Chapter Four
MILA
Sunday arrived with coastal fog that rolled in low, blurring the edges of the boardwalk and muting the world into something gentler than reality. The café windows where I was headed to meet Avery glowed amber against the gray, condensation gathering at the corners of the glass.
A cute bell jingled as I stepped inside, where the air carried mouthwatering scents of espresso, sugar, and warm bread.
I spotted Avery immediately. She was standing near the counter, blond hair falling straight over her shoulders, blue-green eyes already locked on mine like she’d been tracking the door.
She smiled—warm and easy, the kind where people trusted her without thinking—and lifted a hand toward a corner table by the window she’d clearly claimed for us.
I made my way over, dropping into the seat just as she accepted two cappuccinos from the barista. Steam curled upward in delicate spirals as she crossed the café and set one in front of me.
She studied me with a grin that was far too satisfied for ten in the morning. “Bold move Friday night.”
I’d messaged her Saturday morning, but this was the first chance we’d really had to unpack everything. I wrapped my hands around the mug, welcoming the warmth. “It was time.”
Avery’s smile widened. “Oh, it definitely was.”
I hesitated. “You think we overdid it?”
“Please. With the players we’re dealing with, it was the only strategic move.” She leaned back in the booth. “Elise and Nina were here earlier. Elise was furious.”
My fingers tightened around the ceramic. “Here?”
“Right over there.” She gestured toward the far table. “Loud enough that half the café could’ve joined the conversation.”
A small, dangerous flicker sparked in my chest. “About us.”
“About you,” Avery corrected gently. “And about Luke choosing a side at the gala. Elise was livid.” Avery lifted her cappuccino. “She did not enjoy the two of you being together, or him claiming you as his girlfriend when that’s what she wants for herself.”
I shrugged. I didn’t really care about how she felt, I only worried about the fallout if Luke and I weren’t able to manipulate things the way we’d planned.
Avery leaned back, crossing one leg beneath her. “So. Since you’ve officially detonated the social hierarchy… how are things with you and Jax’s favorite teammate?”
I deflected instinctively. “How are things with you and Jax?”
Her entire expression transformed. Sunlight caught in her eyes as her mouth curved into something soft and happy. “Things are good. Really good.”
My lips curved in response before I could stop them. “Define good.”
She leaned forward conspiratorially, lowering her voice. “We ditched the gala.”
I laughed. “Yeah, we didn’t see you there.”
“Best decision of my life,” she continued. “We went to the Grill Shack instead. Just us. Burgers. Zero donors pretending to care about philanthropy.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“It got better.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, trying and failing to hide the glow radiating off her. “After, he took me to the rink.”
My brows lifted. “At night?”
“It was empty,” she confirmed. “The lights were low, and he had music playing through the speakers—totally set the mood.”
The image unfolded easily—Jax’s intense energy softened by something private with the girl he’d crushed on for so long.
“We skated and talked for hours,” she went on. “Just… us. It was perfect.”
My chest tightened in the best way.
“And when he kissed me—” She pressed her hand dramatically to her heart. “Incredible.”
I grinned. “Incredible?”
“Incredible.” Her eyes flashed. “But we’re taking it slow.” A deliberate pause before she winked. “For now.”
Warmth filled the space between us, easy and unguarded. The world felt stripped of games and threats. Just me and my best friend on a foggy Sunday, hiding from the world behind cappuccino foam.
I let myself pretend it was real. That life could be this simple.
But Luke had never been simple. He existed in the quiet spaces I tried to protect.
My body still carried him—the steady pressure of his hand at my waist in the ballroom, grounding me when everything else tilted. The way his mouth had found mine on the beach, not hesitant, not unsure. Certain. Like he’d always known I was his.
Heat curled low in my stomach, traitorous and familiar.
Being seen with Luke should have felt like stepping onto a battlefield with no armor. Instead, I could breathe. I’d been underwater for years without realizing it.
“Okay,” Avery said softly. “Your turn.”
The illusion fractured. Reality pressed back in—the fundraiser, the eyes, the whispers waiting to sharpen into weapons. Going public with Luke should have terrified me. But worse than any of it was the thought of losing him again.
My fingers traced the rim of my mug, the ceramic warm against skin that still remembered his touch.
“What happened with you and Luke at the fundraiser,” she continued, tone gentler now, “and after? Your message on Saturday didn’t go into any details, and I know there’s more.”
So much more.
“Okay,” Avery said, studying me over the rim of her mug. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?” I deflected.
“Like you just won something.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Or lost it. I can’t decide.”
Heat crept up my neck. “I don’t—”
“You went public with Luke King,” she cut in, quiet but direct. “That’s not insignificant, Mila.”
The word “public” hung between us.
“Was it your idea,” she asked, softer now but more pointed, “or his?”
I hesitated.
Avery caught it.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “You didn’t get dragged into this. You chose it.”
“What happened at the fundraiser?” she pressed. “And don’t give me the edited version. Your text Saturday was suspiciously vague.”
My fingers traced the rim of my mug. “Elise cornered me,” I began.
Avery didn’t flinch. “Of course she did. Did he see?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And he didn’t hesitate.”
“Yeah.” Avery’s mouth curved slowly. “That sounds right. Then what happened?”
“She handed me an envelope,” I continued. “It contained corporate documents that were fabricated transfers tied to my mom. Industrial espionage.”
Avery’s face drained of color. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.” I explained Elise’s ultimatum—leave town with my mom or she’d expose Mom for corporate espionage tied to King Enterprises and Dunn Industries. Then I told her what happened afterward on the balcony with Luke. How he promised he had my back. Mine and my mom’s.
Avery leaned forward. “So, what happened?”
“We went to the beach.”
Her brows lifted.
“We went over the plan he hatched on the balcony.” I admitted most of it, but not the part about Edwardo’s alleged mob ties. “Tomorrow, we’re going to confront Elise at school. We’re done. No more hiding.”
Avery’s fingers curled around her mug. “You think she’ll follow through with her threat?”
“I know she will.” The certainty didn’t shake. “But Luke thinks it won’t go anywhere.”
Avery leaned back slowly, absorbing everything. “Okay,” she decided after a moment. “But that’s a gamble with your mom, isn’t it?”
Despite everything, a small laugh escaped me. “It is. But Luke always has a plan.”
“That he does. And I’m sure Jax, my brother, and Theo will be in the mix as well. And I’ll keep my eyes open,” she continued. “If Elise breathes wrong, I’ll know.”
“I don’t want you dragged into this.”
“You don’t have that choice.” Her gaze held mine steadily. “You’re my person.”
Emotion pressed against my ribs. We sat there for a while longer, conversation drifting back to safer ground—classes, professors, the upcoming game. College. Luke’s focus during practice Saturday morning, which Jax had apparently narrated in excessive detail.
“Luke nearly checked Logan through the boards,” Avery added with amusement.
My stomach dipped slightly. “Logan’s causing problems still?”
“Of course. And with a big attitude.”
That unsettled thread pulled taut again. I didn’t like Logan at all. He was Elise’s minion, but even worse, I felt like she didn’t quite have a firm hold on his leash. And the thought of him going rogue made my blood run cold.
When we finally stood to leave, the fog had begun to thin. Pale sunlight filtered through in streaks, illuminating the damp boardwalk outside.
“Text me if anything happens,” Avery insisted, pulling me into a hug.
“I will.”
“And, Mila?”
I pulled back.
“Don’t let Elise win.”
I nodded. The walk home felt lighter than the one to the café. The threat had disappeared, but I didn’t feel alone inside it.
When I pushed open the door to our rental, my mom’s voice floated through the small space.
“Yes,” she was saying into her phone. “I understand the timeline.”
I stilled just inside the entryway.
The blinds were half drawn, slicing the living room into bars of light and shadow. Her back faced me, shoulders rigid beneath a soft gray sweater.
“No,” she continued. “That’s not where he kept it.”
A pause.
“Yes. Darren kept things. I just… don’t know where.”
Every muscle in my body went still. The phrase slipped into my mind with eerie familiarity. Insurance.
Avery’s question earlier echoed faintly—You think Elise will try again?
I’d just heard proof that Mom still knew more than she admitted.
My mother exhaled slowly. “Fine. Call me once you confirm.”
She ended the call and lowered the phone slowly, tension radiating off her.
I stood frozen for a second before stepping fully into the room. “Everything okay?”
She turned, composure falling into place almost seamlessly. Almost. “Yes.”
The answer arrived too quickly.
“What’s Darren’s insurance?”
Her eyes flickered. A fraction of a second. Barely there. “It’s old business,” she replied carefully. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
Nothing I needed to worry about. The phrase slid between us too easily. Too practiced.
I studied her—the crease between her brows, the way her fingers tapped once against her thigh before stilling. Secrets layered beneath calm. The kind she thought she could carry alone.
But we weren’t alone anymore.
Luke wouldn’t accept “don’t worry.” He would demand facts. Strategy. Names. He would tear through walls if he thought something threatened me.
And for the first time, I wasn’t sure I wanted him charging into this part of it.
“Mom,” I said quietly. “What is it?”
She held my gaze for a long moment and then shook her head once. “It’s complicated. And unfinished.”
Unfinished. The word lodged somewhere deep in my chest. Darren kept things. And she knew it. What wasn’t she saying?
My mind drifted back to the beach. Luke’s forehead pressed to mine. His voice low and certain. “We’re not prey.”
He would want to know about this. He would insist. And part of me wanted to tell him immediately—wanted to unload the weight before it pressed too heavily.
But another part hesitated.
If this vault held something explosive… something that tied Dunn to more than corporate corruption… then telling Luke meant pulling him further into the blast radius.
I’d just chosen not to run from him. But this? This felt like the kind of secret that could test even what we’d built.
“Did Edwardo confirm he’d arrive on Monday?” I asked instead.
“Yes, Edwardo confirmed Monday,” Mom repeated, gentler now, as if the conversation hadn’t tilted sideways at all.
I nodded, but my thoughts were already elsewhere.
Secrets had driven us out of Blackwood once. I wasn’t sure how many more we could survive.
“And you’re happy about that.”
A small, genuine smile surfaced. “I am.”
I moved toward my room, the comment about Darren’s insurance refusing to leave. There was something Darren had kept that my mother believed still existed.
By the time evening fell over the coast, the fog had burned off completely. The sky shifted from pale blue to streaked gold to deepening indigo. Lights blinked on the residences across the street one by one.
Monday loomed. Elise. School. Public confrontation. And somewhere beneath it all—buried deeper than fabricated documents and gala threats—Darren’s insurance waiting to surface.
I stood at my window as darkness took hold, Luke’s words from the beach echoing in my chest.
We weren’t prey, and running was no longer an option. Not from him, not from what we had. But secrets carried consequences. And I had the feeling ours were only beginning to surface.
Loving Luke King had never been safe. But it had never been optional either. I would rather lose everything than lose him again.