Chapter 22
AURELIA
The locket is gone.
I’ve torn apart my bedroom looking for it. Checked under the bed, inside every drawer, went through my closet twice. Searched the car three times, looked under the seats, in the glove compartment, everywhere.
Nothing.
I retrace my steps in my head. I had it when I left for Cassian’s apartment six days ago. I wore it under my shirt like I always do. The chain is delicate, and could have broken without me noticing.
The last place I remember having it was his apartment. My purse tipped over while I was getting dressed. I’m sure of it now. The locket could have fallen out or rolled under the bed or something.
But when I went back to search, he said he hadn’t seen anything. Even asked his housekeeper in front of me. Maria said no, she would have set it aside if she’d found it.
Still.
Something felt off that night. The way he watched me search. Too casual, too helpful. Like he was playing a part.
I’m being paranoid. He has no reason to keep it. Probably didn’t even notice a small necklace on his floor. But the suspicion sits in my chest anyway, quiet and persistent.
I’m in Julian’s study, going over the quarterly financials, when my phone rings. Cassian’s name lights up the screen.
I glance at Julian, who’s reviewing contracts on the other side of his desk. He doesn’t look up.
I answer. “Hello?”
“We need to meet.” Cassian’s voice is cold. Controlled. Nothing like the warmth I’ve heard from him for weeks. “Now.”
My stomach drops. “What’s wrong?”
“You know what’s wrong.”
“Cassian—”
“I’m texting you an address. Be there in an hour.”
The line goes dead.
I stare at my phone, heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
Julian looks up. “What was that?”
“Cassian. He wants to meet.”
“What about?”
“He didn’t say. Just told me to be somewhere in an hour.”
Julian sets down his pen. “You’re not going alone.”
“I have to go.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“Julian—”
“This is not negotiable, Aurelia.” His voice is firm.
I want to argue. Want to tell him I can handle Cassian, that bringing Julian will only make things worse. But the ice in Cassian’s voice replays in my head, and I’m not sure I can handle whatever this is.
“Okay,” I say quietly. “You can come.”
Julian stands and calls for security.
The address comes through two minutes later. An office building in Midtown. Private, neutral ground.
We take Julian’s car. He sits beside me in the back while two security men sit up front. Nobody speaks during the drive.
My mind races through possibilities.
Does he know?
How could he know?
The locket. If he found it, if he saw the initials—but even then, F and L could mean anything. He couldn’t possibly find out about the twins from two letters.
Unless he investigated. Unless he started digging and found something.
No. That’s impossible. Victor kept everything locked down. The property in Ireland was under shell companies. The records were buried. There’s no way Cassian could have traced it.
But the fear coiling in my stomach says otherwise.
“What do you think this is about?” Julian asks.
I don’t answer.
He looks at me, and I can see him putting pieces together. “Aurelia. What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why do you look terrified?”
“I’m not terrified.”
“You’re shaking.”
I look down. My hands are trembling in my lap.
Julian reaches over and covers them with his own. “Whatever happens in there, I’ve got you. Understand?”
I nod because I can’t speak past the tightness in my throat.
The building is glass and steel, corporate and anonymous. We take the elevator to the fourteenth floor. The security men flank us as we walk down a hallway to a conference room at the end. Julian opens the door.
Cassian stands by the windows, hands in his pockets, staring out at the city. Declan, his right-hand man, is positioned near the door, expressionless.
Cassian turns when he hears us enter.
The fury on his face steals my breath.
I’ve seen him angry before. Seen him kill a man without hesitation. But this is different. This is personal rage, barely leashed, radiating off him in waves that make the air feel heavy.
Julian steps slightly in front of me. “What’s this about, Rourke?”
Cassian doesn’t look at him. His eyes are locked on me. “Ask your sister.”
“I’m asking you.”
Cassian reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folder. He throws it onto the conference table between us. Photos spill out. I see them, and my entire world tilts.
The twins. At the park. Playing on the grass. Finn laughing, Liam watching something in the distance. Clear, unmistakable photographs taken from a distance with a telephoto lens.
“These are my sons,” Cassian says, and his voice is deadly quiet. “Aren’t they?”
Julian grabs my arm. “Aurelia—”
“Answer me.” Cassian takes a step forward. “Those are my sons.”
I can’t speak.
Cassian says, “Victor’s been dead for months. You’ve been back in New York, seeing me, sleeping with me, and you never thought to mention that I have two sons?”
“I was trying to protect them—”
“From me?” His voice rises. “From their father?”
“From this!” I gesture between us. “From the violence and the danger and everything that comes with your world!”
“My world?” He laughs, harsh and bitter. “You’re a Vance. Your world is exactly the same as mine.”
“That’s why I know what it does to children!”
“So you hid them from me for years. Let me search for you while you raised my children in secret. Made me think you were dead or gone or—” He stops, jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscle jumping. “I met them.”
“What?”
“A year ago. Ballycotton. I was visiting my mother, and I met two boys playing near the harbor. Finn and Liam. They told me their names. I played with them for maybe ten minutes.”
No.
No, that’s not possible.
But I remember that day. The twins came home talking about the nice man who kicked the ball with them. I didn’t think anything of it. Didn’t ask his name.
“I met my sons,” Cassian says again, and there’s pain underneath the fury now. “And I didn’t know. You kept them in my village, let me walk past them, talk to them, and I had no idea they were mine.”
“I’m sorry—”
“Sorry?” He moves toward me, and Julian immediately steps between us. “You stole five years from me. Five years of their lives I’ll never get back. First steps, first words, birthdays, everything. Gone because you decided I didn’t deserve to know.”
“Victor would have used them against you—”
“Victor’s dead!”
“I didn’t know how to tell you!”
“You start with the truth!” His voice echoes off the walls. “You tell me I have sons, and we figure it out from there. But instead, you lied. Over and over. Looked me in the face and lied while I—” He stops himself.
The silence that follows is suffocating.
Julian’s hand is still on my arm, holding me back even though I’m not moving. His other hand is inside his jacket, where I know he keeps a gun.
Cassian sees it. “You going to shoot me, Vance?”
“If you take another step toward my sister, yes.”
“She kept my sons from me for five years.”
“Because your enemy locked her up and made the decision for her. She was young, pregnant, and terrified. What did you expect her to do?”
Cassian looks at me, and the betrayal in his eyes cuts deeper than his anger.
“I loved you,” he says quietly. “I spent six years looking for you because I couldn’t let go of one night we spent together. And the whole time you were raising my children and lying about it.”
“I was going to tell you—but I didn’t know when or how or if telling you would make things better or worse. The boys ask about their father every day, and I don’t know what to tell them because I don’t know if you’ll want them or use them or—”
“Use them?” He stares at me. “You think I would use my own children?”
“I think you’re dangerous. I think people around you get hurt. I think my sons deserve better than growing up in your world.”
“They’re already in it. They’re Vances. Or did you forget that part?”
“Julian is getting us out. Making things legitimate—”
“And you think that makes them safe? You think being a Vance is any better than being a Rourke?”
I don’t have an answer.
Julian pulls me back toward the door. “We’re leaving.”
“No.” Cassian moves to block our path, and Declan shifts position to back him up. “We’re not done.”
“Yes, we are.” Julian’s voice is hard. “You know about the boys now. That’s what you wanted. We’re leaving before this gets worse.”
“I want to see them.”
“No.”
“I’m their father.”
“You’re a stranger to them. They don’t know you.”
“Because she never told them about me!”
“And now you know why.” Julian meets his eyes. “You’re standing here threatening violence because you’re angry. You think I’m letting you anywhere near those boys while you’re like this?”
Cassian’s hands clench into fists at his sides.
For three seconds, nobody moves.
Then Declan puts a hand on Cassian’s shoulder. “Let them go.”
“They’re my sons—”
“I know. But you’re not doing this here. Not like this.”
The tension doesn’t break so much as fracture. Cassian steps aside, and Julian immediately pulls me toward the door.
We’re almost out when Cassian speaks again. “I will see my sons.” His voice is cold and final. “With or without your permission, Aurelia. I will be part of their lives. And if you try to keep them from me, I will make sure you regret it.”