You. You’re what’s wrong with me.
“How could you do that to your own son?” The rage runs like lava through my veins.
“I saved you from a marriage that was bound to crash and burn! What did you think was going to happen if you married a girl like that? So basic, so... penniless.”
My arm coils again, and I grab the lapels of his jacket, slamming him against the wall with a guttural growl that rips from the pit of my stomach. His back hits the wall hard.
“Shut your mouth. Don’t say another damn word.” I don’t think I can stop myself.
Two sets of hands grab my shoulders—my brothers. They pull me off him, but my body’s still begging for more. I want to break him into pieces.
“Luca! What the hell is going on?!” Kill shouts.
“Let me go! I’ll kill him!” I yell, wrenching against their grip, making it halfway to him again before they drag me back.
Oliver presses a calloused hand to my chest. “Luca, enough,” he whispers close to my ear. “Don’t ruin Silas’s wedding.”
His voice is firm, steady. It cuts through the madness. I’m still shaking, my breath jagged, adrenaline coursing through me like a drug—but I stop.
“You’re right. My brother’s more important than this sack of shit,” I growl.
My father is still holding his jaw.
“What the hell happened?” Kill murmurs.
“Tell them,” I bark. “Go on, Thomas. Tell them what you just confessed.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Luca.” My father spits blood at my feet. Kill and Oliver tighten their grip on me, holding me back again.
“He threatened Emma. That’s why she never showed up at the church. He threatened a teenage girl—told her he’d hurt her family if she married me.”
I stare straight into his eyes, my chest heaving. My breathing’s all over the place.
My brothers freeze.
“Dad?” Oliver whispers, rocked by what I just said.
“I did it toprotecthim!” my father snaps, jabbing a finger at me. “He was about to ruin his life. When you’re parents, you can judge me. Until then—keep your mouths shut.”
Oliver wraps an arm around my shoulders. I can’t tell if it’s comfort or restraint—probably both. “Come on, Luca,” he says quietly.
Killian walks behind us, his hand clamping down on my other shoulder. We walk away. We leave our father standing there alone. His three sons turn their backs on him for good. And he’s left behind with nothing but the hatred and the control he always tried to use to own us.
No one says it out loud, but I know what we’re all thinking: after today, we’re cutting him off completely.
I haven’t left my room. Emma knocks on my door every hour, whispering through the wood like she’s afraid of me now. I can still see the panic in her face when I told her to leave. I didn’t want to snap in front of her. Now all I see is her fear. All I hear are the words she spoke to my father, thinking I wasn’t listening.
That’s why she never explained anything. That’s why she always looked terrified whenever I brought up the past. My manipulative, soulless father tore us apart. He scared her into silence. And he broke my fucking heart.
“I can’t believe this,” I whisper, palms over my face.
I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, tie undone, shirt untucked, staring at the floor like it might point me somewhere. Somewhere that makes sense. I exhale a bitter breath when the irony hits me.
My whole life, I’ve worshipped philosophy—the love of wisdom, the pursuit of answers to life’s most impossible questions—and yet here I am, completely paralyzed by the one question that matters most.
And I’ve got nothing.
The hotel phone rings.
