The Options

The Options
SARAH

He glanced at his watch. “It’s 10 o’clock. By tomorrow morning, he’s given us a deadline. By 8 a.m., if Sarah Ronan Sullivan isn’t back at her father’s house, if you.....Cullen, don’t take her back, he’s going to start a war.”

Cyrus's gaze lingered on Cullen, sharp and unyielding, completely ignoring me. He left the threat in the air before Cyrus spoke again.

“Now, Dad and I have talked this through, so we thought we’d give you options... Seeing as your family. One: you take her back, and we continue negotiating with them, like we’ve been doing to get your wife back. Or two: you refuse. You refuse our proposal. You refuse what we say. And we denounce you.”

“Wait… what?” I asked, my voice trembling. I could see the surprise mirrored in Cullen’s eyes, too.

Cyrus nodded gravely. “Yes. If we denounce you, you no longer belong to the Cincinnati famiglia. You’re no longer under Dad’s rule. That means Ronan Sullivan has the gall to do whatever he wants.....to you, to your wife, it doesn’t matter. The choice is yours, Cullen. Take her back, or deal with it.”

The words hung in the room like a bomb. My heart pounded. I looked at Cullen, searching his face for an answer, for a hint of what he might do.

“Really?” Cullen asked, his voice low but edged with disbelief. “Really, Cyrus?”

“Yes. Really,” his brother said firmly. “ I have a family, Cullen, I have to think about them. I don't want my son to grow up in war..... You have to make your decision.”

“I’m not talking to you,” Cullen said, his eyes flashing with resolve. “I’m talking to my father, the Don, just as you painted him.”

I watched as Cullen stepped forward, his hand still holding mine. He gently pulled me along with him toward his father.

“Dad,” he began, his voice steady, commanding. “My Don,” he continued, his tone sharper now.
“I want what Cyrus has said to come from you, because you are the Don. Only your word is law. Is what Cyrus is saying true? Are those my options? Either I get to keep my wife and I’m no longer your son, or I lose my wife and get to have my family behind me?”

His father lifted his head, but said nothing. His gaze was fixed on our joined hands.

“Are you making me choose?” Cullen pressed, his jaw tightening. “You want me to choose between my family and my wife? Is that what you’re doing to me right now? Is this the option you want? I need to hear it from you.”

The room fell silent with tension. Every heartbeat seemed to echo. I squeezed Cullen’s hand, a silent promise that we were in this together.

The Don’s eyes finally lifted, locking onto Cullen with a calm, unreadable intensity. He took a slow sip of his drink, then set the glass down with deliberate precision.

“You make it sound simple,” he said, his voice low, controlled, but carrying the weight of absolute authority. “There are no easy choices in this life, Cullen. Every decision has a price. Every loyalty has consequences.”

Cullen didn’t flinch. He stood taller, his grip on my hand firm. “Then tell me, Don. I need to know the truth. Are those my only choices?”

The Don’s gaze softened slightly, not enough to be mistaken for sympathy, but enough to show he understood the gravity.

“Yes. You can have your wife, and sever ties with your family under my name. Or you can return her to her father’s custody, and maintain your place here, with us. That is the choice before you.”

I felt my heart tighten. My stomach churned. Every fiber of me screamed to pull Cullen away, to escape this web of power and bloodlines, but also to trust him, to trust that he would protect me.

Cullen exhaled slowly, his jaw clenched.
“Then I make my choice,” he said, voice steady, sure. He turned fully to me, his eyes blazing.

“I choose us. No compromises. No negotiations. No deals with blood and power. You are my wife, and I am keeping you. That’s final.”

The Don’s face was unreadable. Cyrus and his father exchanged glances, tension crackling like fire in the room.

“Cullen,” his father called, “I hope you know what you’re doing, because this decision has consequences.”

He took a deep breath and then leaned back, eyes sharp. “You understand this is not a small decision. These are bloodlines, loyalties, the lives of people. Our family..... Everything is at risk.”

“I understand,” Cullen said, his voice unshakable. “And I accept that. Sarah is my wife. She’s mine. She belongs to me.”

He stepped closer, taking my hand firmly in his. “And if anyone, anyone, tries to take her from me, they will answer to me. That includes you, Cyrus, or anyone else. Sarah is my life, and she comes before anything or anyone. I’m not, and I will not, let her go for anything. If your choice is to let me protect her on my own, then I will. Because it’s my job to protect her, to make sure she’s happy. She doesn’t want to go back. This is her home. This is where she stays.”

His words hit me like a shield, a promise and a lifeline all at once. And then he added, his voice unwavering, “And if you want to help the Sullivans, I don’t care if you’re my father, or you, my brother, Cyrus..... I will not hesitate.”

I felt a tear prick my eyes, the tiniest glimmer of hope, or maybe relief, or maybe even safety. Cullen had chosen me. He had chosen me over his own family....his father, his brother, and he had chosen to protect me, even if it meant putting his life on the line.

Without his father’s protection, without Cincinnati’s power backing him, my father and his army wouldn’t hesitate to come after us. This was Cullen signing his own death warrant.

I couldn’t stop picturing it, my father sending Ronan to finish the job. We would be as good as dead....Not me. They wouldn’t hurt me. But Cullen… he would pay the price.

“Wait,” I said, pulling my hand away from his. My heart thumped wildly. “Cullen, I can’t let you do this. I can’t let you die for me. It’s not fair.”

Cullen turned to me, narrowing his eyes.
“What are you doing, Sarah?”

“I can’t,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I can’t let you risk everything. Not for me. Not like this. You don’t have to die because of me.”