The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 194 - One Hundred and Ninety-Four

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Four

Malachi’s POV

"It’s a fact. You threatened my child, Zhao. Sent a message to Alicia telling her you’d kill one of them. Her or Sophie."

The table went quiet.

Even Emily looked at Zhao sharply. Like this was news to her.

"You threatened her sister?" Emily’s voice was low. Dangerous.

"A necessary measure—"

"You threatened an innocent girl. A child essentially." Emily’s composure cracked. Just slightly. "That wasn’t part of our arrangement."

"Our arrangement was about results. I achieve results however I see fit."

"Not like that. Never like that."

"Emily." Zhao’s voice hardened. "Don’t get sentimental now."

"I’m not sentimental. I’m principled. There’s a difference." She looked at me. "I didn’t know about the threat. I want you to know that."

"It doesn’t change anything."

"I know. But I need you to know I didn’t sanction it."

Zhao stood up slowly. "This meeting is over. We’re past negotiation."

"Sit down," I said.

"Or what? You’re going to shoot me in a crowded restaurant?"

"No. But Rose will."

He looked toward the bar. Rose had her weapon positioned under her jacket. Casual. Professional. Pointed directly at him.

"And Violet has the exit covered," I added. "You brought eight men. They’re currently being detained by my people outside. Your vehicles are disabled."

Zhao’s smile didn’t waver. But something shifted behind his eyes. The first crack in his composure.

"You planned this."

"Yes."

"You came here not to negotiate. You came here to finish it."

"I came here to give you a choice. Which is more than you deserved."

"What choice?"

"Walk away. Leave Italy. Leave Europe. Go back to wherever you came from and forget Alicia exists. Forget the Blackwoods exist. Disappear."

"And if I don’t?"

"Then you don’t leave Paris."

Zhao looked at Rose. At Violet by the exit. At Maurice. At me.

Calculating. Running odds. Deciding if the risk was worth it.

"You’d start a war. My people—"

"Your people are already dealt with. And anyone else who comes after Alicia will be dealt with the same way."

"You can’t protect her forever."

"I don’t need forever. Just long enough to make it clear that she’s untouchable. That anyone who goes near her answers to me."

Another long silence.

Then Zhao picked up his wine glass. Took a slow sip. Set it down.

"You love her."

"Yes."

"Enough to kill for her."

"I already have."

"Enough to die for her?"

"Without hesitation."

He studied me. "She’ll never fully trust you, you know. She’ll always be a little afraid. Always wondering when the monster comes out."

"Maybe. But she’ll be alive to wonder. That’s enough."

Zhao set down his napkin. Straightened his jacket. "I’ll consider your offer."

"You have until tomorrow morning. After that, the offer expires."

He walked away. Toward the exit. Violet let him pass.

He’d consider it. I knew his type. He’d weigh the costs. The risks. The reality of going to war with me over one woman.

He’d walk away. Not because he wanted to. But because the math wouldn’t work in his favor.

Emily hadn’t moved. She sat across from me, wine glass in hand, watching everything with those dark eyes.

"What about me?" she asked. "Do I get an offer too?"

"What do you want, Emily? What would actually make this stop?"

"Justice. I already told you."

"Pa’s going down. The evidence you’ve released will handle that. Mario too. The family will survive but the old guard will fall. Isn’t that enough?"

"And Travis?"

"Travis is already destroying himself. He doesn’t need your help."

She was quiet for a long moment. "He came to my grave, you know. Dug it up with his bare hands in the rain. Just to see if I was really in there."

"He loved you. Still does probably."

"He failed me."

"Yes. He did. And he knows it. He’ll spend the rest of his life knowing it. Is that not enough punishment?"

Another silence.

"What about me?" she said quietly. "What do I get? When everything is over, when Pa is in prison, when Mario is dealt with. What’s left for me?"

And there it was. Underneath all the rage and the planning and the five years of becoming Ghost.

Just Emily. Broken and alone and not sure what to do with herself when the revenge was finished.

"I don’t know," I said honestly. "But destroying yourself along with everyone else isn’t the answer."

"Maybe I don’t care about the answer."

"Then care about this. My child is going to need people who knew me before I became this. Who knew the Blackwoods before everything went wrong. Alicia’s child is going to need history. Context. Truth."

"You want me to be what? The cautionary tale?"

"I want you to be alive. To figure out what comes next. There has to be something after this, Emily. Some reason you survived. Some reason you came back."

She looked at her wine glass. "I came back for revenge."

"And now you have it. Or most of it. So what’s left?"

She didn’t answer.

I stood up. Left money on the table. More than enough.

"The offer for Zhao stands until tomorrow morning. You... you can take as long as you need. But when you figure out what you want from this life, I hope it’s more than just watching people suffer."

I walked away. Maurice fell into step beside me.

"Zhao?"

"He’ll walk. The math won’t add up for him."

"And Emily?"

"She’s tired. More tired than she’s angry. She’ll find her way eventually."

"And the evidence she released?"

"Let it run. Pa should face consequences. It’s long overdue."

We stepped outside into the Paris night. Cold air. City lights. The sounds of a world that had no idea what had just happened inside that club.

My phone had a signal again.

I tried Alicia. Still off.

I tried Alessandro. He answered immediately.

"Is she safe?"

"Yes. Zhao’s men pulled back an hour ago. We’ve had no movement since."

"And Sophie?"

"Fine. Everyone’s fine. Alicia turned off her phone. Said she didn’t want distractions."

"Distractions."

"Her word. She’s been helping with dinner. Sitting with my mother. She seems... calm."

Calm. My Alicia was calm while I’d been in Paris dismantling threats and trying not to get killed.

"Tell her I’m on my way back."

"I will. Malachi?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you did tonight. Whatever you handled. Thank you. For keeping her safe."

"She’s family. That’s what you do for family."

A pause. "Yes. I suppose it is."

I hung up. Got in the car.

Maurice was quiet for a moment. Then: "You let Zhao walk."

"For now."

"And Emily?"

"For now."

"That’s not like you."

"No. It’s not."

"Alicia’s changing you."

I thought about that. About the man I’d been before her. Cold. Calculated. Violence as a first language.

And the man I was becoming. Still dark. Still capable of terrible things. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

But trying. Genuinely trying to be more.

"Maybe," I said.

"Is that a bad thing?"

I looked out the window. At Paris disappearing behind us. At the road stretching ahead toward Italy.

Toward her.

"No," I said. "It’s not a bad thing at all."