“This isn’t fair,” I whisper. “You can’t just—we can’t do this right now. I have a board meeting in twenty minutes. I have to meet Ryan Matthews and pretend I don’t know you ran him out of state. I have to be professional and composed and?—”
“And you’re right,” Jace cuts in. “This isn’t the time. Tonight. After dinner. After the boys are asleep. We’ll talk. Really talk. About all of it.”
“About boundaries,” Silas adds. “About what you need from us. What we need from you.”
“About those boys,” Cal finishes. “Because whether you’re ready to talk about it or not, Parker, we’re their fathers. And that changes everything.”
My hands are shaking in my lap. My chest feels too tight. Six years of carefully constructed walls, of protection, of secrets—all of it crumbling in the back seat of an SUV before my first day of work.
“Okay,” I manage. “Tonight. We’ll talk tonight. But right now—” I straighten my blazer, wipe under my eyes carefully to preserve my makeup. “Right now, I need to be Chief Strategic Officer,Parker Carter. Not scared, single mom Parker. Can you give me that?”
“You’re not single,” Silas says.
“Silas—”
“You’re not,” he insists, turning to look at me fully. Those storm-gray eyes pin me in place. “You haven’t been single since the night of Charles’s wedding. You just didn’t know it yet.”
The possessiveness in his voice should terrify me. Should make me want to run again.
Instead, it just makes everything more complicated.
“Tonight,” Jace repeats firmly. “For now, we focus. You go into that meeting and show them exactly why Charles made you Chief Strategic Officer. Show them you’re not just his sister—you’re a force they need to reckon with.”
“And we’ll be right there,” Cal adds, pulling into the parking structure of the office building. “Not in the meeting—that’s your show. But close. Always close.”
The SUV slides into a designated spot. Charles’s vehicle parks beside us, guards already moving into formation. The building looms above us—all steel and glass and the weight of legacy I’m supposed to help rebuild.
I take a breath. Then another. Trying to find that competent, composed woman who looked back at me from the mirror this morning.
“Parker,” Cal says as he cuts the engine. “You’ve got this. Ryan Matthews is going to walk into that room and see exactly what he missed out on years ago. And then you’re going to spend the restof the day reminding everyone why underestimating a Carter is always a mistake.”
Despite everything—despite the tension, the revelations, the weight of secrets still hanging between us—I find myself smiling.
“Flattery?”
“Facts,” he corrects, turning to flash that devastating grin. “But if flattery gets you through the door, I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”
Jace opens his door, then mine, offering his hand to help me out. I take it, letting him pull me to my feet. His thumb brushes across my knuckles once—a silent you’re not alone—before he releases me.
Silas appears at my other side as we walk toward the elevator bay. He doesn’t touch me, but his presence is solid. Grounding. A reminder that whatever happens in that boardroom, I don’t have to face it alone.
Charles emerges from his vehicle with four guards flanking him. He looks every inch the head of an organization—tailored suit, confident stride, the kind of presence that makes people step aside without consciously deciding to.
“Ready?” he asks as we enter the elevator.
The doors close, trapping us in steel and mirrors and the weight of everything about to happen.
“No,” I admit. “But I’m doing it anyway.”
“That’s my girl,” Charles says, pride clear in his voice. “Let’s go remind them why our name means something.”
The elevator rises. My reflection stares back at me—composed, professional, ready.
Behind me, I can see all three of them. Jace’s careful control. Cal’s easy confidence. Silas’s quiet intensity.
My men.
God help me.
