Chapter 3 - The Contract of Iron and Silk
The silence inside the warehouse was suffocating. Rain drummed against the tin roof like gunfire.
Vane stared at the legal transfer document on the table, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. "You bought Richard Hayes's debt? Why would the King of the North Shore give a damn about a bankrupt accountant's family?"
"Because I own the railyards now," Dante replied smoothly, his dark eyes fixing Vane with unwavering dominance. "And I don't tolerate vermin on my property. Take your men and clear out of this district by midnight, Vane. If I see you near this girl or her family again, I won't send lawyers."
Vane spat on the floor, but he knew better than to test Dante Vance on his own territory. He signaled his thugs, backing away toward the rear exit. "This isn't over, Vance. She’s a curse. That whole family is marked."
When the heavy doors slammed shut behind Vane’s men, the warehouse fell into an uneasy stillness.
Maya stood up slowly, keeping Lily behind her back, her hands shaking as she stared at the tall man who had just rewritten her fate. She looked at her twin brothers, who were fast asleep in the arms of one of Dante’s lieutenants, wrapped in thick, warm wool blankets.
"Who are you?" Maya asked, her voice raspy from crying. "Why did you buy my father's debt?"
Dante turned to her. In the dim light, his sharp jawline and deep-set, dark eyes made him look less like a savior and more like a statue carved from stone.
"My name is Dante Vance," he said plainly. "And I bought your debt because it was the only way to keep Arthur Vane from selling you into a life you wouldn't survive."
"I can't pay you back," Maya said, her chin trembling as she tried to maintain her composure. "You heard him. I have nothing. No money, no home, no family left except them."
"I know," Dante said. He walked over to the folding table, picked up the pen Vane had left behind, and turned to face her. "Which is why you are going to marry me."
Maya froze. The air left her lungs in a sharp gasp. "What?"
Lily looked up at Dante, her mouth open in shock. "You're going to be my brother-in-law?"
"A legal marriage," Dante clarified, his tone entirely businesslike, devoid of any warmth or romantic pretense. "My father's will requires me to marry and establish a family before my thirty-fifth birthday in order to retain full voting control of the Vance Financial Syndicate. The deadline is in two weeks. My enemies know this, and they have been trying to force me into a political match for months."
He looked Maya up and down—her torn clothes, her exhaustion, her fierce, unbroken pride.
"If you marry me," Dante continued, "I will settle your father's debt completely. I will give your brothers and sister a private estate, the best medical care, and elite schooling. You will never worry about rent, food, or safety again."
"And what do you get?" Maya whispered, her eyes searching his dark face.
"I get my empire," Dante stated simply. "And a wife who owes me everything, meaning she will never betray me to my rivals."
Maya looked at Lily, whose small hands were still holding tightly onto her jacket. She looked at her twin baby brothers, who were warm and fed for the first time in three days.
May you like
She had no choice. She had been drowning, and a demon had just offered her a golden lifeboat.
"All right," Maya whispered, her voice breaking. "I'll marry you."
