Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 31 - Chapitre 40

Gabby’s POVI didn’t get home until past lunch.Ethan brought me back because I had asked the driver to leave after he dropped me off at the café earlier. I didn’t want to call him again when Ethan was already right there. After the most awkward twenty minutes of my life at the restaurant…me shoving the box closed, hissing at him to get off his knees while phones recorded everything, then spending another ten minutes outside trying to convince him that was the stupidest idea he’d ever had…he finally drove me home on his motorcycle after like about an hour of us talking.We pulled up in front of the main building and sat there for a second in the sudden quiet after the engine cut off.“Well,” Ethan said, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish half-smile.“That happened,” I finished.We both laughed, the sound a little strained but real. It felt good to laugh after the chaos.“Gabriella!”My mother’s voice sliced across the courtyard like a whip. I turned sharply in surprise t

Aiden’s POVMrs Walter has a hobby of setting everything else on fire once she’s upset. She is calm, loving, and almost painfully reasonable. She never raises her voice first. Never threw a tantrum out of the blue.But, she has a way of making you regret the exact moment you decided to annoy her.A perfectly calm woman.Until she wasn't.Then she could burn the entire place down…and somehow stand in the middle of the flames looking completely innocent.And I’ve never been so happy with her. At this point, she’s my damn hero!Mr Walter started again and I held my breath as I glared hard at him. “Trish, honey…what are you even saying? I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry—” Mr. Walter took a step after them with pleading eyes.Oh he knows that he’s in big trouble.“I said what I said, Frederick! Maybe you should go stay with them for a few months so they can train you on how not to look down on your wife! How about that?!” She snarled. “And don’t you dare come anywhere close to me henc

Aiden’s POVThe café stayed locked.Even into the next day, the windows remained dark, the handwritten “Closed” sign untouched. I stayed in the area longer than I should have, parked half a block away at first, then walked the surrounding streets like a man with nowhere particular to be. Every time a car slowed near the café my pulse jumped. Every time a figure turned the corner I straightened, hoping it would be someone who worked there, someone who could tell me which hospital James Dudley’s wife had gone into labor at, or where the man himself lived.No one came.I asked around as carefully as I could. The woman at the dry cleaner three doors down, the old man sweeping outside the barber shop, and a teenager restocking produce at the small grocery. Each time I kept my voice light, almost bored, like I was just a customer disappointed about missing the best latte on this side of the city.The answers were all variations of the same thing.“Keeps to himself.” “Never talks much.”

Aiden’s POVHe showed me the message, then kept typing again.‘They already know someone is looking. It’s only a matter of time before they hurt the people you love. I love my family. I won’t put them at risk. Leave the past in the past.’Anger flared hot and immediate under my ribs as I read those words. “The past? I’m supposed to just let Abel’s death go? Who are ‘they’? Who are you afraid of? Who wiped the older kids out of the system and gave you all new identities?”Ben stood up so fast the bench scraped. His fingers flew across the screen once more.‘It was nice to see you, puppy but I have to go. My wife is waiting.’He glanced awkwardly over my shoulder. Whatever he saw…or whoever was there…made his eyes drop to the ground. He slid the dark glasses back on with hands that weren’t entirely steady.I turned to follow his gaze but there was no one there.When I looked back he was already stepping away. I shoved one of my cards into the inner pocket of his jacket before he could s

Gabby’s POV The road trip felt exactly like something straight out of a movie. Ethan blasted music the entire way…old throwbacks mixed with current hits, volume high enough that conversation had to be shouted over the bass. Windows down, wind in our hair, the kind of careless freedom that only existed when the city was finally behind you. Fiona sang off-key on purpose just to make Ethan laugh. Liam mostly watched the scenery with a quiet smile, occasionally chiming in with dry one-liners that somehow landed perfectly. We met the others at the gas station that had been our traditional rendezvous point for years. The second Ethan parked, doors flew open. Mila and Stacy launched themselves at me in a full-body hug that nearly knocked us all over. Georgie and Shawn did the classic bro-hug-and-back-slap routine with Ethan while Liam hung back politely until introductions were made. For a few minutes it was pure chaos…overlapping voices, laughter, someone complaining about the