Chapter Four

Sienna’s Pov

I didn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the voice again: “If you care about your daughter, stop looking for Cole Calloway.”

By three in the morning, I was sitting on my couch with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and my laptop balanced on my knees. The unknown number was disconnected—I’d already checked. Twice. Okay, maybe six times. The result was always the same: nothing. Whoever called me didn’t want to be found, and somehow that made it worse. Because normal people didn’t make anonymous threats.

I glanced toward Ava’s bedroom. The door was slightly open, and I could see the edge of her nightlight glowing. My chest tightened.

The call itself wasn’t what scared me. It was the mention of Ava. Someone knew she existed. Someone knew I was looking for Cole. Someone was watching. That thought followed me all night and straight into the next morning.

By the time I arrived at Calloway Industries, I was exhausted. I walked through the lobby clutching a large coffee and silently praying nobody spoke to me before nine.

The universe immediately ignored my request.

“Rough morning?”

I looked up to find Marco Reyes smiling at me. Great. Marco worked in operations and had this uncanny ability to know everybody. He was friendly. Too friendly.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked.

He winced. “A little.”

Wonderful. Marco handed me a second coffee, and I frowned.

“Why do you have two?”

“I bought one for myself.”

“And the other?”

“You look like you’re about to fight someone.”

I laughed despite myself. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

We stepped into the elevator together, and Marco glanced sideways at me. “You know everybody’s talking about you, right?”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“Nothing bad,” he said quickly, but that wasn’t reassuring.

“Then what?”

He grinned. “You’re the woman who made Roman Calloway stare.”

I nearly choked on my coffee. “What?”

“The entire executive floor noticed,” Marco laughed.

I wanted the elevator doors to open and swallow me whole. “You’re imagining things.”

“Nope.”

“Definitely imagining things.”

“Roman doesn’t stare at people,” I insisted.

He just shrugged as I groaned. “Please stop talking.”

Unfortunately, Marco seemed delighted by my suffering. When the elevator doors finally opened, I escaped. Barely.

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

The morning passed surprisingly fast—emails, meetings, project reviews, actual work. For almost two hours, I forgot about anonymous phone calls and missing billionaires.

Then my phone vibrated.

A text message from an unknown number made my blood run cold instantly. I opened it.

Only three words appeared on the screen: Leave it alone.

My stomach dropped. Again. No explanation, no signature, nothing—just a warning. Someone definitely knew what I was doing. The question was who.

I quickly looked around. Nobody seemed interested in me. Nobody seemed suspicious. Everyone was working, talking, typing, living their normal lives. Meanwhile mine was turning into a thriller movie.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and tried to decide. Maybe I should stop. Maybe June was right. Maybe this entire thing was a mistake.

Then I remembered Ava’s face—the shape of her eyes, the smile she inherited from a man she’d never met. No. I couldn’t stop. Not now. Not when I was finally getting close.

Around noon, my manager asked me to deliver documents to the executive floor. Of course. The universe hated me.

I grabbed the folder and headed upstairs. The executive level was quieter than the rest of the building and more expensive too. Everything looked polished, perfect, untouchable.

As I walked toward Roman’s office, voices drifted through an open conference room. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop—honestly. Then I heard a familiar name that made me freeze.

“Cole.”

Inside the room stood Roman and an older man I recognized from company photos: Douglas Calloway, the patriarch himself. Roman’s expression was hard, frustrated. Douglas looked tired and older than the pictures suggested. Much older.

“He needs to come back eventually,” Douglas said.

Roman’s jaw tightened. “Not my decision.”

“He’s your brother.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Silence followed—the kind of heavy silence that said too much. Douglas looked away first, which was interesting. Very interesting.

Roman continued, his voice controlled. “He left because nobody listened.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Isn’t it?”

The older man’s face darkened. I knew I should have walked away. I knew that. Instead I stood there, listening, trying to understand, trying to figure out who Cole really was.

Then someone cleared their throat behind me, and I nearly screamed.

I spun around to find Roman’s assistant standing there, looking unimpressed. Oops.

“Miss Vale?”

I held up the folder. “Documents.”

Smooth. Very smooth.

She pointed toward Roman’s office. “Leave them there.”

I practically ran.

A few minutes later, I stepped out of Roman’s office and stopped dead.

Someone was sitting in the waiting area. A young man, maybe mid-twenties, with dark hair and unmistakably Calloway eyes. The moment he saw me, he stood and stared, really stared. The same way I’d stared at Roman. Like he’d seen a ghost.

My pulse quickened. “What?”

The guy laughed softly. “Wow.”

Not helpful. “What?”

He shook his head. “You really don’t know.”

A strange feeling settled in my stomach. “Know what?”

The young man took a step closer, looking almost excited for a moment. Then the elevator doors opened behind him, and Roman stepped out. The young man’s expression immediately changed. Interesting.

“Nate,” Roman said sharply.

So this was Nate—the younger brother.

Nate looked between us, then smiled. But it wasn’t a happy smile. It was more like someone who had just figured out a puzzle and wished he hadn’t. Roman’s eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing here?”

Nate ignored the question. Instead, he looked directly at me, and my blood ran cold as he said something that stopped the entire hallway in its tracks.

“You should tell her the truth.”

Roman’s face hardened instantly. “Nate.”

But Nate wasn’t looking at him anymore. He was looking at me, and for the first time since I’d met him, there wasn’t a trace of amusement in his expression. Only genuine concern.

Then he said the words that turned my world upside down.

“The man you’re looking for didn’t disappear.”

My heart stopped.

Nate pointed directly at Roman, and quietly said…

“His family got rid of him.”