Why I made the choices I made.
Why I signed the contract, binding blood to blood in a way that can’t be undone.
Not because I had to.
Because I chose to.
For Trey.
For Seraphina.
For their child.
For the men who stand behind me without question.
Power always has a price.
This one just happens to be mine.
And when the time comes…
I’ll pay it in full.
Chapter Forty
Trey
The Joker – Steve Miller Band
The door shuts behind us with a final, decisive click that seems to echo longer than it should, like the room itself is sealing me in, cutting me off from the roar of the crowd outside until all that remains is silence thick enough to taste. I feel it settle over my skin as Gideon takes a slow step further into the room and turns to face me with that same calm, shining certainty in his eyes, like he’s already written the ending to this story and I’m just here to play my part in it.
He looks…pleased.
Not relieved. Not cautious.
Pleased.
Like he’s finally cornered something he’s been chasing.
For a second, just a second, I let the thought slide in.
Maybe this is it.
Maybe no one is coming.
Maybe this is where it ends.
And the thing that settles in my chest after that isn’t fear, isn’t hesitation, isn’t even regret.
It’s acceptance.
If this is where it ends…I go down swinging.
I’mma take my pound of flesh.
“Detain him,” Gideon says, his voice smooth, carrying that same quiet authority he uses on his followers out there, like he expects the world to bend simply because he speaks.
Three men step forward.
