The door creaked open, pulling her from her thoughts. Arthur Spence entered, his shoulders slumped, his movements marked by a weariness that seemed to settle in his very bones. He was a wiry man, all sharp angles and sinew, with impressive silver-fox sideburns and large, surprisingly sharp grey eyes. He looked worn out, his energy depleted, and Lana instantly decided she wouldn't take much of his time. She stood, offering a small, professional smile.
"Mr. Spence? I'm Lana."
He nodded, wiping his hand on his trousers before shaking hers. His grip was firm, his skin calloused, the handshake of a man who had built things, and perhaps, watched them fall.
“How can I help you, Ms. McKenzie?” he asked, as he took a seat at his desk and gestured for her to do the same.
She obliged and placed the plans on the desk in front of him.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Spence,” she replied, before continuing.“I was wondering if there was something wrong with the contract we agreed on for the restoration project?”
“Not at all, actually. The Georgia Building Authority hasn’t signed off on the plans yet, and we figured it was due to everything going on with your family. You can understand that,” he replied.
“I guess that could be a reason, but ...” she started, and he interrupted.
“Listen, right now, I think it’s best you and the Capshaws just focus on rebuilding your family unit right now.”
“Do you not want to work with us anymore? Because the Georgia Building Authority is contingent on publicly fundedhotels. This would be private,” she stated, sensing something else was afoot.
He hesitated and struggled to find words that never came. Lana stood as the adrenaline built in her veins and spread through her body.
“Is Kayden being punished because of the accident? That wasn’t his fault,” she accused now, convinced there was some conspiracy afoot.
“No, it’s ...” he started, but stopped.
“It’s what?” she replied, waiting for him to form a thought.
“Kayden has had his share of bad blood in this town, and this isn’t about that. It’s the family and business element. We just want things to die down before we commit to something so large.”
“Enough said,” she replied, and walked out of the office.
Lana couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and whatever excuse, whatever half-hearted explanation was about to come out of his mouth, didn't matter anymore. His sudden, jarring change of heart, his newfound reluctance to move forward with the project—it couldn't just be about Kayden's reputation. Kayden was avictimin all of this, for goodness' sake!
A cold, hard clarity began to crystallize in her mind. This wasn't bad timing for any building authority. This was calculated. She stalked through the aging, historic building, her boot heels striking the marble floor with sharp, angry clicks. Her all-black leather ensemble—a suit of armor she'd worn for confidence—seemed to ripple across the grand, antique mirrors lining the lobby, her reflection multiplying into an advancing army. She was only speculating, a voice in her head cautioned, but she crushed it. This was no time for doubt.
As much as she dreaded the very thought of it, a conversation with Maureen needed to be had. Immediately. This sudden, convenient roadblock, this unseen hand pulling strings to puta monkey wrench in the project, had the unmistakable, toxic signature of her future mother-in-law written all over it.
PAULA STOODNAKED in her bathroom mirror and examined her reflection, her own eyes looking back at her like those of a stranger. Her nerves weren't just scattered; they felt like live, thrumming wires just beneath her skin. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach, rubbing the soft, almost imperceptible swell.
She tried to imagine the life growing in there, this impossible, terrifying secret. She hadn't told a soul other than Garett, and his reactionkilledher. The memory of his face on FaceTime when she told him—the forced smile that didn't reach his eyes, the immediate, cold distance—was a fresh stab of pain every time she replayed it.
At a time when she should be screaming it from the rooftops, or at least sharing the crazy, joyful news with her mother, she couldn't. The thought of telling Maureen was laughable; her secret would be spilled all over town before she even finished getting the words out.
And the timing... God, the timing was just cruel. With Kayden and Lana’s recent, devastating loss, and the entire family still reeling from the fallout with Kim, announcing a pregnancy felt less like joy and more like another gut punch her brother and best friend didn’t deserve.
Paula pulled her plush robe over her still-damp body, the fabric feeling too heavy, too concealing. She walked out of the bathroom, the weight of the unsaid already pressing down on her. How long could she hide this? The morning sickness was just starting to creep in, and the bloating was undeniable.
Kayden and Lana would be heading to New York for a bit, which was a small, guilty mercy. It would help buy her time. It was also an excellent reason for her to travel home to LA to escape the suffocating atmosphere of Hamby for a while herself. She desperately missed Garrett, even if their last call had been strained. It felt like forever since she’d seen him, and she needed to look him in the eye and see what his real feelings were.
Tonight, she’d be staying at the Spence Hotel. She'd already packed an overnight bag, eager to give Kayden and Lana some desperately needed privacy. They hadn’t had a single quiet moment alone together since the hospital, and when Kayden had awkwardly, almost shyly, asked if she would split for the evening, she had been more than happy to.
She hoped, with a desperate ache in her chest, that they could make it through this. Thisrough patchdidn't even begin to cover it. Lately, the odds looked bleak. They’d both gone through absolute hell and back, fighting through lies, manipulation, and near-death to find their way to each other. She prayed, for both their sakes, that they didn't let all that pain and all that love fall apart now.
SHANE WESTWOOD KNELTinthe small, dank apartment and clasped the monitoring device around Kim’s ankle. A loud beep rang, then the red light turned green and stayed solid. He stood and glared into her face as he spoke.
“If you tamper with this in any way, you will return to jail to finish your sentence. If you walk more than ten feet away from this building outside of the allotted times, you will return to jail; if you cause any trouble to the residents in this building, you return to jail...,” he started.
“Yeah, I got it,” Kim interrupted rudely.
