She kissed him. Slow and sweet, without the desperate edge of before. When they pulled apart, she stayed close, tracing idle patterns on his chest.
The glow from their marks had faded to a soft shimmer, but she could still feel the connection: a thread of warmth running between them.
But the question had been burning since her parents’ restaurant. Since Lilith’s knowing smile.
“Victor?”
“Mm?”
“We need to talk about Peterson Holdings.”
His hand stilled on her shoulder. The warmth in the room seemed to dim.
“Now?”
“I can’t stop thinking about what my parents said. Lilith has been planning this for fifteen years.” She lifted her head. “Since I was a kid. Since my grandmother died. Why? What’s so special about my family that she’d invest that much time?”
He was quiet. She watched his jaw tighten, watched the easy aftermath harden.
“I don’t know.” He paused. “And that terrifies me.”
“You’ve worked with her for how long?”
“Longer than you’ve been alive. Longer than your parents have been alive.”
“And you’ve never seen her do anything like this?”
“Long-term investments are her specialty, but this?” He shook his head against the pillow. “Fifteen years of cultivation.That level of patience, that commitment, all of it focused on you, on your family. It’s not her usual style.”
Ava sat up, pulling the sheet around herself. The ocean breeze felt cold now.
“But what makes my family a target? We’re not rich. We’re not powerful. We’re just…”
“I don’t know.” Victor sat up beside her, the sheet pooling at his waist. “But whatever it is, you’re central to it. You specifically.”
“I hadn’t even applied to law school when she gave them the line of credit.”
“No.” His eyes narrowed, calculating. “But your grandmother had just died.”
Her hand went to her chest, where the jade sent a low vibration through her fingertips.
“You think that’s what she’s after? The pendant?”
“Maybe. Or maybe she knew something about you. About what you could become.” He reached out, touched the jade where it lay against her collarbone. “Or about what your grandmother knew. The timing can’t be coincidence.”
“So she… what? Invested in my parents’ restaurant to have leverage over me years later?”
“Apparently.” His expression darkened. “And I didn’t see it coming.”
“How could you? We only met three weeks ago.”
“But Peterson Holdings is one of the firm’s clients. Part of Malphas’s portfolio. I’ve never worked on it directly, never had reason to look closely.” He ran a hand through his already-disheveled hair. “I should have paid more attention when Lilith mentioned it at that first dinner. Should have asked why she was so interested in a shell company that’s supposed to handle routine commercial lending.”
“You think she’s been using it without Malphas knowing?”
“I think she has access to it as a partner. And she’s been doing things with it that no one’s questioned closely enough.” He looked at her. “I need to get into the archives. Pull every Peterson Holdings file going back decades.”
“That’s thousands of files.”
