DIVORCE 2

Over the next six hours, Daniel makes calls. Ocean listens to his side of the conversations, watches his second-in-command work through every possible option.

Bryan? Too young, too impulsive. Says no immediately.

Lilo? Already married, and his wife would never allow it.

Various soldiers and enforcers? All give the same answer: too risky, don't want problems with Ethan, sorry boss but no.

Men from allied families? Vincent Romano's people say it would violate their neutrality. Dmitri Volkov's people laugh and hang up. Daniel even reaches out to some of the independent operators, men who work on the fringes of the organization. Same result. No one wants to be the man who married Ethan Moretti's ex-wife.

By evening, Daniel comes back to Ocean's office looking defeated.

"Nothing, boss. I've contacted forty-three men. Not one is willing to do it."

Ocean is standing at his window watching the sunset. His reflection in the glass looks older than it did this morning.

"They're all afraid of my son."

"Yes."

"A twenty-seven-year-old wannabe who has half the organization laughing at him behind his back, and they're all afraid to cross him."

"It's not about Ethan specifically. It's about the principle. Taking another man's ex-wife is..." Daniel struggles for words. "It's complicated. It would cause problems no one wants to deal with."

Ocean turns from the window. "So we're just going to let her die?"

"I don't know what else to do, boss. I've tried everything."

Silence falls in the office. Outside, Ocean can hear his guards changing shifts, the quiet murmur of voices, the sound of cars in the driveway.

Normal sounds. The sounds of his empire functioning. While somewhere across London, a young woman has no idea that she has less than three days to live. Ocean thinks about Lola. About her haunted eyes and careful movements. About the bruises she tried to hide. About the way she flinched when voices got loud.

She survived four years of abuse. Four years of hell. And now she's going to die because no one has the courage to help her.

The injustice of it burns in Ocean's chest like acid.

"What about me?" he says quietly.

Daniel looks up. "What?"

"What if I marry her?"

Silence. Complete, utter silence.

Daniel stares at him like he's spoken in a foreign language. "Boss, you can't be serious."

"Why not?" Ocean moves away from the window. "I'm Capo. I can marry whoever I want. No one can challenge my decision."

"But she's your son's ex-wife. She's half your age. The optics alone..."

"I don't care about optics." Ocean's voice is firm. "That girl is going to die in three days unless someone protects her. If no one else will do it, then I will."

"Boss..." Daniel runs a hand over his face. "This is... this is enormous. Do you understand what you're saying? If you marry her, you're making a statement. You're publicly saying that Ethan was wrong. That you're taking his side over your son's. This will cause massive problems within the family."

"Good. Maybe Ethan needs to face consequences for once in his miserable life."

"And what about her? Lola? Does she get a say in this?"

"Of course she does. I'll give her the choice. Marriage to me or the collection crew." Ocean's voice softens. "It's not much of a choice, but it's more than she has right now."

Daniel is shaking his head. "This is insane. You're talking about marrying someone you barely know to save her from a death sentence your son arranged. Do you understand how complicated this is going to make everything?"

"Yes. I understand perfectly." Ocean meets Daniel's eyes. "And I'm doing it anyway."

"Why?" Daniel's voice is almost pleading. "Why are you willing to turn your whole life upside down for this woman?"

Ocean is quiet for a moment. Thinking about how to put it into words.

"Because I looked in her eyes," he finally says, "and I saw someone who deserves better than what she's been given. Someone who's been destroyed by my son piece by piece and no one stopped it. No one helped her. No one cared."

He pauses.

"And I can't... I can't just let her die. Not when I have the power to save her. What kind of man would that make me?"

Daniel is quiet for a long moment. Then he sighs.

"It makes you a better man than most people in our world, boss. But it also makes you a man who's about to cause himself a lot of problems."

"I've dealt with problems before."

"Not like this. Ethan is going to lose his mind. The other families are going to talk. People are going to question your judgment, your authority, your..."

"Let them." Ocean's voice is hard. "I've earned my position. I've bled for this organization. If I want to marry someone, that's my decision. My business."

"And the girl? What if she doesn't want this?"

"Then I'll find another solution. But I have to offer it first." Ocean looks at the clock on his wall. "We're down to sixty-six hours now. I need to move fast."

Daniel stares at him for another moment, then shakes his head in resignation.

"You're really doing this."

"Yes. I am."

"Okay." Daniel pulls out his phone. "Okay, I'll make the arrangements. We'll need Father O'Brien for the ceremony. And we'll need to move her out of Ethan's house before he does something stupid."

"Tomorrow morning. I'll go there myself and explain the situation."

"Boss, maybe I should..."

"No. This needs to come from me." Ocean's voice is final. "I'm the one making this decision. I'm the one who will face her and give her the option."

Daniel nods slowly. "Alright. I'll start preparing everything on this end. But boss? This is going to change everything. You know that, right?"

"I know."

Ocean walks back to his window and looks out at the darkening sky.

Yes, this is going to change everything. His relationship with his son. His standing in the organization. His entire life.

But the alternative is letting an innocent woman die.

And Ocean Moretti may be many things...ruthless, violent, cold—but he's not the kind of man who lets innocents die when he has the power to save them. Tomorrow morning, he'll go to Ethan's house. He'll face Lola and give her the choice.

Marriage to him, or death.

It's not a good choice. It's probably not even a fair choice.

But it's the only choice he can offer.

And maybe, just maybe, it'll be enough to save her life.

That's all that matters right now.

Saving her life.

Everything else can be dealt with later.