“They didn’t give names.”
“You said we ran because of the boyfriend,” I whispered. “Because of the murder.”
“We did. But that was the match. Not the gasoline.”
I stood, bracing myself against the headboard, knuckles pale. “Tell me what you saw.”
Another beat of silence. Then, slowly,“That night, I went back to the office at King Enterprises after a company-wide email was sent out saying Darren had taken a job overseas, and anything he had been working on would be filtered through Stephanie until they had a replacement for him. I had a bad feeling. Especially since it was the first I’d heard of him leaving, and immediately too. My instincts screamed something was wrong. I logged in to pull the files I’d been keeping—proof that funds were being diverted into shell companies tied to people I was told never to mention. But the accounts were scrubbed. Clean. As if I’d never touched them.” She paused, as if the memory still clawed at her. “Our names were gone, Mila. Yours too. From school records, emergency contacts, even your medical files. They were erasing us.”
“Why?”
“Because someone needed a loose end tied off. Darren got curious. Started poking around where he shouldn’t. He told me he’d found something—said he would make it right. Twodays later, he was dead.” Her voice faltered, dropping lower. “And before you got there… I saw Lorne. He was standing over Darren’s body. Gun in hand.” A shaky inhale. “He didn’t see me. But the way he stood there… steady. Calm. As though nothing about it was unusual or surprising. I was frozen. Then you got there.”
A tremor raced through me. Cold. Too cold. The kind of stillness that meant he’d already decided what came next. This was beyond bad.
“That’s why we ran,”she said.“I thought we could disappear before they decided we were next.”
My chest caved in.Lorne.The untouchable partner in King Enterprises. The Kings were at the root of everything we’d run from.
But Luke was different. I still remembered what we had before that night, who he used to be.
“And now? We’re back. My records are here. We aren’t erased anymore.”
“Yeah. My guess is the same people who scrubbed our existence in this town changed their mind.” Her voice dropped to a whisper.“We’re here because they demanded we come back... so long as we play by the rules.”
I laughed, bitter and broken. “We don’t do rules.”
“We do now.”
A long pause.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I asked, my voice raw.
“Because knowing makes you a liability. And I couldn’t risk that. Not when they already have everything.”
“They don’t have me.”
She didn’t respond. Didn’t have to. Because we both knew they had me too. They had the school. Her job. Our future on a leash. I swallowed, forcing my voice to steady. “Is this aboutLuke? Is that why you panicked when you realized I’m not upset about Elise. That… it’s about him?”
Her voice cracked then. Barely a whisper:“Stay away from him, Mila. That family’s not safe.”
“I already knew that.” But I refused to believe Luke was the same.
“No. You don’t.”
Blackwood had always been a gilded cage. Now I knew just how deep the trap went. I fell to the bed and rested my back against the headboard and closed my eyes. I was caught between two wars. One from the past—and one barreling straight for me.
“He’s not the same as them,” I whispered. More to myself than her.
She reached for my hand. “You sure?”
I didn’t answer.
She stayed a while longer, her hand wrapped around mine. When she finally left, I stared at the ceiling, the truth pressing down, a storm heavy in my chest.
Luke didn’t know. He couldn’t. But he would. Because despite everything, even the lie I’d told myself earlier, I wasn’t done giving him a chance—not yet.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
