Chapter 1: The Dead Man's Ransom
The smell of formaldehyde was the only thing more suffocating than the silence of the three men standing behind me.
Most people cry at a morgue. I didn't. I just stared at the white sheet covering the body of Silas Blackwood, the man who had owned this city—and for a brief, terrifying month six years ago, he had owned me, too.
"Open it," a voice rasped.
That was XERXES. The eldest. I didn't need to turn around to know he was adjusting his cufflinks. He treated death like a business meeting he was running late for.
The medical examiner pulled the sheet back. Silas looked smaller in death. Paler. Less like a god and more like a warning.
"He's dead," a second voice whispered, laced with a dark, melodic amusement. ZION. I felt him move closer, the heat of his body radiating against my back. He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "Are you disappointed, Vesper? Your golden ticket just turned into a corpse."
I didn't flinch. I couldn't afford to. "I'm not the one who needs his money, Zion. You are."
A low, guttural hum came from the corner of the room. That was KYLO. He hadn't said a word. He just stood there, his hood pulled low, the ink on his knuckles stark against his pale skin. He was the one I feared most. Because while his brothers wanted Silas's crown, Kylo only ever wanted Silas's blood. And now that the old man was dead, he'd be looking for a new target.
"Enough," Xerxes snapped. He stepped forward, his polished shoes clicking on the linoleum. He handed a leather-bound folder to the medical examiner and motioned for him to leave.
When the door clicked shut, the air in the room changed. It became heavy. Predatory.
"The old man didn't just die," Xerxes said, his eyes finally locking onto mine. They were the color of a winter sea—beautiful, but capable of drowning you. "He left a final gift to the world. A codicil to the Blackwood Trust. It was activated the moment his heart stopped beating."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "What does that have to do with me? I left the Blackwood estate years ago. I'm a nobody now."
Zion laughed, a sharp, jagged sound. "You're not a nobody, sweetheart. You're the anchor."
He pulled a single sheet of paper from Xerxes's folder.
"The inheritance is locked," Zion continued. "Four billion dollars in liquid assets. The shipping empire. The private islands. All of it. It's sitting in a dead-man's vault. And there is only one way to unlock it."
My stomach turned. "How?"
Xerxes stepped into my personal space, forcing me back against the cold metal of the morgue table. He placed his hands on either side of my waist, pinning me.
"The Will states that the Blackwood legacy must be held by a 'Unit.' Not an individual," Xerxes hissed. "He hated that we couldn't stand to be in the same room. So, he's forcing us to be family."
He leaned in closer, his scent—sandalwood and expensive Scotch—filling my senses. It was the smell of power. The man who used to watch me from the stairs when I was eighteen and terrified.
"To claim the crown," Xerxes whispered, "all three of us must marry the same woman. We must live under one roof. For three hundred and sixty-five days. If one of us leaves, we all lose. If you leave, we all lose."
I felt my breath hitch. "You're insane. That's not legal."
"In this city, Silas Blackwood was the law," Kylo's voice finally broke the silence. It was deeper than the others, vibrating in the marrow of my bones. He walked out of the shadows, pulling his hood back to reveal eyes that were bloodshot and beautiful. "And he chose you, Vesper. Because he knew we'd never agree on any other woman. He knew we all had the same... appetite for you."
"I won't do it," I said, my voice trembling. "I'll run. I've done it before."
Zion stepped forward, reaching out to catch a strand of my dark hair between his fingers. He pulled it, just enough to force my head back, forcing me to look at all three of them.
"You won't run," Zion promised, his eyes darkening with a sudden, sharp hunger. "Because Silas didn't just leave us a Will. He left us a file. A file on what you did in Paris six years ago. The body you buried. The blood you couldn't wash off."
My heart stopped. The world tilted.
"You marry us, and that file stays in the vault," Xerxes said, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly soft tone. "You refuse? And I'll personally hand the evidence to the District Attorney before Silas is even in the ground."
I looked from Xerxes, to Zion, to Kylo. They weren't brothers right now. They were a pack of wolves. And I was the only thing they were allowed to eat.
"One year," I whispered, my throat dry.
"One year," Xerxes confirmed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It wasn't a diamond. It was a heavy gold band with the Blackwood crest—a crow circling a dagger. He grabbed my left hand, his grip like iron, and shoved the ring onto my finger. It felt like a handcuff.
"Welcome to the family, Vesper," Zion smirked, his thumb brushing over my lower lip. "Try not to fall in love with all of us at once. It makes the scheduling so much messier."
I looked down at the dead man on the table. Silas Blackwood was smiling. I was sure of it. He had reached out from the grave and put me in a cage with the only three people more dangerous than him.
I looked up at Xerxes. "I'll marry you. But don't expect me to be a wife."
Xerxes leaned down, his lips inches from mine, his eyes burning with a cold, triumphant fire.
"Oh, Vesper," he breathed. "I don't want a wife. I want a prisoner. And you just signed your life away."