Chapter Six KAI'S POV

Derek arrived with two witnesses, his assistant and a paralegal from the firm's office,  and a folder of paperwork he'd somehow compiled in thirty minutes. I didn't ask how. That was why I paid him.

Isla stood beside me in the clerk's waiting area, still holding her portfolio. She hadn't let go of it since the construction site. I think it was the only thing making her feel normal.

"Westbrook?" The clerk called our names.

The ceremony lasted eight minutes. Sign here, initial there, raise your right hand, do you, does she. A stranger pronounced us married and stamped a document.

That was it.

I slid a ring onto Isla's finger that Derek had sourced from god knows where,  a simple gold band, placeholder jewelry,  and she looked down at it with an expression I couldn't read.

"Congratulations," Derek said, and at least he had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable about the circumstances.

Outside on the steps, Isla finally released her portfolio and sat down on a bench. I sat beside her.

"Married before lunch," she said.

"I'll get you a better ring."

"That's what you're focused on right now?"

"I'm focused on everything." I pulled out my phone. Three missed calls from Thomas. One from Elena with a voicemail that was probably an apology. Nothing from Brandon, which meant he was either backing off or planning something worse. "My security team picked up footage from the third floor of the construction site. The man in the suit used a visitor badge registered to Mitchell Properties."

Isla closed her eyes. "So he planned it."

"He wanted you to see him. Wanted you to be scared." I watched her face. She was holding herself very still, the way people do when they're trying not to fall apart. "You're not going back to your apartment."

"I know."

"My building has—"

"I know, Kai." She opened her eyes. "I'm not arguing about logistics right now. I'm just…sitting with the fact that I got married this morning."

I didn't have anything useful to say, so I said nothing.

After a moment she asked, "What happens now? With the company?"

"I'll send the marriage certificate to Thomas's lawyers today. That should kill the Monday board meeting." I paused. "Elena called."

"Are you going to answer?"

"Later." I didn't have the patience for my sister right now, even if her situation with my father was more complicated than betrayal. She'd been caught between his money and her conscience for years. I understood it. Didn't make it easier. "Marco is going to be a problem."

Isla laughed, short and humorless. "He's going to lose his mind."

"I know."

"He's your best friend."

"I know that too."

She turned to look at me directly. "Is that why you waited? All this time. Because of Marco?"

I held her gaze. "Yes."

"And Sarah?"

I'd been expecting that since Derek told her. I'd planned to shut it down, redirect, and change the subject. Instead I heard myself say, "Sarah was a good person who deserved better than what I gave her. She wanted to build a life with me and I couldn't give her what she needed because I was already—" I stopped. "It wasn't fair to her. None of it was."

"You've been punishing yourself."

"Derek talks too much."

"He told me because he wanted me to understand why you are the way you are." She didn't look away. "I'm not a replacement for guilt, Kai. I can't be the person you protect to make up for what happened to her."

The words landed harder than she probably intended.

"That's not what this is."

"You said that last night too."

"Because it's true." I turned to face her fully. "I have been a lot of things about you, Isla. Guilty isn't one of them."

A beat of silence stretched between us.

Her phone buzzed. We both looked at it.

Brandon again. This time just a photo — the two of us on the city hall steps, taken seconds ago from across the street.

He was still watching.

I stood immediately, scanning the street. Derek was already on his phone. My security lead answered on the first ring and I gave him the location, told him to sweep the block.

"He's gone," Derek said two minutes later, relaying information from the team. "Had a car waiting."

Isla stood beside me, looking at the photo on her phone. Her ex-boyfriend had just photographed her wedding.

"I want to go somewhere," she said quietly. "Not your apartment, not mine. Somewhere he doesn't know about yet."

"I have a place in the West Village. Off the grid, registered under a holding company. We can go there tonight."

She nodded.

"I need to get my things from my apartment first."

"My team can—"

"I'll do it myself." Her voice was firm. "I'm not letting him take that from me too. I'll go with your security, fine. But I'm packing my own bags."

I recognized the line she was drawing. "Okay."

Derek walked over. "I've got the marriage certificate filed. The board is notified. Thomas's lawyers acknowledged receipt." He paused. "Richard Crane's office called your assistant twenty minutes ago requesting a meeting."

"Crane knows already?"

"Seems like it." Derek's expression was careful. "The Brandon connection gives Crane eyes on Isla's situation. If Mitchell told him about the marriage—"

"Then Crane sees an opportunity," I finished. "He'll try to leverage it somehow. Claim the marriage is fraudulent, that I did it to satisfy the clause." I looked at Derek. "How solid are we legally?"

"The marriage is legal. The certificate is real." Derek shrugged. "The motivation might be questionable but that's not illegal."

"Set up a meeting with Crane for Tuesday. I want to know what he thinks he has."

Derek left to make arrangements.

Isla stood at the top of the steps, looking down at the street where Brandon's car had been parked minutes ago. She had her portfolio tucked under her arm again.

"You know this gets more complicated before it gets simpler," she said.

"I know."

"Crane, your father, Marco finding out, the project—"

"I know, Isla."

She finally looked at me. "I'm not fragile. Whatever's coming, I want to be part of handling it. Not protected from it."

I nodded once. "Agreed."

She walked down the steps. "Then let's go get my stuff. I'm not leaving my good shampoo behind because of Brandon Mitchell."

I followed her.

Married before lunch, with a business rival circling and a stalker declaring war. And somehow I felt steadier than I had in five years.