The temptation of my brother-in-law

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Three

Zhao Wei’s POV

The report sat on my desk, marked with the red seal that indicated priority intelligence.

My spies had finally located her. Italy. Specifically, a small city outside Rome. She’d been spotted at a local hospital twice in the past week.

Probably sick. Nothing serious, according to the surveillance.

I leaned back in my chair and studied the photograph they’d included. Grainy. Taken from a distance. But it was definitely her.

Alicia.

Even in a blurry photo wearing plain clothes, she was beautiful. That silver hair. Those eyes. She’d always been striking, even as a child.

I set the photo down and poured myself a drink. Whiskey. Expensive. The kind my father used to keep locked away.

For now, I’d push her aside. There were more immediate concerns. The Blackwoods. Emily’s plan. The empire I was building.

But Alicia was always meant to be the prize.

I’d wanted her since we were children. Since the day her mother started working as a maid in my father’s household. She couldn’t have been more than seven. I was nine. And even then, she was different from the other servants’ children.