Page 43 of The Heart of Winter

Blue kept his head tilted up, still looking at the cloudy night sky.

"I spoke with Detective Arnold. He had bad news for me."

"About that assassination attempt?"

"Yeah. The detective informed me that Danielson, the guy who’s been working in my security detail, was actually a mole. They arrested him today. He worked for me for seven years! I thought I could trust him. Right now, pretty much all my bodyguards are just new hires, and their backgrounds aren’t fully vetted yet."

I studied him for a moment. I knew Blue kept his guard up, always presenting himself to the world as fearless and unwavering, a man who wouldn’t let anything shake him and who lived by his own uncompromising rules.

But I could see through it. The shadow of fear beneath the surface. He wasn’t reckless, he wanted to live.

"Anzo’s oldest nephew, Rocco, took control of the mafia structure. That’s what the detective told me. Apparently, he’s a real psychopath. The kind of guy who doesn’t care about politics or ideology, but when he sets his sights on something, he doesn’t let it go. And his right hand is his younger brother, Luca, a purple alpha, so… yeah. Double the crazy."

I watched him with quiet sympathy. Over the years, he’d survived multiple attempts on his life. Being the head of a pharmaceutical corporation was just one part of his problems. But it was his involvement in certain side projects that had made him even more controversial in the public eye.

There were memes about him everywhere, most of them twisting his words from interviews to make him look like some kind of lunatic who wanted to destroy the beta community, who aimed to make people dependent on suppressants, heat blockers, and an endless supply of pharmaceuticals flooding the market.

Entire online groups were dedicated to spreading misinformation and outright hate against him.

He had to live with that every single day. Lonely…

"I don’t even know what to say. That’s a tough deal," I admitted. "You always said that every man has a price. I guess they could buy off anyone… well, anyone except me. I don’t care about money that much, to be honest. All they could do is threaten me."

Blue let out an irritated huff and shrugged, but I could tell he wasn’t as indifferent as he pretended to be. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"You might be onto something," he admitted. "Maybe only people who are truly close to me would be harder to bribe. But, well, I can’t exactly hire my nephews as bodyguards, can I?"

I watched him. He was so small. Frail. Delicate. His sapphire-blue eyes held a bitterness, a sadness… one he usually kept well hidden.

"I feel for you. This situation seems impossible," I said. "The mafia can get to anyone, and their methods are brutal. It’s a damn shame you ended up on their hit list."

"You know," Blue murmured, "there’s something I’ve been thinking about. Something happened during that last assassination attempt. The one two weeks ago at the matchmaking agency."

I raised my eyebrows. "What happened?"

Blue seemed in no hurry to tell me. He sighed, rubbing his temple. Was he… embarrassed? Him?

"Let’s just say one of the agency’s employees told me something. He encouraged me to attend a marriage contract open fair this weekend. Kept pushing me to show up."

I blinked.

He sounded like he was out of his damn mind.

"Blue, I know you’re a scientist, and you’ve got an open mind, but I think your brain just flew right out of your skull! You can’t be serious. Some guy from a matchmaking agency tells you to attend their event, wow, what a coincidence! And what, exactly? You’re supposed to go there and… find yourself a husband?"

Blue closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, probably a curse.

"Sariel, believe me, I’ve got huge doubts about this myself. The guy was weird as hell. I don’t want to get into details because I feel like if I told you everything, you’d change your opinion on the whole thing. But in the end, the decision is mine to make."

I turned toward him; we locked eyes with intensity.

"Blue, please. I beg you. Be careful. You know how people act around Lowens. Since we were kids, our parents drilled it into us, people don’t see us as just regular guys. They see walking bags of money. If someone has a chance to scam a rich man, to rope him into some bullshit service, they’ll take it. Don’t fall for it. Don’t let some random employee talk you into something just so their company can profit off you."

Blue scoffed. "Hey, I know all that, Sariel. I’m extremely skeptical. But, you know…" He glanced at me sideways. "I’ve never actually been to one of those open fairs. I’ve always been curious. It’s kind of like cattle trading, all these guys sitting in glass booths while potential buyers walk around, check them out, and decide whether or not to buy their marriage contracts. A total circus. I’ve wanted to go a few times just as a spectator, just to see the weird exhibition. Maybe I’ll let myself be talked into it. Who knows?"

"That doesn’t tempt me at all," I muttered. "The whole thing is disgusting. It’s like slave trading."

"Come on, Sariel. These people get millions in their bank accounts. No one is selling them, they willingly offer themselves up for display. That’s a far cry from slavery," he shot back.

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