“About any of it.” She moves closer, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She’s dressed like she’s going to brunch, not participating in a kidnapping. Designer dress, perfect hair, flawless makeup. “You came home and everyone just fell in line. Charles gave you power in the organization. Jace, Cal, and Silas circled you like sharks. Even your mother came back to the estate. Everything just worked out for Parker Carter.”
There’s venom in her voice now. Bitterness that I’m only just hearing for the first time.
“While I,” she continues, pulling up a chair and sitting across from me like we’re having tea, “I got shoved into a guest house like a piece of furniture Dominic left behind. Given a monthly allowance like a child. Treated like I’m too stupid to understand what’s happening around me.”
Understanding starts to dawn. Cold and terrible.
“You,” I say slowly. “You set this up. The video call. The kidnapping. This was you.”
“Finally catching on.” Aria crosses her legs, perfectly poised. “Though I had help. Ryan’s been very useful. Motivated by his own ambitions, of course, but useful nonetheless.”
“Why?” The word comes out harder than I intend, anger bleeding through. “Why do this? If you wanted a role in the organization, if you wanted Charles to take you seriously, attacking my children isn’t exactly a stellar resume builder.”
She laughs. Actually laughs, the sound bright and sharp. “Because asking doesn’t work, Parker. Because I’ve been asking for four years and no one listens. Charles looks right through me. Your mother pities me. The entire organization treats me like I’m just Dominic’s pretty widow who doesn’t understand business.”
“So you decided to prove you’re dangerous instead of capable?”
“I decided to prove I’m both.” She leans forward slightly, and I can see the intelligence in her eyes now. The calculation. The competence everyone missed because they were too busy dismissing her as arm candy. “I built the deepfake that lured you here, Parker. Me. Not some hired tech expert. Me. I spoofed Cal’s number, cloned his face, synthesized the voices. All me.”
My blood runs cold. “You’re Ryan’s partner in this and better with IT than we thought. You’re the one who’s been building his network, coordinating the attacks, and staying ten steps ahead.”
“And Charles never suspected.” There’s satisfaction in her voice, pride even. “Because I’m just Aria. Just the trophy wife. Just the woman who cares about shoes and shopping and which charity gala to attend.”
She’s right. We all underestimated her. Completely.
“You attacked children,” I say, my voice going flat and hard. “Noah, Liam, Jimmy, Lottie. You put four five-year-olds in danger at that park.”
“I sent a message,” she corrects, like there’s a meaningful difference. “No one was supposed to get hurt. The snipers had orders to miss. It was about showing that the Carter protection isn’t as solid as everyone thinks. That there are cracks.”
“It was about revenge,” I counter. “About making me suffer because you’re pissed at Charles for treating you like furniture.”
“I’m angry at all of you!” Aria’s composure cracks slightly, real emotion bleeding through. “You got everything, Parker. The organization, the power, three men who worship you, children who are loved and protected. What did I get? A guest house and dismissal.”
“You married my father for power,” I point out. “That was your choice.”
“My father married me to Dominic to cover his debts!” Aria’s voice rises. “I was twenty-one years old, pulled out of Ohio State, forced to marry a man decades older who saw me as property. I didn’t choose that, Parker. It was chosen for me.”
For a moment, I see it. The parallel between us. Both of us trapped by the organization, by men who made choices for us, by a system that values women for their relationships to powerful men rather than their own capabilities.
The difference is, I got out. I ran, had my children, built a life away from it all.
Aria stayed. And festered.
“I’m sorry,” I say, and I mean it. Some of it, at least. “I’m sorry my father did that to you. I’m sorry Charles treated you the same way Dominic did, like you’re a problem to manage instead of a person with value. But hurting my children isn’t the answer. Kidnapping me isn’t going to make Charles respect you.”
“Don’t,” she warns, her voice going cold as she turns back to face me. “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Parker. You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Then tell me.” I lean forward as much as the zip ties allow. “Tell me what this is really about. Because I don’t think this is about the organization or Charles or even revenge.”
“This isn’t about making Charles respect me anymore.” Aria stands, walking to the window. “This is about showing all of you that dismissing people has consequences. That underestimating someone can be fatal.”
Aria’s expression shifts. Something raw and painful flashing across her face before she locks it down again.
“You just couldn’t stay away,” she says, her voice shaking slightly. “You had to come back.”
“This is about me getting a job you wanted?” I ask, trying to piece it together.
“This is about you getting everything I wanted!” Aria’s voice rises. “Including a man who is so incapable of love, but can’t seem to get over his obsession with you!”
