“My gut tells me if Malin had anything about President Troy or Jared and Sophie, or records on the girls funneled through Maribel Island, that building is where he’d have kept it.”
A chill ripples through me, sharper than the dawn air.
Magnus Troy—the man sitting in the Oval, powerful and seemingly untouchable.
Jared Whiteman—the beginning of it all, the predator whose sins we were born to bear.
Sophie Delacroix—the woman in hiding pulling the strings.
And the girls—the ones lost to men like Whiteman, Malin, and Troy, their futures stolen before they began. Their children ripped from their wombs and raised in the hands of monsters.
“If Malin is the key, like we believe he is,” I say slowly, “then that warehouse could be the lockbox. And we need to break it open before anyone else knows we’ve found it.”
Jules arches a brow. “Meaning we don’t loop in the mafia siblings or Hudson when he wakes?”
“Exactly.”
Silence stretches. Luna stares into her coffee like it might give her an easier answer. Jules weigh the pros and cons in her mind.
“Enzo’s already pulling away,” I whisper. “He blames himself for getting Hudson and Eva involved with us. He regrets getting close to me, I can tell.”
“He’ll come around—” Luna starts.
I shake my head. “Maybe, but we promised we’d never drag anyone else into this mess. We broke that promise and it’s gotten someone I care about hurt. We sacrificed too much to get here to risk our goals and the lives of innocent people.”
The truth is even heavier than that. Jared’s ghost still haunts us. Sophie’s absence mocks us. Now the celebrity parties seem to be in operation again. And the gala is fast approaching.
In just over two weeks I face my past—once and for all.
“How do we walk away now?” Luna asks, interrupting my thoughts. “And what if I don’t want to?” she whispers.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I ask. “We weren’t supposed to want any of this. Not Enzo and Hudson. Not Eva. Not Jax, who is suddenly back in the picture.” Jules starts but I raise my hand. “He’ll be at your door any day, Jules, we all know it. And you probably want to see him again—no one would blame you—butwantingsomething means weakness. And weakness gets us killed. Or worse, it could getthemkilled. None of us are invincible against these men and their proximity to power. We learned that again tonight.”
It’s the real reason Jules walked away all those years ago. What she and Jax had was real, his ex was just an excuse. She got so close that she wanted to tell him the truth. She considered it then, but she knew it was too dangerous. So, she let him go. And she’s never let anyone close again.
None of us have.
I fold my arms across my chest, keeping my tone clipped. “Wewalk away because that’s what we’ve always done. Walls up. Circle tight. Survival.”
The three of us fall quiet. The sun edges over the horizon, painting us in light that feels too fragile for the mess we’re in.
Jules stands. “Here’s the plan. We focus on the warehouse for now. Luna, you’ll also need to find a way to cover Hudson at work. Keep him off the FBI’s radar until he’s walking again. I say Luna swings by the unit on the way back from HQ. Quickly. Quietly. No one sees you.”
Luna beams.
I put my mug down. “It should be me. I can do it.”
Luna interjects, “It’s an easy warehouse in and out, Pip, no reason it can’t be me. The warehouse is closer to my office, anyway.”
Jules and I always keep Luna out of harm's way as best we can. She’s the youngest of us, and we’ve always protected her more than ourselves, but this is important to her. I want to argue, but I choose not to. I’m fighting battles on too many fronts right now. “It’s your find, Luna. I agree, you should do it.”
She smiles with a small glint of appreciation.
“Pippa will be backup for you, and you’ll keep us apprised of your steps. Call if you need anything, at all. And I’ll keep us steady here and send updates on Hudson,” Jules says.
We all nod in agreement and the plan is set.
The sun crests the horizon, streaking gold across the stone patio, catching in Jules’s dark hair and Luna’s tired eyes. For a moment, we look like normal sisters drinking coffee at dawn, waiting for the day to start.
