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Home / Mafia / Divorce Clause: Heir Included / Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

All Chapters of Divorce Clause: Heir Included: Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

129 Chapters

111

Nathan"Madeline, what the hell was that?" I growl the second the door clicks shut.The blonde turns, her face a mask of wide-eyed innocence that suddenly feels like cheap plastic. "What do you mean, Nathan?""The things Zack said. Julian exiling my cousin? Him being in a clinic? Me speaking to my lieutenants after the hit?" I pace the length of the living room, the carpet burning under my boots. My head is a blender. Every word Zack spoke is a jagged piece of glass spinning in my skull.Why didn't Zack hide the fact that he was working with Havenfall’s elite? Why bring an associate? And why the hell would he beg me to come back to Cocolink if he was trying to steal my seat? If it was a performance, he deserved a goddamn Oscar. The way he’d gripped my coat, the heat of his skin, the raw terror in his eyes when he thought I was going to reject him—it felt more real than anything I’ve touched in weeks."Nathan, honey, this is his game!" Madeline groans, dropping her purse on the counter

112

Marcus slumped onto the velvet cushions of the sofa, the weight of a three-year-old’s irrationality pressing heavier than any hit he’d taken in the field. He stared at the ceiling of their Asphodel safehouse, his hands behind his head.Nearby, Lila was a mess of tangled limbs and focused energy. She sat on the rug, her small fingers leafing through an old leather-bound album. Usually, those pages made Marcus’s skin itch. They were crowded with memories of Zack—candid shots from the early months of the pregnancy, the raw, domestic quiet before the syndicate war tore their world to shreds. Now, the jealousy had curdled into a sharp, hollow longing. He wanted a life like that. A kid of his own. A house where the only shadows were cast by the sun, not the constant threat of a hit squad.He hadn't breathed a word of this to Eliza. He didn't want to spook her. They were still carving out their territory in this new, fragile reality, and he was taking it one blood-soaked step at a time.Takin

113

MadelineThat was way too close.I exhale, the tension bleeding out of my shoulders as I stare at the unconscious man on the bed. Pure luck. If my chemist hadn't been scheduled for a drop-off right at that second, I’d be the one in a body bag. I’d kept the syringe tucked in my clutch for a rainy day, praying I’d never have to pull the trigger on it.The chemist helped me drag Nathan’s heavy frame onto the mattress. He didn’t do it for free—the bastard charged me double for the "heavy lifting" fee before vanishing back into the Havenfall shadows. Now, it’s just me and the quiet. And a very big problem named Zack.I depress the plunger on a fresh vial of the memory-wipe solution, watching the liquid disappear into Nathan's vein. I might have overshot the dose. If I’ve fried his brain, I’m back to square one, but it’s better than him remembering the truth. I pace the length of the bedroom, my heels clicking like a countdown on the hardwood. Somehow, Zack got into his head. In thirty minu

114

ElizaThe world tilts before the colors bleed back into focus. I’m facedown on the hotel carpet, a dull throb pulsing behind my eyes like a rhythmic hammer. I don't waste breath calling out for Zack or Madeline. They’re gone. The air in the room is stale, the scent of that synthetic sedative lingering like a bad memory. Madeline will be back to finish the job once she’s tucked Zack away in whatever hole she’s dug for him.I know this the same way I know the vibration of the city’s underground. It’s a pull in my gut, an unearned certainty that my pupil isn't in immediate danger. Not yet. I stopped questioning the "how" of these instincts decades ago. Wasting a second wondering why I know Zack is alive but caged is a second I’m not spending hunting him down.Madeline has plans for him, and they won't end in a handshake. I grab my coat, the fabric heavy and comforting, and ditch the hotel. I drive straight to the Havenfall apartment where Zack and I tracked his mate.I’m not a soldier wi

115

NathanI never pictured my wedding like this. When I was a kid, I’d think about it sometimes—finding a partner who’d stand by me while I ran the Havenfall streets, someone to build a legacy with. I wanted what my parents had. But in every version of that dream, I wasn’t standing at an altar feeling like a man walking toward a firing squad. Even after I’d forced myself to accept Madeline, I didn’t expect this hollow, bleak weight in my gut. This isn't a union; it’s a hostage exchange.Every second I spend looking at her, Caleb screams in my blood. My jaw creaks as I grind my teeth, my knuckles turning a bloodless white against the pews. I want to snap her neck for what she’s done, but I can’t touch her. Not if I want Zack back in one piece. The more the minutes tick by, the more the memories punch through the chemical fog. I remember her schemes. I remember realizing Lila is my own flesh and blood. I remember the secret vows I exchanged with Zack in the dark. I remember the heat of him

116

Julian continues to hover behind me, his eyes locked on Zack. "Come out, come out, little ghost," he says, his voice a low, oily purr, like he’s coaxing a stray cat into a trap. "Let me get a look at you."Caleb is a caged animal under my skin, his claws raking against the inside of my ribs. He wants to tear Julian’s throat out before he can lay a finger on my mate or the life he’s carrying."Zack," I murmur, my voice barely a vibration. "Move. Now. Get to the exit."I feel his fingers cinch into the fabric of my suit jacket. "No," he breathes, the word sharp and final. "I’m not leaving you to face this.""And he has a spine too," Julian chuckles, looking genuinely amused.The man is a riddle. The way he speaks to Zack is entirely different from the cold, dismissive tone he used on Madeline. It’s a sick kind of reverence. If you’ve spent half your life hunting a white whale, I guess you act a little manic when you finally corner it."I said run," I growl, the words vibrating in my thr

117

The silence in the room is heavy. Nathan’s eyes snap open. Pitch black. The air is a wet weight, smelling of rust and damp concrete. He is underground. Before the memories of the chapel hit, the primal wrongness of the space settles into his bones.He tries to move. His limbs are sluggish, heavy with the hangover of Julian’s magic. Then the images flash: the knife at Zack’s throat, the crack of Madeline’s neck, the cold triumph in Julian’s eyes. Caleb wakes up with a roar.Nathan lunges to his feet. He circles the space, boots scuffing against grit. It’s a box. High-grade steel bars, reinforced with a subtle hum of electricity that makes his teeth ache. No bed. No chair. No water. Just four walls of weeping stone.He’s seen cages like this in Havenfall, meant for the animals the syndicate wants to break. He looks through the bars. Other cells line the corridor, filled with the shifting silhouettes of men who look more like ghosts. It’s feral territory. Zack survived years in a hole li

118

"Shouldn't matter now," James whispers. "But since we're dying in here... she—he—was a Volana. Julian found out the bloodline carries a specific genetic marker. A type of internal power he wants to harvest.""James," Nathan’s pulse is racing. "Was your mate’s name Eliza?""How the hell do you know that?" James’s voice is suddenly sharp, dangerous."Because my mate, Zack, is a Volana. He was orphaned when his mother, Eliza, died fifteen years ago. We thought he was alone." Nathan can barely get the words out."Are you saying...?" James’s voice trails off."Holy shit," Grayson mutters."I’m saying my mate is your son," Nathan says, his voice like iron. "And Julian has him. He’s going to butcher your grandson unless we move." Nathan grips the bars so hard the metal groans. "Now tell me. Do you still think it’s useless to try and get out?"ZackIf I thought Havenfall was a dump, Julian’s estate is a goddamn crime against taste. It’s not a house; it’s a fortress dressed up like a palace. I

119

The layout of Havenfall was a monument to narcissism and wasted potential. On one hand, Logan couldn't deny the sheer, brutal power radiating from every street corner of the syndicate's capital. On the other, it felt like a tactical disaster to bury three-quarters of the population in subterranean slums. Just as he had done in Cocolink or back in his youth with the Gemini crew, Logan was always dissecting the hierarchy—calculating how much faster the gears would turn if he were pulling the levers.He figured Julian Wright was just psychotic enough to enjoy the subjugation, but it was a drain on resources. The underground masses weren't citizens; they were a wasted militia. In their place, Logan would have drafted them into an expansionist army instead of letting them rot to maintain a stagnant status quo.He wouldn't have coddled the upper-crust families either. If anyone belonged in the ruins of the old world, it was the entitled pricks who thought a bank account made them untouchabl

120

"First time?" The medic’s voice was as cold as the stainless steel of his instruments. He didn't look up from the monitor, but Zack felt the man’s eyes tracing the erratic jump of his pulse."Yeah," Zack lied. The word tasted like copper. He watched the doctor’s eyebrows climb toward a receding hairline."And your previous chart mentions a chronic gastric issue? Severe dehydration?""Hospitalized for it recently," Zack muttered, shifting on the crinkly paper of the exam table. The silver cuffs on his wrists felt like anchors. "The meds are keeping me upright. Mostly.""Good to hear." The doctor’s hands were methodical, prepping the transducer with a clinical detachment. "Any concerns before we start?"Zack didn't look at the doctor. He glared at Julian, who was leaning against the far wall with the casual grace of a shark. "Not for you."The doctor’s gaze flicked between the prisoner and the tyrant. Julian didn't flinch; he just offered a slow, shark-like grin. "Problem, Zack?""I wan

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