Iglance down at my jacket, checking the coffee stain is covered. It is, though the wetness of my shirt clings to my chest. A reminder of the young woman who put it there.

Christ almighty. Of all the things to happen to me.

Funny how the past has a way of sneaking up on you.

In my case, I seem to be haunted by ghosts.

Elodie Harper.

Her name rings through my mind as I walk down the street, her image following just as relentlessly.

Bright green eyes. White-blonde hair. Those soft, curving lips.

Not sure how I forgot her. Or maybe, like most things from the past, I simply decided not to remember.

That’s what I’ve always done—buried what doesn’t serve me so deep it might as well never have existed.

That said, Elodie Harper looks different from the girl I used to know.

Not exactly like Jack’s little sister, the quiet shadow who used to hover at the edges of our world before everything fractured and burned.

And I don’t mean the tiredness and frustration etched beneath her bloodshot eyes. Or even the gauntness, the way life has clearly taken more than it’s given.

She’s all grown up now.

A woman.

A woman with a body made for the dark desires of a man like me, whether I like it or not.

Which I don’t.

Elodie Harper has always been off-limits to me, and she will remain that way. No matter that my friendship with her brother dissolved as fast and deadly as salt on a snail’s back.

I slow my stride without meaning to, the city blurring at the edges as my thoughts drag backward, uninvited.

It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what happened to her. The signs are all there if you know where to look. She bore the quiet desperation that clings to people who’ve been collateral damage in someone else’s war.

The Harpers losing their business wasn’t just a headline. It was a full collapse. The kind that pulls everyone down with it, whether they deserved it or not. And they blame me.

Elodie was caught in the fallout.

Thinking about her now is pointless.

Still…

I can’t stop myself from wondering what she must have gone through. How did she end up working in a coffeehouse looking like she’s one bad day away from shattering when she had such big dreams?

The thought settles uncomfortably in my chest, so I shove it aside.

Elodie Harper is not my concern.

I’m Dorian Vale. I don’t do concern.

Elodie belongs to another life. One I cut away without hesitation when it stopped aligning with where I was going.

Whatever happened to her is a problem for another time.

I have bigger problems than ghosts from my past.

Yesterday made sure of that.

The main headline is still burned into my mind.

Dorian Vale having an affair with Grace Astor, beloved widow of Montgomery Astor.

As if those words alone weren’t poisonous enough. The motherfucking press went further—they always do. They suggested that my presence in her life somehow caused her husband’s death.

Montgomery Astor was revered across the world. But here, he was considered New York’s golden saint. A renowned philanthropist and visionary. A man whose name you don’t get to tarnish without consequences.

I exhale slowly, my jaw clenched as I cross another street, the sound of traffic fading beneath the pulse of my thoughts.

Grace and I were careful. Discreet. We got together after she divorced John.

We weren’t reckless, and we weren’t stupid. Whatever existed between us—however temporary—had nothing to do with Montgomery Astor’s heart giving out in his home on the Upper East Side.

The man was approaching eighty and had several health problems, including chronic heart failure.

Facts don’t matter, though. Not with a family name like mine that attracts gossip.

The narrative has already been written.

I’m the villain.

The ambitious Vale heir who seduced a man’s wife. The convenient scapegoat for a tragedy no one wants to examine too closely. The man whose reputation was already fractured enough that this fits neatly into the cracks.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I don’t need to check it to know who it is.

My father.

He called three times last night and left one long voicemail.

I’m meeting him first thing. He wants to talk about the ultimatum he gave me yesterday when the shit with John hit the fucking fan.

Get married, he said.

Clean this up. Or you can kiss your future at Vale Global goodbye.

The threat wasn’t empty. It never is with him.

Marriage, to him, is a strategy. A public reset button.

A respectable woman on my arm. A wedding spread instead of scandal. Headlines rewritten.

I hate that part of me understands the logic.

I hate even more that he might be right.

That aside, this situation could have been avoided had I been aware someone was out to get me.

I learned that Vale Global has a fucking mole. A goddamn leak. Someone who’s been trying to destroy us from the inside. They wanted this scandal to break. Just like all the others.

They started this crusade years ago when they tried to ruin Knox, my older brother.

Now it’s my turn.

I step into the shadow of the Vale Global building, and the thought sharpens in my mind like shards of broken glass. Anger coils low in my gut, poison taking root.

I have to stay focused. I must. Losing my cool now won’t benefit me. I just hate being at someone else’s mercy.

I walk up to the wide stone steps and key into the building, nodding at the doorman without breaking stride. He looks at me a fraction longer than usual, curiosity thinly veiled behind professionalism.

He looks the way everyone else has since the news broke, but they wouldn’t dare approach me.

I step into an empty elevator. As the doors close and the car climbs, I allow the silence to press in and balance my mind, draining away all thoughts that shouldn’t be there. Including Elodie Harper.

It’s time to fight for my legacy.

My father is not a man to trifle with. Neither am I.

I live by my rules. But unfortunately, he holds the keys to the things I want.

Knox is the leader. The chief. I’m the general. The man who fights wars and wins. The Enforcer.

By the time I reach the executive floor, my expression is set and my mask is back in place.

The elevator slows, then stops.

A soft chime sounds as the doors slide open.

I’m already shifting gears, already calculating next moves.

Speak to my father first.

Then tackle the leak.

I step out and immediately clock my surroundings.

I find my brothers standing by the glass wall, coffee in hand.

Knox, Levi, and Locke.

Knox stands at the center, as always. At thirty-three, he’s a year older than me, and calm and controlled in a way that makes people listen. We run Vale Global’s private equity arm together—strategy, acquisitions, the long game.

Levi is twenty-nine, restless energy contained behind a loose posture. Locke is twenty-eight and more measured. The two of them handle hedge funds.

We all share our father’s dark hair, solid build, and sharp European features. But that’s where the similarities end.

We couldn’t be more different from him. And from each other.

I suppose I take it to another level since I live on a different plane of fucked-up than everyone else.

My way of doing things skirts the edge of what most people would call unconventional.

People call Knox the monster. A name he picked up from his football days when he was the ferocious linebacker.

But me…

No one knows what exactly to call me. Me, the cold, callous Vale brother who treads the line of psychotic.

My brothers are deeply engaged in conversation. Probably talking about the leak. They don’t even notice my approach.

Knox was the first person I spoke to yesterday when I discovered this shit. I then called Levi and Locke to put them on their guard.

We’re meeting after I see our father so I can bring them up to speed on the latest developments.

Despite their protests, I’m taking the reins on this myself.

The vengeance is personal. But I plan to get my hands dirty. The kind of dirty I don’t want my brothers involved in. Especially Knox. He has a wife and a baby on the way. That’s where his focus should be.

The only person I’ve asked to do anything is Levi. I got him to revoke our PR and IT departments’ access to our personal equipment and work files. He also set up an external security server to protect our personal devices.

He’s good with computers. Better than me. But I’ll only involve him on a minimal basis.

Knox looks up when I get closer. The others follow his lead, their conversation trailing off as their attention shifts.

I straighten my cuffs and slip on my mask, acting like I’m not raging inside.

“Hey, there,” Knox greets me with a dip of his head. “You alright?”

“I’m here.” I give him a clipped smile and glance at Levi and Locke, who look like they’re trying to assess my mood.

“Is that a good or bad thing?” Levi prods with narrowed eyes.

“Both.” That doesn’t really answer the question, but it is what it is. I sense I’m in for the same kind of catastrophe I experienced yesterday when I spoke to my father. We spoke in the early hours of the morning when the scandal first broke. And the shitty thing about that was, he found out before me.

“When are you seeing Dad?” Knox asks.

“Five minutes.”

“Is he still adamant about this marriage thing?” He looks hopeful that things have changed.

“You bet.” I try to hold back the sarcasm in my tone but fail.

Knox’s shoulders slump, his eyes dimming. Of everyone, he knows I loathe the subject of marriage. We all know marriage is expected of us. We’re the next line of leadership. I thought I would take care of it when the time comes, but this is different. I’m being forced. And I have three weeks to find a wife.

“There must be something you can do to change his mind.” Locke shakes his head.

“I have no plans to give up. But you know Dad. His company, his rules.” Enough said.

They get it and know if I want the COO position next year when our father leaves for England, I have to play nice. They also know I hate playing nice, but I’m a man who knows how to choose his battles, and whatever I do always benefits me.

“Is everything in order?” I direct my attention back to Levi.

“Yeah. I met with both PR and IT first thing and grounded them.”

“All of them?” I need to make sure every single motherfucker in those departments has been stripped of access. The good, the bad, and the neutral alike—those you’d never suspect.

He nods. “They can still do functional work on the system mainframe, but I’ve revoked all access and clearance to high-profile files and accounts, pending investigation.”

“Good.”

Since I cover all the ops for the company worldwide, I already work in the same capacity as chief operating officer. The part of me that’s reeling from the whole situation wants to fire the whole team and start fresh. But even I know that would be counterproductive. Not only does Vale Global need both departments to run, firing everyone would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. And another media scandal.

Vale Global’s Heartless Villain Fires Entire Team…

No thank you. I’m in enough deep shit as it is.

“What’s next, Dorian?” Knox cuts in. Everything in his tone screams how badly he wants to take the reins and sort this all out. “Who’s doing the investigation if the entire IT team is grounded?”

“I got it covered. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“I need to know something.”

“All you need to know is that I’m handling it. And I need you to trust me.” I don’t want him involved. He’s been through enough with whoever this bastard is. Also… I don’t want him getting in the way of my plans. Knox still has a moral compass. I don’t.

Finally, Knox sighs and nods his agreement. “I need you to keep me updated. You may want to handle this, but I need to know what’s going on at an operational level.”

“Sure.” I cock my head toward the corridor. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Good luck.” Knox bites the inside of his lip and raises his brows, silently adding: you’re going to need it.

I turn and leave, feeling like a man walking toward his execution. I keep wondering where I went wrong and what I could have done to be more careful.

The answer is nothing.

When someone is out to get you, they eventually do. You fall right into their trap, and there’s nothing you can do about it except fight to break free.

I reach my father’s office at the end of the corridor. The door is ajar. A sign he’s waiting for me.

He used to do that when we were kids. When we got in trouble. Granted, most of that trouble was caused by our psychotic mother, who made our lives a living hell. We just couldn’t tell our father that at the time.

I knock on the door once then push it open.

Dad sits behind his desk looking like the regal emperor he is. He’s on the phone. It sounds like he’s talking to Louise, my stepmother, about Adeline, my sister.

He signals for me to take a seat. I walk in, lock the door, and pull up the chair in front of him.

Quickly, he bids Louise goodbye then hangs up. He was smiling while he spoke to her. Now he’s not.

“Good morning,” he grates out, steepling his fingers on the desk.

“Morning.” I maintain my composure. My last words to him yesterday were to go to hell. If he weren’t my father, I would have told him to fuck himself, but I still maintained some level of respect.

“I’m glad we can meet under less heated conditions.”

“Me too.” My tone is noticeably clipped.

“What’s the status with the leak investigation?”

“I’m working on it. I have a third-party team looking into it.” He’d undoubtedly have my head if he knew who I was working with, but in these types of situations, you have to work with those you trust. “I’ll update you as soon as I have more information.”

“Please do. It’s worrying, to say the least. Any ideas on suspects?”

“No. So it could be anybody. All I know is they want to make us look bad in the public’s eye.”

His expression shifts, and his bright blue eyes—the same as mine—darken to the color of a storm. “Making us look bad may have been their intention, but you made it easier for them.”

“What happens in my private life is my business.”

“Of course. Until it becomes public and you make the Vale family and company look bad.” He cocks his head and throws me a crude grin.

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“And of all the women you could choose from, you had to get mixed up with Grace Astor.”

I clench my jaw and lean forward. “We said all this yesterday. Let’s not rehash the shit. Yes, she was a poor choice, but again, it’s my business.”

His gaze thins, and he switches back to the businessman. “Have you thought about my demands?”

“I have.”

His brow quirks, and the muscle in his jaw jumps. “And?”

“I think we need to talk about it.”

His brows snap together, and fury sparks his eyes. “I already told you what I want.”

“Dad. You are being unreasonable.”

“Absolutely not.” He raises his voice so loud the ornaments on the shelf shake.

“How can you think your demands are reasonable? Not only have you given me a ridiculous time frame in which I’m supposed to give you the name of a woman I intend to marry, but you’ve also made terrible suggestions and demanded heirs.”

“I don’t care what you think is reasonable.” He makes a fist and presses it into the table. “You have been grating on my ass for the last two years.”

“That’s because we have different ways of working.”

“You can certainly say that again. You are my second eldest son. I have the same expectations for you as I do for Knox. He performs. Plays the part. You don’t.”

I hate when he compares me to Knox. It’s not fair. Everyone knows my brother is the apple of my father’s eye. Deep down, I know that doesn’t mean he loves the rest of us any less. He just holds us to the same standards, not accepting that we’re all different people.

And I usually take all the slack because like he said, I’m the second eldest.

“Dad, I do what I must, and I make this company millions.” I stare him down. He hates it when I do that, but I don’t care.

“Son, that’s not the argument here. A blind man can see that no one can do the job like you. Nobody.”

“If you can acknowledge that, give me the fucking credit I deserve and stop making ridiculous demands of me.” I’m gonna lose my shit. I can feel it.

“This company is about more than money, Dorian.” His shoulders relax a little. “It’s about legacy. Image. The Vale Global brand. What you fail to realize is that people judge a company’s abilities to perform based on who’s in charge of it.”

I want to argue with him, but I can’t. Because he’s right. “Dad, there must be something I can do to change your mind.”

He shakes his head, and the knots in my stomach tighten, forming a ball of venom.

“My problem is, I haven’t been firm enough with you. That needs to change. It’s my responsibility to honor our legacy. This company has been going for over a hundred years. It’s my job to make sure my sons have the same honor. We are a family company. That has been our strongest selling point.”

“I honor our legacy just fine. This mistake was not mine.”

“That’s where you’re wrong and the reason I need to put my foot down.” He sets his shoulders back and lifts his chin. “Sure, we have a leak, but you made yourself look bad on your own. What’s worse is, this isn’t the first time we’ve spoken about your public image. It’s just the worst.”

“Dad—”

“No.” He holds up his hand, cutting me off. “These are my final terms and conditions. You have three weeks to either give me the name of a woman suitable for marriage or accept the options I have provided for you. Personally, I think any of the Harrington or Mayfield girls would make a good match.”

“Absolutely not.” I won’t let him choose for me. And I would never go for any of the Harrington or Mayfield girls. They’re his friends’ daughters, so I get why he wants us to marry, but he doesn’t know those viperous women like the rest of us do.

“Failure to meet my demands will result in you forfeiting your rights to the COO role when I head to England,” he continues as if I didn’t speak. “If that happens, your cousin Parker will take the position.”

My stomach bottoms out. “Parker?”

“You heard me. He’s flying over from England tomorrow and will be joining us here for work come Monday. For now, he’ll work as your subordinate, but should you fail to meet my demands, he’ll take over your current job in prep for the COO position.”

“You’re replacing me with my asshole cousin?”

“If you agree to the terms, I expect you to get married as soon as possible.” He ignores my comments completely. “The press will label the Grace fiasco as a fling and move on with something more positive about you. Following the marriage, I will give you a three-month trial that must be satisfied before I even consider giving you the role.”

Fuck. How did this get worse? How? “That’s it? Those are my options?”

“That’s it, son. Take it or leave it.”

I glare at him. No way am I leaving anything. Definitely not in the hands of my cousin.

So, I’m back to ground zero.

And I have to find a wife.

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