your father built, watching your brother spend the next ten years defending wire fraud charges in federal court, and living on the street. With me, you keep the house, you keep your dignity, and you keep Hart Atlantic intact."
He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small, heavy velvet box.
He flipped it open with his thumb.
Inside lay a ring that took my breath away—not a delicate, traditional diamond meant for a society debutante, but an antique platinum band crusted with deep-blue sapphires and an old-cut diamond that looked like it belonged to European royalty.
"I don't love you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, trying to build one last wall of defense around my shattered life.
Dominic took the heavy ring from the velvet slot, his warm, calloused fingers wrapping around my left hand before I could pull away.
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"Love is a luxury for people who don't run empires, Evelyn," he said softly, sliding the heavy sapphire ring onto my fourth finger. It fit with absolute, terrifying precision.
"In my world, loyalty, silence, and survival are the only currencies that matter. And by the end of this month, you will bear my name, sit at my right hand, and learn that the cage your father built for you was nothing compared to the throne I am giving you."
