I woke to my father's hand on my shoulder with every instinct screaming danger.
"Get dressed. We need to talk. Now." Thomas's whisper was almost imperceptible, but the sense of urgency behind the words had me up before I was fully awake.
Katherine was sleeping beside me, her dark hair spilling across the pillow, her mouth slightly parted. Beautiful. Mine. I kissed her forehead before carefully slipping from her embrace.
I went to the kitchen five minutes later to find my father there making coffee. This was never good. Thomas Marvin never made his own coffee unless the world was on the verge of collapse.
"What's going on?"
He slid a folder to me. "The FBI launched an investigation into the Torrino Building shootout. Multiple charges from the feds. Assault with deadly weapons. Conspiracy. Attempted murder."
My stomach dropped. "We have lawyers-"
"Check the witness statements." He tapped the folder. "Six witnesses place you and Katherine there. Security-camera footage shows you entering the building armed. Thomas Marvin's men firing the first shot."
I scanned the documents, my blood running colder with each page. They had everything. Angles, timelines, ballistics. Someone had handed the FBI a complete case on a silver platter.
"This is a setup. Angelo Torrino's people-"
"Are spinning it as self-defense against our aggression." Thomas's jaw clenched tightly. "Angelo is dead, and Katherine was found in their building with no obvious restraints on her." Their lawyers will argue, "You staged a rescue to justify an assault on a rival organization."
"That's bullshit."
"That's what the jury will hear." He pulled out another set of documents.
"Federal charges are being drafted, charges against you, against me, and against Katherine Blaire."
The final section chilled my blood. "Katherine? She was kidnapped. She's a victim."
"She's a witness they can flip," or "She's a co-conspirator they can prosecute." Either way, she's looking at twenty to twenty-five years in federal prison." Thomas met my gaze. "Unless we can make this go away."
"How?"
"Victoria Sterling's father has powerful connections with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Campaign contributions, favors, the usual stuff. He can make this investigation disappear."
I already knew what was coming. "What does he want?"
" Public engagement. You and Victoria. Immediate announcement, wedding within six months. Complete merger of Sterling and Marvin business interests."
The words shot like bullets. "No."
"Tony"
"I said no." I stood, pacing over to the window. "I'm not marrying Victoria to save my hide. We will contest the charges. We will hire better lawyers. We will pay off witnesses."
"And Katherine?" Thomas' voice was subdued. "What about her?"
"She fights with us."
"She won't survive it." He drew out another document, a psychological profile. "Katherine Blaire. Twenty-eight years old. No criminal record. Respected banker until recently. Loving sister to a disabled brother. The D.A.s will portray her as the victim who was corrupted by you, brought into your world."
"She wasn't"
"It doesn't matter what the truth is," he continued. "What matters is the story they'll tell." Thomas stood, edging closer.
"They'll put her on the stand," He continued. "They'll force her to testify against you. And if she refuses, well, then they'll bury her," Thomas said. "Twenty-five years in the federal prison system. She'll be fifty-three years old when she gets out, and Elliot will be in his forties."
The image of Katherine in prison, everything lovely about her being smothered beneath concrete, bars, and the passage of time - I had trouble breathing.
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't." Thomas's voice softened slightly. "I've spent the last three hours trying to reach all my contacts, all my favors, everything we have. Sterling is the only way, but his help comes with conditions."
"I won't do it."
"Then you'll watch Katherine go to prison." He let that hang for a moment before continuing, "You're going to let her go to jail to save your own pride?"
"Don't." The word squeezed out of me. "Don't blame me for that."
"I'm not laying one thing on you. The FBI is." Thomas shifted to stand alongside me.
"You have a choice, Anthony," Thomas said, his tone firm but his eyes pleading. Take Victoria Sterling as your wife, save Katherine's life, or refuse and let the woman you love be the one who spends the next twenty-five years inside."
I gazed out the window, taking in the sunrise that colored the river gold and red. Behind us, Katherine slept soundly, unaware that the course of her future was being determined in the kitchen.
"Let me tell her. Let me explain-"
"No." Thomas's voice was firm. "Sterling's condition is that Katherine never finds out the real reason. As far as she knows, you chose the business alliance over her. That's the deal."
"You're asking me to break her heart."
"I'm asking you to save her life." He held my shoulder hard. "You think this doesn't kill me? You think I want this for you? But I'd rather have you alive and miserable than dead or in prison. And Katherine safe and hating you, than Katherine destroyed by the federal system."
The logic was sound. Brutal, but sound. Save her or let her go, or hold on to her while she is ruined.
"How long do I have?"
"Sterling wants the announcement today." "Press conference at noon."
Three hours. I had three hours before I ruined everything Katherine and I had worked for.
"If I do this - if I agree to this - Katherine is protected. Completely. No charges, no investigation, nothing touches her."
"You have my word."
"Not good enough." I turned fully to face him. "I want it in writing. Direct from Sterling himself. Katherine Blaire is off-limits. Fore-e-v-r. Anything that threatens her, anything that whispers the possibility of a problem with the law, and the deal is off."
Thomas pulled out his mobile phone. "I'll have the papers ready within the next hour," he said.
"And one more thing." My voice was just above a whisper. "She never knows the truth. Ever. If I have to be the villain in her story to keep her safe, so be it. But she lives her life free and clear, without guilt over sacrifices she didn't ask for."
"Agreed." Thomas made his way towards the door, but then stopped. "Believe me, son, the same would happen with you. When you love someone, you'll be the villain if that's the only way you can save her."
But once he was gone, I was left standing in that kitchen, allowing myself to feel the anger, the sadness. The absolute soul-crushing unfairness of having found something real only to have it ripped away.
But then I locked it in and headed to the shower, as I had a press conference to prepare for.
The water ran cold by the time I finally got out. I dressed in my best suit - a suit of armor for the ordeal that lay before me. Looking into the mirror, I hardly recognized the reflection that stared back. My eyes looked empty, already dead.
I left a note for Katherine on the nightstand. Simple, brief: "Had to attend to some business. Will be back soon. I love you."
The lie felt heavy.
Thomas had organized everything with his usual efficiency. Cars, security, photographers. Victoria was waiting for him at Marvin Industries, looking beautiful in a cream dress that likely cost more than what most people could afford.
"Ready to play fiancé?" She didn't look happy about this either.
"Just remember the terms. This is business. Nothing more." I said coldly
"Believe me, I'm well aware." She readjusted her hair in the reflection of the window mirror. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Your Katherine seemed... decent."
The press conference was just as terrible as I had figured. The flashing cameras, the shouting questions, Victoria's well-practiced smile as I slid the ring on her finger, which felt more like a shackle.
"Mr. Marvin, how is your connection with Katherine Blaire?"
I schooled my face into an icy, disinterested mask. "That was just a brief distraction," I said flatly. "Victoria and I have been working on this merger for months and have been in a relationship for quite a while."
The lie slid off my tongue with ease. Far too easily. Like I had practiced this betrayal from the moment I met Katherine.
Afterwards, Thomas cornered me in my office. "It's done," he said. "Sterling signed the agreement. Katherine is protected."
"Good." The word felt empty.
"You should go see her. Before she hears it from-"
But I was already moving, already reaching for my keys, already racing the clock to get to the safe house before the news broke.
I burst through the door, yelling her name. "Katherine!"
She was standing in the living room, fully clothed, with her bag sitting by her feet. Tears had left her eyes red, but there was nothing to be seen in them except dryness, and there was also an expression on her face that I had never seen before.
Betrayal. Total, utter betrayal.
"Katherine, let me explain-"
"Don't," she said, her voice perfectly controlled. "Just don't"
"How did you-"
"Your father was very informative." She reached for her bag. "He told me everything that happened while you've been away. The way you and Victoria had plans for weeks to announce the engagement, how I was just a temporary diversion, how I was supposed to provoke Victoria into accepting more favorable terms."
Thomas, you son of a bitch.
"No, that's not true. Katherine, let me explain if you'll just-"
"I said don't." She was inching toward the door, toward freedom, toward an existence without me. "I was an idiot. I really believed you loved me. That last night meant something."
"It did. It does. Katherine, I love you-"
"Stop." Her voice felt defeated. "Stop lying to me. I won't- I won't hear you say that."
She walked past me, and every instinct screamed to grab her, to get her to hear me, to let her in on the truth. But the truth meant prison. Twenty-five years of her life gone.
So, I let her go.
I let her walk out that door hating me, thinking I had used her, thinking that everything that had happened between us was just a lie.
Because that was the price of keeping her safe.
The door shut softly behind her, a soft click echoing like the end of the world.
I was alone in my grandmother's house, in the bedroom where only hours before Katherine had told me that she loved me, and I finally allowed myself to fall apart. But only for a minute.
Then I buried it, locked it inside, and became the man that everyone said I was supposed to be. Cold. Calm. Engaged to Victoria Sterling.
And completely, devastatingly alone.