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Home / His Second-Best Choice / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of His Second-Best Choice: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

19 Chapters

Chapter 1

"Clean my gun, Aurelia."Lucian yanked off his tie. He didn't even look at her.He just walked out of a shootout. Dark, dried blood soaked the hem of his custom suit. The air smelled like burnt powder and iron.Aurelia took the heavy jacket. Her fingers touched the sticky fabric."Are you hurt? Let me call the doctor.""Shut up." Lucian shoved her hand away and headed for the bathroom. "The gunfire gave Bianca an asthma attack. I had to sit with her for two hours. Stop bothering me with this bullshit."The door slammed shut behind him.Aurelia stood frozen. She looked down and swallowed the bile rising in her throat.Three years. Lucian proposed seventy-seven times. The entire West Coast Syndicate thought she was playing games with the Sterling Underboss. Nobody knew the truth. The first three times, she took the ring with tears in her eyes. His face instantly turned to ice. He called her cheap and desperate.Only when she took the hint and said no, did he smile again.He was her fianc

Chapter 2

"Get on your knees and pick up those books, or get the hell out."Alessandra's shrill screech tore through the thick cigar smoke in the backroom.A heavy, leather-bound ledger grazed Aurelia's ear and slammed into the marble floor by her boots. Loose pages scattered everywhere.The room was packed with Syndicate capos. Dozens of cold, ruthless eyes drilled into her. Not a single soul spoke up.Dead center on the plush velvet sofa sat Bianca, eyes red, clutching a steaming mug of herbal tea."Aurelia is thirty minutes late," Bianca whimpered, her voice tiny and trembling. "Tonight's offshore books for the shipment are critical. Do you just... not care about this family anymore? If you're tired, I can learn. Please don't make Mom mad, okay?""Listen to that! That's the difference between a real daughter and an ungrateful bitch!" Alessandra slammed her palm on the table. Her blood-red acrylic nail stopped an inch from Aurelia's nose. "Even a stray dog knows to wag its tail! Who the hell d

Chapter 3

Aurelia took a cab back that night.Lucian didn't even try to hide it. The second the meeting ended, he guided Bianca into his Aston Martin. Bianca limped, pretending she twisted her ankle. Lucian didn't look at his fiancée once.In the master bedroom next door, the noises went on and off until four in the morning.Aurelia sat on the edge of the freezing guest bed. She stared blankly at the countdown on her screen.Six days until the island transfer.She forced herself to get three hours of sleep.At seven in the morning, the door lock clicked.Lucian walked in. He smelled of stale smoke and Bianca's sickly-sweet perfume. He wore a fresh shirt. He didn't bother to knock. He just tossed his car keys onto the vanity."Stop sitting there like a corpse. Go try on the dress."Lucian adjusted his watch strap. His voice was completely casual. It was like he wasn't the man who let another woman sleep in their bed all night.?Aurelia looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her face was dead cal

Chapter 4

Aurelia didn't waste another breath. She wrenched her bruised wrist from his grip, shoved open the heavy iron door, and walked out.She didn't call a cab. She walked the wet, freezing streets all the way back to the empty mansion they called their new home. Every step sent a dull throb through her wrist. A raw reminder of three wasted years.Back in the master bedroom, she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out her encrypted burner.She unlocked the screen. A fresh Syndicate dark-web alert flashed right on the feed.Bianca had just posted. A full-body shot, posed and flawless. Taken in the tailor shop before Aurelia arrived. The black bulletproof bridal gown hugged every curve of her waist.The caption was short:[Thank you for spoiling me, my favorite.]The comments were crawling with Syndicate lapdogs kissing her ass.Right at the top was a brand-new like.Lucian's private black snake crest.Aurelia stared at that familiar viper icon. Her knuckles turned bone-white against the pho

Chapter 5

Dawn broke. The encrypted comm buzzed.A confirmation code from her Swiss broker: all bearer bonds and offshore funds scrubbed clean, fully routed into the island's private defense account.Three days until full handover.Aurelia locked the screen and headed down to the car waiting for the cliffside estate.Tonight was the pre-wedding alliance banquet between the Sterlings and the Castigliones.The grand hall blazed with light. The long table was packed with the elders and capos ruling San Francisco's underworld.The second Aurelia walked in, sharp laughter cut through the air.Right at the center, right beside the Don, sat Bianca. She wore a bold, backless scarlet gown with a long train. Glass in hand, smiling bright, she poured drinks for the Sterling heavyweights."Bianca knows how to show respect. Sweet mouth, sharp curves. That's a real mob girl," a Sterling elder barked with a laugh, his eyes cutting sideways to Aurelia. "Look at your bride-to-be. Walking around like she's at a w

Chapter 6

"Good. Keep it that way."Lucian's face hardened. He looked out the passenger window, turning his back on the puddle of water soaking her coat.It was near midnight by the time they hit the city limits. Aurelia stepped out at the estate's crossroad, waving off the escort cars.Alone, she slipped down the stone corridor and pushed open the hidden door to the Castiglione estate's west wing.Inside sat her few worldly possessions from twenty years of survival. Aurelia pulled out a heavy black tactical bag, moving fast and clean.Flash drives packed with years of off-the-books backup ledgers. Three sets of custom sleeve blades. Two untraceable, stripped-down pistols. Her emergency kit for walking the razor's edge. She zipped them into the padded compartments, ready to stash them at the safe house before dawn.The safe was nearly bare. Only one thing remained at the bottom: a tarnished, dust-coated brass medal.She was twelve when they dragged her into this house. Alessandra had tossed it t

Chapter 7

Dawn came. Thin blue smoke still rose from the steel barrel in the yard.The morning wind blew the burnt scraps everywhere.The encrypted comm buzzed in her pocket. Aurelia swiped the screen. The broker's code was dead short:[Title deed reached neutral zone. Extraction boat ready tomorrow dawn.]She wiped the log. Downstairs, Lucian's ride sat waiting right outside the portico.The car door popped open. Lucian smelled of stale booze and faint antiseptic. His collar sat crooked, his face washed with heavy exhaustion. No guessing where he spent the night."Get in," he muttered against the wheel, his voice hard. "Mandatory pre-wedding blood draw and scar check. Syndicate rules."They drove to the family's private underground clinic.The thick stench of bleach hit her nose.The nurse drew the curtain. Two glass vials sat on the metal tray.Aurelia sat down on the cold steel chair. Her expression was blank. She unbuttoned her cuff and showed the faded white scar on her forearm. Two years o

Chapter 8

The door swung open the next morning.Alessandra stood in the doorway in full formal wear, two bodyguards in black suits right behind her."The Underboss is still tied up. Ceremony is pushed to tonight." Her mother eyed Aurelia's rumpled shirt, her brow knotting hard. "You're dressed like that? Every boss in the city is waiting out front. You trying to humiliate the whole family?"Aurelia zipped her duffel shut. She didn't answer.Alessandra sneered, pulled a chipped velvet box from her clutch, and tossed it onto the desk."Take it. An old piece Bianca didn't want, but at least it has diamonds," Alessandra said coldly. "Wear it when you make the rounds tonight. Don't let people think we treat you like dirt."The box popped open an inch.Inside lay a tarnished brooch. The pin on the back was bent. Two tiny diamond chips were missing, exposing blackened glue underneath.Aurelia was ten when Alessandra sent her to run drops for the family. A rival crew cornered her in a back alley and bro

Chapter 9

The entire hall went dead silent.Laughter died mid-throat. Dozens of hardened eyes snapped toward the altar.Before anyone could move, the four massive screens flashed bright.It was every video and photo Bianca had sent over the years. To prove her proximity to Lucian, she had exposed as much skin as possible in every single shot.Clips of Lucian asleep on his back, footage of him driving while she leaned in for a kiss, and last night's recording, where she quietly slipped a sedative into his tumbler.Every frame was razor-sharp. Right on the nightstand lay the family alliance ring, tossed carelessly next to an empty glass, plain for all to see.In the corner, the Don's crystal tumbler shattered in his fist."Fucking disgrace!" Several old-school capos shot to their feet, their faces dark with fury, holsters clicking against their belts."Shut it off! Kill the feed!"Bianca sat in the front row, dripping in diamonds. The truth hit her like a hollow-point bullet. She vaulted out of he

Chapter 10

"Lower your guns! Lower your fucking guns!"Slides racked across the room. Gun clicks echoed off the walls. The older bosses stood frozen. Their faces went pale with fury.Lucian didn't even blink.The two halves of the snapped ring dug deep into his palm. The jagged metal cut his skin. Blood dripped through his fingers onto the red carpet."Sir, the boss is still here! You can't just—" A bodyguard rushed forward to block him.Lucian whipped the butt of his gun straight into the man's face. The bodyguard dropped to the floor with a wet crunch."Out of my way."Lucian spat the words. He snatched his keys off the table and shoved through the side door.The rain fell in sheets. He slammed the gas pedal to the floor. Red lights. Police barricades. Honking semis. Everything blurred past his windshield.His jaw locked tight. He steered with one hand and frantically redialed her number with the other.The car speakers played the same automated voice on loop."The number you have dialed is no

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