His jaw hardens. “Noelle.” His voice dips, dark and unyielding. “Hand it over.”
I hesitate, my pulse quickening. There’s something about that message that feels too raw, too personal. But I know better than to think I can hide it from him. With trembling fingers, I pass the phone across the table.
Chapter 16 – Niko
I take the phone from her hand, my thumb dragging across the screen, eyes narrowing at the message.
You are just like your mother.
Noelle is tense beside me, her gaze burning into my profile, waiting for my reaction. Lev watches too, his usual smirk dimmed to something sharper.
But me? I’m not confused. Not the way she is.
I know exactly what this could mean.
A slow, cold current works its way through my veins. Anton doesn’t send words without purpose. He doesn’t waste his time with riddles unless he’s drawing blood some other way. If he’s bringing family into this, if he’s digging into her past, then it means he’s closer than I thought. It means he’s found threads I hoped were long buried.
I school my face into silence, sliding the phone flat on the table.
Noelle swallows hard. “Why…why would he say that?” Her voice cracks on the words.
Before I can answer, Lev plucks the phone from the table. His eyes skim the message, and his jaw tightens, muscle ticking as he exhales through his nose.
I glance back at Noelle. She’s unraveling right in front of me—eyes glassy, lips pressed tight, shoulders rigid like she’s bracing for a blow she can’t see coming.
Lev slips the phone back into her hand, but his gaze lingers on me, sharp and knowing. “I’ll see what I can dig up,” he mutters, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. “Restricted numbers aren’t impossible to trace. If Anton’s hiding behind one, I’ll smoke him out.”
Without waiting for an answer, he strides to the door. It clicks shut behind him, the sound echoing in the penthouse like a final note.
Now it’s just us.
Her and me.
And the weight of a ghost neither of us is ready to face.
Noelle’s voice slices through the silence, raw and trembling. “Niko…what does this mean? How can my mother be dragged into this?” She shakes her head, hair falling loose around her face. “I haven’t seen her in years. Not since I ran away at twelve. I don’t even know if she’s alive. I don’t know what became of either of them.”
Her eyes find mine, wide and desperate, searching for answers I wish I had. Or maybe answers I wish I could give.
“I thought I buried that part of me,” she whispers, her hands twisting together in her lap. “I thought it was gone. Why would Anton use her against me? Why now?”
I move closer, my chest aching at the sight of her so exposed, so afraid. She’s fought tooth and nail to build walls around her past, and now Anton’s tearing them down with a single poisoned sentence.
I take her hands, steadying them between mine. My voice comes out low, rough. “Because that’s who Anton is. He doesn’t just come for the body—he comes for the soul. He’ll reach for anything sharp enough to cut you, even if it’s from a past he has no right to touch.”
Her breath shudders, and she leans into me, small and breakable in a way she never lets herself be.
Inside, my rage coils tighter. If Anton thinks he can drag her ghosts into this war, then he’s already signed his death warrant.
“But he doesn’t know my mother,” she insists. “He never met her. I swear by it.”
Her words dig at me—sharp, desperate.
I draw in a long breath, steadying the storm in my chest. Maybe it’s time. Maybe she deserves to hear the truth I’ve kept buried.
“Noelle,” I murmur, guiding her to sit. She perches on the edge of the couch, her eyes wide, her knuckles white where they clutch her knees. I lower myself in front of her, close enough that she can’t look away.
“When everything with Anton exploded—when you finally left him—he didn’t just stop at trying to ruin your reputation. He wanted to scorch the earth beneath your feet.” My jaw clenches. “He started telling people you were unstable. That you were just like your mother.”
