Page 114 of Branded

“Adam’s sister,” Caroline says without preamble. “Someone tried to grab her this morning. At the house in Austin. Adam got to them before security did, he fought them off, but they know where we put her. They know she’s under our protection.”

“Jesus Christ.” Sebastian’s hand goes to his hair. “How?”

“We’re trying to figure that out. But Sebastian, if they know where we moved them”—Caroline’s eyes cut to me—“and about other things, we’ve got a serious problem.”

“So what do we do?” I ask. “Run? Hide? Let them control us through fear?”

“We end this,” Sebastian says, his voice hard, the way I haven’t heard it for weeks. “We go to Marshall, directly. And we settle this once and for all before anyone else gets hurt.”

“That’s suicide,” Caroline says. “They’re expecting aggression. They’ll be ready.”

“Then we don’t go aggressive. We go smart. We negotiate. Figure out what they actually want and whether we can give it to them without losing everything.” Sebastian looks at each of us. “But first, we need to know what they know. About the auction, about the contract, about everything. We need that information before we make any moves.”

“How do we get it?” Nathaniel asks.

“We ask them.” Sebastian pulls out his phone. “I’m calling Marshall. Setting up a meeting. Face to face. No ambushes, no games. Just a simple fact-finding call that may lead to negotiation.”

“You can’t be serious,” Caroline starts.

“I’m completely serious. They threatened my wife. Used a sixteen-year-old girl as leverage. They’ve shown they’ll cross any line to win.” Sebastian’s voice is ice. “So we end this. Now. Before they do something we can’t come back from.”

He walks into his office, already dialing, leaving the three of us standing in the living room.

“This is a mistake,” Caroline says quietly. “Meeting with them. Showing weakness.”

“Maybe,” Nathaniel agrees. “Or maybe it’s the only way to stop this from becoming an actual war.”

I don’t say anything. Just stand there trying to process everything that happened in the last hour. And Sebastian’s response, not to threaten back, but to try to end this through conversation.

It’s either the smartest thing he’s ever done. Or it will get us both killed.

* * *

I lie in bed unable to sleep, hyperaware of every sound outside. Every rustle of wind through trees. Every creak of the house settling. Every distant sound that could be someone approaching.

Sebastian is awake too. I can tell from his breathing, from the tension in his body beside me.

“They’re not going to try anything tonight,” he finally says. “It’s too risky. They got their message across. Now they’ll wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For us to make a mistake. Show weakness. Give them an opening.” He rolls toward me. “But we’re not going to. We’re going to handle this smartly. Carefully. And then it’ll be over.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No. But I have to believe it. Because the alternative…” His voice catches. “The alternative is you getting hurt because I made you a target.”

“I’m not a target, Seb.”

“You are, if he’s been watching, he knows you are the way to get to me. Because if anything happens to you, I don’t know how I’ll survive.” He pulls me into his arms, and I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heart hammer.

“This isn’t your fault,” I whisper.

“Yes, it is. All of it. I caused Marshall to retaliate after that land deal, the threats, the danger. I brought all this to the doorstep because I did everything I could to run him out of this county.” He touches my face gently. “And I’ll fix it. Whatever it takes, I’ll fix this.”

“We’ll fix it,” I correct him. “Together.”

36