The steering wheel was cold under my death grip. I'd been sitting in the driveway for twenty minutes, just trying to breathe, trying to convince my heart to stop feeling like it was cracking in half.
You did the right thing, Noah. The sensible thing. For Mom.
A hot tear escaped and traced a path through the grime and rain on my cheek. Damn it.
My phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with a video call. ANGELO. My middle brother, Michael Angelo—the only one of us who'd managed to escape our father's orbit by joining the military. My lifeline.
I swiped to answer, and his face filled the screen, tanned and concerned, a desert landscape behind him.
"Hey, little bug—" he started, but his smile vanished when he saw my face. "Whoa. What's wrong?"
And then the dam broke. I ugly-face sobbed, the whole story pouring out in a messy, snotty flood. Caid. The engagement. How he wouldn't beg, how I needed just one reason to blow up my life for him. How I had to be reasonable, for Mom.
"I have to find out who killed her, Angelo! This marriage is the only way I get the resources, the power to do that! It's the sensible choice!"
Angelo listened, his expression growing grimmer with each word. When I finally ran out of steam, he sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Noah," he said, his voice serious. "Out of every man on the planet, it had to be Caid Ryan Essex? He's a son of a bitch who bulldozes everything in his path."
"I know," I whimpered.
"I think you've already made your decision," he said softly. "And it's him. You're just trying to talk yourself out of it."
"No! I chose Mom! I chose the company!"
"Bullshit," Angelo fired back, blunt as always. "If it's resources you need, Caid has more ill-gotten gains than God. He could fund a hundred investigations."
"But I'd lose Mom's company! She loved it!"
"She loved you more, Noah!" His voice was sharp. "Her last act was saving you. Do you really think she'd want you to tie yourself to a monster like Kincade for the sake of a company?"
"But… she signed the marriage contract too," I whispered, my last defense crumbling.
"Yeah, she did. And we watched it eat her alive from the inside out. Don't make her mistake. Make the easy decision, bug."
And just like that, the fog cleared. The weight lifted. It was the easiest, hardest, most obvious thing in the world.
A real smile, the first in days, broke through my tears. "You're right. It is easy. I choose Caid."
I was laughing, a crazy, relieved sound, when a sharp rap on the window made me jump.
Kincade Essex stood outside, his scarred face a mask of cold fury. Before I could react, he yanked the car door open.
"Angelo, I have to—" I started, but Kincade snatched the phone from my hand.
"Hey!" I screamed.
He ended the call and tossed the phone onto the dashboard. "Shut up and listen."
"I've been waiting for that call for months, you bastard!"
"And you can wait a little longer," he hissed, leaning into the car, his presence suffocating. "Or I'll ruin you, too."
My blood ran cold.
"I know everything," he said, his voice a low, venomous whisper. "My dear brother came to me. So honorable. Confessed everything. How he slept with you. How he plans to do it again." He shook his head in mock pity. "I'm sorry you got caught up in his pathetic revenge plot against me. But I'm willing to forgive you. The wedding is still on."
My heart hammered. Caid told him? Why?
"As for Caid," Kincade continued, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "He's been… duly punished. Ostracized from the family. Cut off from the trust fund. And the deal our father made… the public acknowledgment, the legitimacy… it's gone. He's nothing again. Because of you."
The air left my lungs. I stared at him, stunned. Caid lost everything. He never said a word. He just… took it.
All the fight drained out of me, replaced by a terrible, clear certainty. "I don't want you," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "I want Caid. My body, my soul… it's his."
Kincade's smile widened, but it didn't reach his eyes. It was a predator's grin. "And Caid wants you. It's been a long time since my brother allowed himself to want something. Now that he has… it's going to be so much fun to take it from him."
"You can't make me choose you."
"Of course I can." He dropped a small black flash drive onto the passenger seat. "A preview."
He opened the door to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Noah? Your dad says hi."
The door slammed shut. My hands trembled as I grabbed my laptop from the backseat. I plugged in the drive. A video file popped up. I didn't clicked play.
Kincade tapped on my window again. I lowered it, feeling sick.
"Lose his shirt before you come inside," he commanded, his voice icy. "You reek of him." He took off his own tailored jacket and threw it onto the seat next to the flash drive. "Wear this."
He walked toward the mansion without a backward glance.
I sat there, clutching my laptop, staring at his jacket. I yank the drive out and drove the hell out of there. It was the easiest decision I made.
I chose Caid. Consequences be damned.