My father, especially.
“I’ll handle them,” Atlas said earlier with that half-smile and glittering caramel gaze, kissing my shoulder like it belonged to him. “After everything I’ve survived, facing your uncles is child’s play.”
He said it lightly, but I know the truth behind those words. We’ve both been through hell. And now we’re clawing our way back to the light.
With each other.
And the thing is? I’m positive that is exactly where we’re supposed to be—together.
I glance down at my left hand—at the ring he gave me, cleaned and perfect, sparkling like new. The single pearl and the surrounding diamonds, ancient and bold, full of history and pride, just like the man who offered it. Just like the woman I’m becoming.
Husband and wife.
One love. One family. No secrets.
And this time? It’s on our terms.
Chapter Thirty-Seven-Atlas
If there’s one thing harder than international arms negotiations, it’s walking into a room full of powerful men who all think you might break their daughter’s, or niece’s, or cousin’s, heart.
The air in the library-turned-groom’s-luncheon is thick with expensive cologne, smoke from a lit cigar no one is actually smoking, and tension.
Real tension.
The kind that comes from five alpha males deciding whether or not to throw you into the ocean behind your own castle.
Luc Batiste levels me with a stare that could crack titanium.
“I’ve got just one question for you, Atlas,” he says, sipping his whiskey like it’s the only thing keeping his hands from becoming weapons. “Was this always about her? Or was she just collateral in one of your schemes?”
The room goes still.
Even Nico Fury Sr. pauses with a glass half-raised.
I could lie.
I could finesse. Charm. Redirect.
But the truth is what matters now. And she deserves it said out loud.
“At first?” I say, voice steady. “I didn’t know Cecilia existed. So, no, it wasn’t about her. It was about an old grudge. A broken deal I was led to believe ruined my father. Dimitri fed me stories for years. Told me the Volkovs, and the Furys kicked him out of a joint venture at the last minute, cost my father everything. I wanted vengeance.”
Luc’s jaw tightens.
Adrik Volkov, his brother, Marat, Josef Aziz, Andres Ramirez, Nico and Angel Fury, all stand—and none of them blink.
“But,” I continue, hands raised placatingly, “I did my own digging after Cecilia came into my life. She asked the right questions. Made me question everything I’d been told. And I found the truth.”
I glance toward Nico Sr., and the Viper nods once.
He already knows what I’m about to say.
“That deal?” I say. “It was a solid deal. And Viper Enterprises only entered the deal with Volkov Industries after my father backed out. He wasn’t kicked out like Dimitri said. No, my father—God rest him—was not a great businessman. He pulled out at the last minute. For personal reasons, I’m told. I believe it was grief over the death of my mother. The point is, Dimitri lied.”
Adrik nods.
Nico Sr. lets out a low grunt.
