Chapter 1

My father died in a turf war, and my mother sent me to our allies at the Blackstone Syndicate to keep me safe.

That was the day I met Aurora Blackstone, who ran the Syndicate, and her two sons.

They put me on a pedestal, and everyone around us envied me for it.

But while I was still deciding which of them I wanted to build a family with, both brothers turned me down.

Elliot Blackstone barely looked up. "I'm taking my father's seat as Godfather of the Blackstone Syndicate. A wife would only hold me back."

Matthew Blackstone shrugged. "Don't try to cage me. I want my freedom."

The next day, at my debutante ball, both of them went down on one knee in front of the cook's daughter and offered her enormous diamond rings.

To get a smile out of her, they forced me to eat a slice of nut cake.

While I was fighting for air with a rash spreading over my face, they kissed her cheek and laughed at the state of me.

I was done with both of them. After the hospital finished treating me, I called my mother.

"Mom, I'll marry the Godfather of the Crimson Circle."

*****

I sat alone in a hospital chair with the bitterness of the medicine still on my tongue.

Then Elliot called.

His voice came down at me from a great height, and there was fury in it.

"Sophia, you threw the cake Selena made on the floor. Do you have any idea how much you hurt her? Get back here and apologize to her."

Matthew's voice came right after his.

"Selena spent all day on that cake. Because of you, she's crying so hard she can't breathe."

I looked at myself in the window glass.

Pale and thin enough that a good wind would take me down.

I had been sickly since I was small, and I reacted to everything, and once I nearly suffocated on nuts.

For all those years, Matthew and Elliot had handled me like glass.

Once, at a restaurant, I ate a salad with nuts in it by accident, and Elliot picked me up and ran six miles to the hospital without thinking about it.

Matthew chartered a plane to bring my own doctor back from Brighton, and he brought me my favorite chocolate to get a smile out of me.

Everything that went on my plate went through the two of them first.

And all of it changed the moment Selena Baker arrived.

Every bit of their attention and their love went to her, a cook's daughter.

I hung up crying and sent my mother a message.

I sent: [Mom, I've thought it through. I'll marry the godfather of the Crimson Circle.]

She called me right away.

"Sweetheart, are you certain about this?"

The year my father died, there wasn't enough of him left to bury, and the syndicate came apart.

My mother sent me to the Blackstone Syndicate and held the Nightfall Syndicate together on her own.

It took her ten years to get a line to the Crimson Circle, an old house, and that bought Nightfall room to breathe.

A marriage would give Nightfall far stronger backing.

My mom sighed, "I should have sent you without a second thought, my princess."

"But I love you, and your happiness comes first."

She put the choice in my hands.

I used to think I would agonize over Elliot or Matthew and how to pick one without wounding the other.

That day I saw it plainly. I had been a pet to those two.

They had a new pet, so the decent thing was to get out of the way.

I opened my phone to book a flight.

And I ran into Selena's newest post.

Selena: [I've always loved this brand of earrings. Thank you, both of you.]

The photos showed her new stones from every angle.

One was as deep and blue as Elliot's eyes, and the other was as red and tempting as Matthew's mouth.

The background was my room.

The custom gown she had on was my birthday gift for that night. Matthew and Elliot had spent a year having it stitched by the best designers in this country.

I blocked her page without a word.

"Mom, I've decided. I've always wanted to get married and have a home," I said.

I didn't want to drag it out. What if the godfather of the Crimson Circle turned his eye on some other woman?

My mom said, "All right, sweetheart. I respect your choice.

"Next Sunday is a good day. Come home and I'll make you the most beautiful woman in the country."

Mom heard what was under it, and she reminded me to say a proper goodbye to Aurora, who had looked after me all those years.

I worked out the timing. I needed about three more days.