Chapter 2 - THE REASON HE MARRIED ME
“Jane, there’s something your father never told you about why I agreed to this marriage.”
I stared at Ethan.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
The paper with my name on it lay between us.
TAKE HER ALIVE.
I could barely hear the city beyond the office windows.
“Why did you marry me?”
Ethan looked toward Brian.
“Leave us.”
Brian hesitated.
“Boss—”
“Now.”
The door closed.
I turned back to Ethan.
“You said my father controlled shipping routes.”
“He does.”
“You said our marriage would strengthen the alliance between our families.”
“It did.”
“You said you needed my father’s territory.”
“I did.”
“Those were all true.”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you hiding?”
Ethan walked to the window.
His shoulders looked tense beneath his black shirt.
For a man who controlled half the men in Chicago’s South Side, he suddenly looked like someone who had run out of safe answers.
“My father and yours had an agreement long before you and I met.”
“What kind of agreement?”
“A protection agreement.”
I frowned.
“Protection from who?”
“The Russos.”
I stared at him.
“The Russo family wasn't always our enemy,” Ethan continued.
“Then what happened?”
“Your father discovered something.”
“What?”
Ethan turned around.
“A shipment.”
I waited.
“Six years ago, one of your father's containers disappeared.”
“I don't understand.”
“It wasn't supposed to contain anything unusual. Machinery parts. That's what the paperwork said.”
“And?”
“It contained something else.”
His expression hardened.
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“People who were paying to move weapons, money, and information through Chicago.”
My stomach tightened.
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he wanted you away from it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He arranged my marriage to a crime boss to keep me away from crime?”
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds insane.”
“It was the only arrangement your father believed would keep you alive.”
“Then why did you tell everyone you married me for territory?”
Ethan looked away.
“Because if anyone knew I married you to protect you, they would have realized you were important.”
I remembered the conversation outside his study.
His cold voice.
She can live in the east wing.
As long as she stays out of my business and gives me an heir within a year.
“You made me believe I was nothing.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe I was just an asset.”
“I thought distance would keep you safe.”
“It didn't.”
“No.”
He looked at the photograph on his desk.
The one showing the man following me.
“The Russos know about the shipment now.”
“How?”
“We don't know.”
“You said they wanted me alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Because you may have something they need.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
That answer made me angry.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to understand that I have spent three months trying to find out.”
I stared at him.
“Three months?”
“That is when I realized the threat had returned.”
“After we married?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you suddenly start protecting me?”
“Because I started caring whether you came home.”
The words were quiet.
Almost reluctant.
My heart betrayed me immediately.
I hated that.
I looked away.
“You don't get to say things like that now.”
“I know.”
“You told me you never wanted me.”
“I was wrong.”
“You said I was useful.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You humiliated me.”
His expression tightened.
“I know.”
“And now you're telling me you care?”
“Yes.”
I didn't know what to do with that.
Then footsteps sounded outside.
Brian opened the door.
“We have a problem.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
“The north gate camera went down.”
Ethan's entire expression changed.
“How long?”
“Seven minutes.”
“Any breach?”
“Not yet.”
“Get everyone inside.”
Brian nodded.
Then he looked at me.
“Mrs. Carter, you're coming with us.”
“Where?”
“The safe room.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Ethan stepped toward me.
“Jane.”
“I've spent three months being told where to go, where not to go, who to speak to, and which door I'm allowed to walk through.”
“This isn't about control.”
“Then tell me everything.”
He stopped.
I held his gaze.
“If I'm the reason these people are coming, I deserve to know why.”
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he reached into a drawer.
He pulled out a small velvet box.
My mother's name was written on the bottom.
I stared.
“My mother?”
Ethan nodded.
“Your father gave this to me the week before our wedding.”
I opened the box.
Inside was a gold locket.
I had never seen it before.
My mother had died when I was twelve.
My father had always told me she lost it years ago.
I picked it up.
It was warm from Ethan's hand.
“There is something inside.”
I opened the locket.
A tiny photograph was hidden behind the glass.
My mother.
My father.
And Ethan's father.
Standing together.
I looked up.
“Why would my mother have a photograph with your father?”
Ethan's face became unreadable.
“Because they were working together.”
“On what?”
Before he could answer, the lights went out.
The mansion fell into darkness.
Somewhere downstairs, glass shattered.
Brian shouted,
“Move!”
Ethan grabbed my hand.
For the first time since our wedding, he didn't act like my husband.
He acted like the man who had decided he would rather die than let someone reach me.
And as he pulled me toward the hidden room behind his office, I heard a gunshot from the hallway.
Then another.
Then a man's voice shouted from downstairs—
“Find Jane Carter!”
Ethan stopped.
His grip tightened around my hand.
May you like
And he whispered,
“They're already inside.”
