Chapter 32
KAI
Morning comes slowly, and I haven’t slept at all.
I spent the night in Dad’s office with him and Donovan, taking turns watching the security feed of Samantha’s room while she cried herself into exhaustion and finally fell asleep around three in the morning.
The image of her curled up on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself is burned into my brain, and I can’t decide if I want to comfort her or make her hurt the way she’s hurt us.
Maybe both.
The sun rises over the mountains, painting the snow pink and gold through Dad’s office windows, and I feel the familiar tightness building in my chest. I take my medication dry, swallowing the pills without water while Dad reviews his notes and Donovan stares at nothing with hollow eyes.
We’re all exhausted, running on rage and betrayal and the kind of hurt that comes from loving someone who might have been lying the entire time.
“Breakfast in thirty minutes,” Dad says, checking his watch. “We let her sit through the meal. Let her think everything’s normal. Then we confront her.”
“And if she runs?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
“She won’t run. She has nowhere to go, and she knows it.” Dad closes his laptop and stands, rolling his shoulders like he’s preparing for a fight. “Get cleaned up. Both of you. We do this together, and we do it right.”
I head to my room and shower quickly, letting the hot water ease some of the tension from my shoulders while my mind races through everything we learned last night.
Robert Allen works for Volkov. Samantha was potentially planted here to gather intelligence. The baby she’s carrying might be ours or might be part of some deeper manipulation I can’t even comprehend.
By the time I’m dressed and heading to breakfast, my chest is tight again, but this time it’s not from my heart condition. It’s from the weight of what’s about to happen.
Samantha is already in the dining room when I arrive, sitting in her usual spot with coffee in front of her and dark circles under her eyes that say she slept about as well as we did.
She looks up when I walk in, and I see fear flash across her face before she hides it behind a weak smile. “Morning,” she says, and her voice is rough from crying.
“Morning.” I take my seat across from her and pour myself coffee, watching her hands shake slightly as she lifts her mug to her lips.
She knows. She has to know that something’s wrong. The question is whether she’ll try to run or if she’ll face what’s coming.
Dad enters next, followed by Donovan, and we all settle into our seats with the kind of silence that feels like the calm before a storm. Staff brings out breakfast, setting plates in front of us before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Samantha pushes eggs around her plate without eating them, and I remember doing the same thing just days ago when I was trying to figure out what was bothering her.
Now I know, and the knowledge sits in my stomach like poison.
“How did you sleep?” Dad asks her, his voice conversational and light in a way that makes my skin crawl because I know what’s underneath it.
“Fine,” she lies, and the word hangs in the air between us.
“Good. We have something we need to discuss with you after breakfast.” Dad cuts into his bacon with deliberate precision, not looking at her. “Nothing urgent. Just some questions that have come up.”
Her fork clatters against her plate, and when I look at her face, I see pure terror there before she manages to school her expression into something neutral. “Questions about what?”
“We’ll discuss it after we eat.” Donovan’s voice is cold, and I see her flinch at the tone.
The rest of breakfast passes in excruciating silence, with Samantha barely touching her food and the three of us eating mechanically while the tension builds until I can barely breathe through it.
My chest is aching again, that familiar pain radiating down my arm, but I ignore it because this is more important than my failing heart.
Finally, Dad sets down his napkin and looks directly at Samantha. “We know about Robert.”
The color drains from her face so quickly, I think she might pass out, and her hands grip the edge of the table like she’s trying to anchor herself to something solid. “What?”
“Robert Allen. Your stepfather. The man you met with last night at the main resort.” Dad’s voice is still calm, but there’s steel underneath it now.
“We know about his connection to the Volkov operation. We know about his gambling debts and his criminal activities. And we know that you’ve been in contact with him throughout your time here. ”
“I can explain—” she starts, but Donovan cuts her off.
“Then explain. Explain why you came here. Explain what you were supposed to do. Explain every lie you’ve told us since you walked through our door.” His voice is sharp enough to cut, and I see tears building in her eyes.
She’s shaking now, her whole body trembling like she’s about to fall apart, and when she speaks, her voice comes out broken. “I thought you destroyed my mother’s company. I thought you killed her.”
The confession hangs in the air, and I feel something crack in my chest that has nothing to do with my heart condition.
“Robert told me that Grant’s conglomerate crushed her clothing business and that the stress killed her.
” The words tumble out faster now, desperate and raw.
“He showed me documents and evidence, and I believed him because I was grieving and angry and I needed someone to blame. He suggested I get close to Logan, and I did because I thought it would give me access to your family. I thought I could find proof of what you did and make you pay for it.”
“So you came here to destroy us,” Dad says, and it’s not a question.
“Yes.” The word is barely a whisper. “I came here to destroy you. I stayed with Logan even though he was cheating because I needed the access. I accepted your job offer because it gave me more opportunities to gather information. I’ve been lying about everything since I arrived.”
“And the baby?” I hear myself ask, and my voice sounds distant. “Is that part of the lie too?”
“No!” She looks at me with those dark eyes full of tears and desperation.
“The baby is real. The pregnancy was an accident, and I didn’t know what to do because I came here to destroy you, and instead I—” She breaks off, sobbing now.
“Instead, I fell in love with all of you, and I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done. ”
“You fell in love with us,” Donovan repeats, and I can’t tell if he believes her or not.
“I did. I do.” She’s crying so hard she can barely speak.
“Everything started as a lie, but it became real somewhere along the way, and now Robert is threatening to expose me if I don’t give him the information he wants, and I can’t do that to you, but I also can’t lose you, and I don’t know what to do. ”
“What information does he want?” Dad’s voice cuts through her breakdown.
“Offshore account numbers. Names of criminal associates. Evidence of money laundering he can use to take you down.” She wipes at her tears with shaking hands.
“He’s working for Volkov. He orchestrated my entire relationship with Logan to get me close to you.
Everything he told me about my mother was a lie.
She was already failing before you got involved.
Robert married her to use her business for money laundering, and when it became a liability, he used it to pay off his gambling debts. To your organization, actually.”
The pieces click into place, and I feel rage burning through the hurt.
“He manipulated your grief,” I say slowly. “Turned you into a weapon and pointed you at us.”
“Yes.” She’s looking at me now, and I see genuine remorse in her eyes. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know until last night when he told me the truth. Everything I believed about you was a lie that Robert fed me, and I was too broken to question it.”
“And the abortion pills?” Dad asks quietly.
Her face goes white, and I see panic flash across her features. “How did you—”
“We know everything, Samantha. Every lie. Every secret. Every plan.” Dad leans forward, and his voice is dangerously soft. “So I’ll ask you again. The abortion pills. Why?”
“Because I thought I couldn’t have a baby for men I came here to destroy.
” The words come out in a rush. “Because I was terrified and guilty, and I didn’t know if I deserved this life or this family or any of it.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t take them.
I just hid them in my drawer and tried to figure out what to do. ”
Silence fills the dining room, heavy and suffocating, and I watch her fall apart in front of us while my own heart is breaking and reforming into something harder.
“Please,” she whispers, looking between the three of us with desperate eyes.
“Please don’t throw me out. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m begging you not to make me leave.
I’ll do anything. I’ll tell you everything Robert wanted.
I’ll help you take him down. Just please don’t make me go. ”
Dad stands slowly, and she flinches like she thinks he’s going to hit her. Instead, he walks around the table and grips her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
“We’re not throwing you out,” he says, and I see relief flood her face before he continues. “But you need to understand that lying to this family has consequences. Betrayal has consequences. And you’re going to learn exactly what those consequences are.”
“I understand,” she says quickly. “Whatever you want. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Good.” Dad releases her chin and steps back.
“Because we’re going to show you exactly who you belong to now.
We’re going to make sure you understand that you’re ours, regardless of why you came here or what you intended to do.
And you’re going to prove to us that you’re done with Robert and his revenge plan. ”
I watch understanding dawn in her eyes, followed by fear and something that might be anticipation, and I feel that dark satisfaction spreading through my chest.
She lied to us. Betrayed us. Came here with the intention of destroying everything we’ve built.
But she’s ours now, and we’re going to make damn sure she never forgets it.