(Alessandro’s POV)
The hours after I left my brother in his cell were the longest of my life. I returned to the penthouse, but I found no peace there. I stood on the balcony, staring out at the Chicago skyline, but I did not see the city. I saw my brother’s face, trapped and broken, wrestling with the impossible choice I had given him.
I had offered him an escape in exchange for betrayal. It was a cold, strategic move, the kind a king had to make. But it was my brother, my own blood, that I was sentencing to death. The thought left a bitter, metallic taste in my mouth. I had built my empire to be stronger and better than my father’s, but in that moment, I felt exactly like him.
Isabella came to stand beside me. She didn’t speak. She just slipped her small, warm hand into mine. Her prese
