Neither of them answered at first.
Then Bastion’s voice came low. “Then they face us.”
I looked between them—Luca cold, calculating, Bastion burning—and my stomach dropped.
“There’s one way to stop this,” Luca eyes didn’t leave mine. “One way to seal it so they can’t strip it from you.”
“What way?”
“Marry us.”
The words rushed through me.
“What?”
“You heard me,” Luca said, “Dynasty law is clear. The Accord belongs to your husband. Once you’re ours, they can’t touch it.”
I shook my head, fast. “That isn’t possible. My family would never?—”
“They won’t have a choice,” Bastion cut in.
I stared at him. He sounded so certain.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
“Three years,” Luca said. “Every deal we tied to an Adams ledger.”
“Every resort built with a hidden clause we controlled,” Bastion added.
“Every casino account siphoned through Crow banks. Every construction bid routed back to us.”
“Nightclubs. Logistics. Shell companies.” Luca’s added. “All of it. Woven together until Adams money was Crow money.”
My hands trembled harder. I couldn’t breathe.
“Three years,” Bastion said again, his jaw hard, his eyes burning into mine. “Every move we made was a string tied to you.”
“We built our empire into yours until your family couldn’t move without us,” Luca said. “When the time came, they’d have no choice.”
My chest seized. “You… you did what.”
Bastion hands flexed at his side. “We never let you go. We couldn’t.”
Shock rolled through me so hard I thought I’d be sick. My entire world tilted.
The silence I nearly drowned in.
They’d been pulling strings in the dark, tying me back to them while I lived like a ghost.
My vision blurred. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it had to be hidden,” Luca said, steady. “If the Adams knew, they would’ve torn you apart sooner.”
I shook my head. “You’ve—” My voice broke. “You’ve been building a cage around me.”
“No,” Bastion slid down off the couch until he was kneeling in front of me. His eyes never left mine. “Not a cage. A shield.”
I wanted to push him away. I wanted to believe him.
