Chapter Five

Cole’s Pov

My phone rang at exactly 2:17 p.m. Only one person ever called this number, and I answered immediately.

“What happened?”

Nate didn’t bother with greetings. “She’s here.”

I closed my eyes. Of course she was. “Where?”

“At headquarters.”

No surprise there. “What happened, Nate?”

A long silence followed—never a good sign. Then he sighed heavily.

“I might have said something.”

I sat up straight. “What did you say?”

Another pause, and I was already reaching for my keys. “Damn it, Nate.”

“I told her you didn’t disappear.”

I was already on my feet. “You what?”

“I also told her the family got rid of you.”

For a moment I genuinely considered hanging up. Not because I was angry, but because I needed a second to process the level of chaos my younger brother had just created.

“Nate.”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

“I know,” he repeated, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was exactly why Nate and I got along—and exactly why he was dangerous. He had a habit of telling the truth at the worst possible moment.

“What was Roman’s reaction?”

Nate laughed, and that wasn’t a good sign. “About what you’d expect.”

Fantastic. Just fantastic. I grabbed my jacket. “I’m coming.”

“You shouldn’t.”

That made me stop. “What?”

“I mean it.”

The humor had disappeared from Nate’s voice, replaced by something heavier. Genuine concern. “Victor’s moving.”

My stomach tightened immediately. Victor Hale—the family fixer, the man responsible for cleaning up Calloway messes. Including mine.

“What did he do?”

“He pulled Sienna’s employment file.”

I froze completely. “What?”

“He accessed it this morning.”

Every muscle in my body locked. That wasn’t good. Not even a little. Victor never looked at people without a reason, and when Victor became interested in someone, problems followed. Big problems.

“What else?”

“He pulled Ava’s records too.”

My blood ran cold as the silence stretched between us. Then Nate quietly said the words I’d been dreading for four years: “Someone knows about the kid.”

For a second I couldn’t breathe. Not Ava. Anyone but Ava. I had spent years making sure she stayed invisible, safe, away from the family, away from Eleanor, away from everything connected to the Calloways. And now someone knew.

“Damn it.”

“That’s not even the worst part.”

I closed my eyes. Of course it wasn’t. “What now?”

“The worst part is Victor didn’t tell Roman.”

That got my attention immediately. Because Victor told Roman everything—everything. If he was hiding this, he had a reason. And I didn’t like any of the possibilities.

************

An hour later I was driving toward the city. I hadn’t planned on returning. Not today. Not this week. Maybe not this year. But plans stopped mattering the second Ava became involved.

The road blurred beneath me while my thoughts moved faster than the car. Victor knew. Or suspected. Which meant the timeline had accelerated dramatically. Years of distance, years of hiding, years of careful planning—all gone just like that.

My phone buzzed again. This time it was Priya, and I answered through the car speakers.

“Please tell me you’re not driving into a disaster.”

“I’m driving into a disaster.”

She sighed heavily. “I knew it.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“Not when it comes to Ava.”

Silence followed, then—“Okay.”

I glanced at the dashboard. “Okay?”

“I understand.”

That surprised me. Priya rarely agreed with my reckless decisions. “I thought you’d argue.”

“Oh, I still think you’re making a mistake.”

There it was.

“Good.”

“But if someone is looking into your daughter, sitting in a cabin isn’t helping.”

Exactly. That was exactly the problem. I couldn’t protect Ava from forty miles away. Not anymore.

Back at Calloway Industries, Sienna was having the worst day of her life—at least that’s what it looked like from the security footage I shouldn’t have been watching.

Nate had sent me access, and once I saw her face, I couldn’t look away. She was sitting at her desk, trying to work, failing completely. Her mind was clearly somewhere else, probably replaying what Nate had told her. I didn’t blame her. The truth was insane—the woman she’d spent one night with was the missing twin brother of her billionaire boss. Nobody would process that quickly.

My chest tightened when I saw her rub her eyes in frustration. She looked exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed. And somehow that felt like my fault too. Maybe it was.

The screen suddenly changed to a new camera angle—the lobby. I frowned and sat forward. Victor had just entered the building. Not unusual in itself, except he wasn’t alone. A woman walked beside him, elegant and expensive and undeniably dangerous.

My stomach dropped instantly.

Eleanor.

I hadn’t seen my mother in almost two years, yet I recognized her immediately. Same flawless appearance. Same controlled expression. Same terrifying ability to make everyone around her nervous. Especially me.

“What are you doing here?” I muttered as I watched them step into a private elevator. Then the feed disappeared.

A very bad feeling settled in my chest.

********************

Meanwhile, Sienna was gathering her things as her shift finally ended. Her brain couldn’t handle another second inside the building. She needed air, answers, maybe wine. Definitely wine.

As she exited the elevator, her phone buzzed. Unknown number. Again.

Fear immediately tightened her stomach, and for several seconds she considered ignoring it. Then she answered.

“Hello?”

This time there was no disguised voice, no threat, no silence. Only a woman—older, calm, elegant, dangerous.

“Miss Vale.”

Sienna stopped walking. The woman somehow knew her name.

“Who is this?”

A soft pause followed. Then: “My name is Eleanor Calloway.”

The world seemed to stop. Sienna’s heart began pounding because everybody knew that name, Roman and Cole’s mother, one of the most powerful women in the country. And somehow she was calling her directly.

“I think,” Eleanor said with perfect composure, “it’s time we discussed your daughter.”

The line went silent.

And Sienna forgot how to breathe.