Chapter 19
Through the Keyhole
Stone let Marigold through corridors she hadn’t explored yet. The architecture changed as they walked, becoming more utilitarian. Service areas, she realized, the behind-the-scenes spaces that kept the fantasy of this gothic palace functioning.
They emerged into what appeared to be a security office.
Banks of monitors showed feeds from every corner of the lodge, while communication equipment hummed quietly in the background.
Hunter was there, along with Ash and several men Marigold didn’t recognize—staff members, from their uniforms and bearing.
In the corner, beside a rather intense looking man she didn’t know, sat Katya.
Hunter’s smile held dark anticipation as he crossed the room to place a kiss on her lips. “Perfect timing. We were just going over the evening’s schedule.”
“Schedule?” Marigold asked.
“Your brother’s visit isn’t exactly social,” Ash explained, moving to pull her against his side.
“He’s coming with lawyers and security. According to the messages we were able to hack, he’s anticipating an unencumbered rescue.
You see, you were kidnapped and tonight, he’ll find you having another psychotic episode. ”
Marigold sucked in a sharp breath. “You want me to act psychotic.”
“No. We want you as far away from him as possible,” Stone growled. “Hunter’s only relaying what we’ve gathered from hacking your brother’s phone. His words, not ours.”
“But she wasn’t kidnapped,” Katya said, offended on her behalf. “Marigold has chosen to be here of her own free will.”
“Well, sort of.” She flinched when Ash pinched her ass.
“Watch it,” he warned.
Hunter met her worried stare with unwavering confidence. “We’re going to let him think whatever he wants. At least initially. That’s how irrelevant his feelings are in tonight’s outcome.”
“What do you need us to do?” Marigold asked.
The brothers exchanged looks loaded with meaning. Whatever they had planned, it was complex enough to require careful coordination.
“Nothing dangerous,” Hunter said finally. “We won’t put either of you at risk. But your presence, your testimony, that’s what makes this work.”
“Jordan needs to understand exactly what he did,” Stone explained. “Not just legally, but viscerally. He needs to feel what his victims felt.”
“Powerless,” Ash murmured.
“Trapped,” Stone added. “Unable to escape what’s coming.”
The implications sent fear tunneling through Marigold’s blood like ice chips.
They were going to break Jordan the same way he’d broken others.
There would most likely be violence, but also psychological domination.
She tried to picture the slow, inexorable stripping away of his control.
Wondered how he might act when cornered and outmaneuvered, laid bare, with nothing but naked vulnerability to protect him.
Just as she’d been unprotected and outnumbered when they strapped her to that table and sent one hundred and twenty volts of electricity through her.
She hoped when the guys were through with him, Jordan experienced the same convulsing helplessness Katya suffered, plus the fear Marigold felt every time the doctors at Whitmore put her through those electric shock sessions.
“Where will we be during all this?” Katya asked.
“Safe,” Stone said immediately. “Hidden. You’ll be able to see everything, but he won’t know you’re there until we’re ready.”
“Until he’s ready,” Hunter corrected with a predator’s grin.
The intimidating officer beside Katya stepped forward with a tablet. “Boat’s approaching the harbor, sir. ETA twenty minutes.”
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. “Good job, Cole.”
“Cole’s the head of security,” Ash whispered to Marigold, mouth warm against her ear. “He steps in when we’re preoccupied with the guests.”
The brothers moved with sudden purpose, checking equipment, confirming positions, preparing for battle. But it was Katya’s reaction that broke Marigold’s heart. The girl who’d been growing stronger by the minute suddenly went pale and rigid. Her breathing quickened, and her hands began to shake.
“He’s here?” she whispered. “He’s really here?”
All three brothers converged on her instantly, their protective instincts overriding everything else. The security officer looked back at her, appearing torn between his post and her response, but her bothers had her covered.
“Breathe, little bird,” Stone murmured, his hands framing her face. “Look at me. Just at me.”
“You’re safe,” Ash added, moving to her other side. “He can’t hurt you. Won’t hurt you. We won’t let him.”
“I know.” But Katya’s voice was thready, distant. “I know that. But my body... it remembers.”
Hunter crouched in front of his sister, holding her trembling hands in his massive grip. “Do you want it to stop? We can handle this without you, in other ways.”
“Or send you somewhere safe until it’s over,” Ash said.
“No.” The word came out with reaffirmed strength. “No, I need to do this. I need to face him.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” Stone said fiercely. “You don’t owe him confrontation. You don’t owe anyone your pain.”
“I owe myself.” Katya’s chin lifted with stubborn courage. “I owe that scared girl who couldn’t fight back. She deserves to see him brought down.”
The love between the siblings was so intense it was almost hard to witness. These dangerous, ruthless men became something entirely different around their sister—gentle, protective, willing to move mountains to keep her safe.
Marigold envied their bond. Their loyalty for each other was the polar opposite of Jordan’s disdain for her.
“Fifteen minutes,” Cole reported. “If little bird wants to go back to her wing, I should take her now.”
“What do you want to do, Kat?” Ash asked, brow pinched with worry for his surrogate sister.
Katya looked at the monitors, expression unsure.
Hunter stood, his expression shifting back to predatory focus. “Final positions. Remember, he thinks he’s in control until he isn’t. Let him get comfortable before we remind him whose territory this is.”
“Before we show him what happens to unwelcomed trespassers,” Stone sneered.
The staff, except for the lead officer, Cole, dispersed with military efficiency, leaving the family alone in the security office. Katya had stopped shaking, but Marigold could see the effort it cost her.
“Where will we be?” Marigold asked.
“The two of you will stay here, with Cole,” Hunter said. “Then, when it’s time, one of us will come to collect you. Do not open the door for anyone but me, Stone, or Ash. Do not leave this room alone or with anyone but us. Understand?”
Marigold nodded.
“Good. Cole’s fully armed. He’ll protect you.”
Cole’s gun cocked as if to confirm Hunter’s statement. These men were not playing around. No flashlights and segways for them. They were fully armed with guns, silencers, Kevlar, and blades.
“Is that weapon even legal?” she asked, eyeing the massive bazooka-looking thing hanging inside the hidden closet built into the wall.
Stone slammed it shut and typed in a code. “Legal by our laws. That’s all that matters.”
It worried her that they were confronting Jordan in street clothes with only small pistols tucked under their suit jackets.
“What if I freeze?” Katya asked quietly. “What if, when I see him, I can’t speak?”
“Then one of us will speak for you,” Ash said simply.
“You still have the option of not seeing him at all,” Hunter reminded. “But if that’s your choice you should make it now.”
Katya glanced at the monitors tracking Jordan’s approach. She worried her lower lip, unsure what to do.
“It’s better if we stay together.” Cole pointed to the monitors. “I can keep a better eye on everything with the women here.”
“What do you want, sister?” Stone asked in a unique display of compassion and patience.
“I want it to be over. Can I stay in my room? I promise to lock the door.”
“If that’s what you want.”
She looked up at Cole with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he said with militant formality. “I’ll be watching.”
Her smile was tentative.
“You’re not alone in this anymore,” Ash reminded. “You have all of us and nothing to fear.”
“That’s right.” Marigold reached for Katya’s hand, squeezing gently.
The Volkovs welcomed her into their private circle, a place deeply protected for family alone. They were as good as sisters now. And sisters protect each other.
Katya smiled despite her fear. Her grip tightened around Marigolds. Sturdier now. Calm. “It’ll all be over soon.”
“I’ll walk you to your room,” Ash said, taking Katya’s hand. He paused and placed a kiss on Marigold’s lips. “In case I don’t see you before the big show.”
“Ten minutes,” Cole announced, gaze glued to the monitors.
Stone moved to a bank of computers, his fingers dancing across controls with practiced ease. The screens came alive with feed from the harbor, showing a sleek yacht cutting through dark water toward their dock.
“There,” he said quietly. “Jordan Calder comes calling.”
Even from a distance, even on grainy security footage, Marigold could see her half-brother’s familiar figure standing at the yacht’s bow. Tall, golden-haired, traditionally handsome in a way that made people trust him despite the screaming warnings of all natural instincts.
Beside her, Katya made a sound like a wounded animal, drawing Marigold’s attention as she prepared to come face to face with her nightmare. “I can’t,” she whispered, all her earlier bravado crumbling. “I thought I could, but I can’t. He’s here and I can’t breathe. I—”
“Get her out of here, Ash,” Hunter ordered.
Katya’s rambling broke into shallow gasps of panic. Her hands shook so violently she had to clench them to her stomach to still them.
Ash, always the nurturer, was beside her instantly, gathering her into his arms as if she were a child. “It’s okay. He can’t get to you.”
Marigold went to her friend and hugged her tight. “Big breath in, Katya.” She breathed with her friend. “Now, blow it out small.” Her lips formed a small oh. “Just right.”
Katya repeated the breathing, nodding in appreciation as her panic slowly calmed.
“Go with Ash. Go back to your room. And the next time you see us, this will all be over.”
Ash’s stare met hers over his sister’s head, his eyes filled with admiration as he mouthed, ‘Thank you.’
Then his attention jerked to the monitors, the shift in his expression crystal clear.
The enemy had landed in their territory, and a reckoning was about to begin.
Katya’s response only further cemented the need for justice.
But it also meant, with Katya taking a step back, the endgame might come down to her testimony alone.
Panic welled up inside of her, but she shoved it back down. For Katya, and all the other girls Jordan hurt, she would be strong. And afterwards, when she fell to pieces, her three bears would put her back together again.