“Personally,” Roman says, “I think she has a deeply troubled one-sided connection to you, but she still needs you—your connections—the O’Connell name and money—and she panicked. We’ve pulled communications from her location. Most of the supporters who have helped her get to this point are running scared.” I glare in his direction, and he nods, only once. “We know who they are now, and we have men closing in on them.”
“Or with you and Valen gone, who would be left to contradict Terra’s story?” Grant is back in bossy big brother mode, but it isn’t helping this time. “You’re the last known living O’Connell heir, Clover. With you and Valen gone, she could claim that our mother held her hostage for fourteen years—paint herself as the victim while using the O’Connell and Harrington names and wealth as leverage to gain everything she’s ever wanted.”
“Because she’s technically my next of kin…” Valen bites out.
“It’s just about money and power for her,” I whisper.
“We believe our mother was covering up a lot of shit in the name of keeping you both safe,” Chase says, and I can see how much that pains him. These men thought their mother was a saint, someone who could do no wrong, and each lie they uncover leads them to a woman they never fully knew.
“Meaning,” Sterling says carefully, “our mother kept this information almost entirely to herself.”
“Terra believes she was owed this life,” I say slowly, the pieces clicking into place with sickening clarity. “If she can’t get it with me by her side, she’ll get rid of me to claim it.”
I tap my thigh, focusing on the rhythm while my mind sifts through the noise. “Brooks chose my mother over Terra. Vivi took Edward, then Valen. Every person Terra ever wanted chose someone else. In her mind, she’s not the villain—she’s the victim finally claiming what was stolen from her.”
I look at Valen, my stomach churning. “That’s why she’ll never stop. This isn’t only about greed. It’s not even about me or who she thinks I represent. It’s about revenge dressed up as destiny.”
The room spins.
“I can’t—” I stand, needing to move, to breathe. “This is— I write thrillers.” Do I though? Or am I simply regurgitating the horrors of a life I forced myself to fictionalize? “I know how these stories go. The innocent person always gets caught in the crossfire. The shadowy organization eliminates loose ends.” I cast a pleading glance at Grant. He must know this, right? “Are we loose ends?”
“No.” There’s not a millisecond of hesitation in Grant’s response.
“Whatever Aunt Vivi was doing,” Valen says, standing too, “it was to keep us safe. I know that in my heart.”
“While lying to you about your not-dead mother,” I point out, my voice rising as anger creeps in. “While keeping me away from you. How do we know she isn’t lying about this too?”
My anger curls like fire—the deadly kind. Except now I know what it is, this manic, angry force growing with each breath. It’s not hysteria, it’s power. It’s dedication. It’s fierce and just and ready to take control of my life for me—however it may happen.
I may have been a pawn for most of my life, but now I’m the queen who will control her story.
“Clover—”
I cut Valen off. “Your aunt allowed you to visit a mother she knew was dangerous.” The words explode out of me. “She had you writing in a fucking journal, spying, collecting evidence. That’s not protection, that’s—that’s?—”
“Complicated, Clover,” Chief says quietly. He’s been silent this whole time, watching me with a pained expression. “The world ain’t black-and-white, kid. Sometimes good people do questionable things for the right reasons.”
“Or wrong ones dressed up to fit an agenda,” I counter.
“Perhaps,” he concedes. “But it worked. You’re alive. You’re here. And now we gotta figure out how to keep it that way.”
I bite my tongue so I don’t curse at his logic.
“Listen, kid.” Chief places his weathered hands on my shoulders. “Parenting is the hardest, scariest job in the world. You always make mistakes. But when the stakes are this high?” He shakes his head while meeting my gaze with loyal truth. “I’m honestly surprised Vivi didn’t make more. The pressure she must have been under… Just remember, Clover. Life is always told in three versions. His side, her side, and the truth. From where I’m standing, it sounds to me like Vivi did the best she could in an unfathomable situation.”
I sink back onto the bed. The anger swirling through me is still there, but so is exhaustion—a lifetime of it I’m finally ready to release.
If what they’re saying is true, Valen isn’t the only forgotten billionaire in the room, and I don’t know how to process any of that.
“What do we do, then?” I’m not whispering. I’m not shouting either. This, I realize, is my voice—clear and strong and here to stay. “Terra has resources we can’t begin to understand because she’s been scheming for years. How do we fight someone like that?”
The room falls into silence for a long moment, and Valen lowers himself to the bed beside me.
It’s Chase who speaks up. “We stop running.”
All eyes turn to him, and he shrugs.
“Think about it,” he continues. “We’ve been reacting. Running from safe house to safe house to get ahead of her. But she’s been a step ahead of us the entire time because she expects us to protect you—and she expects us to run to do it.”
