Chapter 58: Blood Ties and Broken Lines

The address she sent burned itself into my mind long after the call ended.

I didn’t need to look at the screen again. I already knew I was going.

“No.” Elliot’s voice was sharper now, stripped of warmth, stripped of the man who had once tucked me into bed after my father’s funeral. “You’re not going anywhere near her.”

I laughed, hollow and raw. “You don’t get to give orders anymore.”

Marcus moved closer to Elliot, lowering his voice. “We can’t let her walk into a trap blind.”

“I’m not blind,” I snapped. “I’m finally seeing clearly.”

That hurt him. I saw it. And for a moment just a moment I almost felt guilty.

Almost.

My sister stepped in front of me, her hands shaking as she grabbed my arms. “You can’t go alone.”

“I’m not asking permission.”

Liam appeared at her side instantly, my sister’s mate’s presence steady, grounding. He didn’t touch me, didn’t try to stop me. He just studied my face with those sharp, calculating eyes.

“She’s right,” he said finally. “She won’t be alone.”

Elliot turned on him. “You’re agreeing with her?”

“I’m agreeing with reality,” Liam replied. “If she doesn’t go, the recording goes public. If it goes public, we lose control of the narrative.”

“And if she goes,” Elliot shot back, “she could die.”

Silence swallowed the room.

I swallowed hard, then lifted my chin. “Then we go prepared.”

Marcus exhaled slowly. “We need to talk about the recording.”

My pulse spiked. “What about it?”

“The part Elliot deleted,” Marcus said carefully. “You deserve to know what it contained.”

Elliot’s face drained of color.

“No,” he said quietly.

“Yes,” I countered, just as quiet and far more dangerous. “Tell me.”

He looked at me like he was memorizing my face, like he was already grieving.

“The deleted section implies I tipped Richard Hale off about your father’s investigation,” he said. “Not directly. But enough to accelerate events.”

My chest tightened painfully. “So because of you—”

“No,” he interrupted. “Because of him. Richard made the call. I never wanted your father hurt.”

“But you set the fire,” I whispered. “And walked away while it burned.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

“I trusted you,” I said. “You were my father’s best friend.”

“I still am,” he said hoarsely.

“No,” I replied. “You were.”

The drive there was tense, suffocating.

Marcus drove. Elliot sat beside him, rigid. My sister and Liam were in the back with me, though it felt like miles separated us.

I stared out the window as the city darkened, neon lights blurring together. The address led us to the old industrial district abandoned warehouses, cracked pavement, places secrets went to die.

“This feels symbolic,” I muttered.

“That’s her style,” Marcus said.

We parked two blocks away.

“Change of plan,” Elliot said. “I go in first.”

“No,” I replied instantly.

“She wants me,” he said. “I’m the leverage.”

“She wants me,” I corrected. “I’m the closure.”

I stepped out of the car before anyone could stop me.

The warehouse loomed ahead, its metal doors half-open, light spilling out like an invitation.

Or a warning.

Inside, it was warm. Too warm.

Candles lined the floor, their flames flickering against concrete walls. A single chair sat in the center.

And she was already there.

She looked exactly as she had on the screen elegant, composed, dangerous.

“Right on time,” she said, smiling. “You always were punctual. Just like your father.”

My stomach twisted.

“Don’t say his name,” I said.

She laughed softly. “Why not? He said mine plenty.”

Elliot stepped forward. “This ends tonight.”

“Oh, it does,” she agreed. “Just not how you think.”

She turned her gaze to me, eyes sharp. “Do you know what your father begged for?”

My hands clenched into fists. “Stop.”

“He begged for you,” she continued calmly. “He said your name over and over again.”

“Enough,” Liam growled.

She tilted her head. “You didn’t tell her everything, did you?”

Elliot stiffened.

“What else?” I demanded.

Her smile widened.

“Your father didn’t die because of the investigation,” she said. “He died because he refused to give me something.”

My heart thundered. “What?”

She reached into her coat and pulled out a small flash drive.

“Proof,” she said. “Proof that Elliot wasn’t just careless he was complicit.”

Elliot lunged.

The lights went out.

Screams echoed.

Gunshots rang.

Someone grabbed me from behind.

And in the darkness, her voice whispered against my ear

“You were never meant to survive this story.”

The warehouse erupted into chaos as I was dragged away, my scream swallowed by the dark

And for the first time, I didn’t know which of the three men would reach me first…

Or if any of them would.