Chapter Fifteen
LUKE
Theo’s family house sat high enough into the trees that Blackwood felt another world away instead of forty minutes.
Music blasted through outdoor speakers, and our second night here eased something in me.
Theo had control of the playlist, which meant it shifted from throwback rap to something obnoxiously pop.
Jax manned the grill on the back patio with a level of focus he usually reserved for facing opponents on the ice.
Chase stood beside him, arguing about seasoning ratios as if the fate of the world depended on steak.
Avery had kicked off her shoes and taken over the kitchen island, passing out drinks and barking orders neither of them listened to. Tori hovered near Theo at first, uncertain, then eased into it with a confidence that hadn’t been there before.
Integration. No factions. No sides.
Mila stood near the sliding glass doors, hair loose down her back, laughter slipping out of her unfiltered and happy.
I leaned against the deck railing and watched her. She caught me staring.
“What?” she called over the music.
“Nothing.” A lie. Looking at her was a drug. She was everything, all I wanted and envisioned. I was drawn to her. I always would be.
She rolled her eyes and crossed the deck toward me, setting her drink on a table on her way. Her shoulder brushed mine when she reached the railing. Casual. Intentional.
“You’re brooding,” she accused.
“I’m relaxing.”
“That’s not your natural state.”
I huffed a quiet laugh. She wasn’t wrong.
Behind us, Theo whooped when Avery smacked his arm for stealing a piece of grilled chicken. Jax intercepted before Theo could retaliate, lifting him clean off the ground and setting him back a few feet away from the food.
“Children,” Chase muttered.
It was all… normal. The word felt foreign.
Mila nudged my hip with hers. “You can breathe, you know.”
“I am breathing.”
“Through clenched teeth.”
I hadn’t realized. I forced my jaw to loosen.
“Yeah, no,” Theo called from behind us. “We’re not doing tense and broody tonight. Hot tubs—now.”
“Finally, a good idea.” Tori giggled.
“I’m always full of good ideas.” Theo pulled her with him.
Jax shook his head but followed with Avery. Chase muttered something under his breath before grabbing his date, Chloe, as everyone headed that way.
Theo treated the hot tubs as if they were structural necessities. His parents had installed them years ago, tucked into the far corners of the multi-level decks, partially shielded by trees and stone.
Steam rose into the night air.
The temperature dropped once the sun slipped behind the mountains. The music softened to a background pulse while Jax declared he was done cooking and Chase announced that if anyone burned the second batch, they were on dish duty.
Towels were already stacked by the door. Avery kicked off her shoes and tugged her sweater over her head, revealing a black bikini underneath. Tori followed suit, cheeks pink from the cold air as she shed layers.
Theo didn’t bother with subtlety. He stripped down to his trunks and jumped into the first hot tub with a dramatic splash that soaked a good portion of the deck. Avery shrieked and shoved him under. Tori followed more cautiously, her laugh lighter than I’d ever heard it.
I caught Mila’s wrist before she could climb in with them. “Other one.”
Her brow arched. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to share you.”
She grinned and let me guide her to the second tub.
We sank in at opposite ends at first. The heat wrapped around me, easing muscles I hadn’t realized were tight. My shoulders dropped an inch. Then another.
Mila watched it happen. “You’re different up here,” she murmured.
“Different how?”
“Less… guarded.”
The water lapped gently against the sides of the hot tub when she shifted closer.
“I don’t have to be closed off here.”
Her eyes held mine, searching for something underneath that. “And down there?”
Down there. Blackwood. The rink. My house. My father’s study. “I don’t get the luxury.”
She didn’t argue. Didn’t try to soften it. She moved until her knee brushed mine under the water. The contact wasn’t sexual. It was grounding.
Steam curled around her hair, dampening the wispy strands that had escaped her top knot. Her lashes clung together slightly from the heat. No armor in her posture either. No tension between her shoulders.
I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed that. Her without walls.
“You ever think about after?” she asked quietly.
“After what?”
“Blackwood.”
The word felt larger than the mountain house. Larger than the town. I leaned back against the edge of the tub, water rising along my chest. “Constantly.”
“And?”
“I don’t want to be here forever. Leaving can’t come soon enough.”
Her expression shifted. Something vulnerable flickered there. “I know that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
The wind picked up briefly, rustling the trees beyond the deck. From the other tub, Jax shouted something obscene, followed by Avery’s laughter and a splash.
Steam drifted between us, softening the edges of the night. Mila ran her fingers along the surface of the water, not looking at me when she asked it. “Would you regret it?”
“Regret what?”
“Walking away.” Her gaze lifted slowly. Steady. Searching. “From all of it. The company. The name. Your family’s empire.”
There it was. Not doubt in me but fear of what legacy does to people.
I leaned back against the stone edge of the tub, water splashing over my shoulders. “You think I’d wake up at forty wishing I’d taken a corner office instead?”
“I think a family legacy is louder than we pretend.” Her voice stayed quiet. “And it’s yours.”
King Enterprises. Generations of control. My father’s voice threaded into every boardroom wall.
I held her eyes. “I’m not his shadow,” I answered. “Nor will I fall in line with a desk he picked for me or a life he approved. There’s no way I’m spending thirty years proving I can run a company I never wanted.”
She studied my face.
“I want out,” I continued. “I’m scared of it. I’m done being shaped by it.”
The wind rustled through the trees.
“And if he cuts you off?” she pressed.
“He already has. Just not financially.”
That earned the smallest shift in her expression. She understood that kind of control.
“I’d rather build something that’s mine,” I added. “Even if it’s smaller. Even if it’s harder.”
Her knee brushed mine under the water. “And if you fail?”
“I won’t.”
She exhaled slowly. “You sound so sure.”
“I am.” I leaned forward then, closing the space between us. “I’d regret staying. Not leaving.”
Her breath hitched faintly.
The future had always been strategy for me. Contracts. Offers. Alignments. With her, it felt different. Unmapped.
Silence hung between us, heavy but not uncomfortable.
“Do you see me in this future of yours?” she asked.
No hesitation. “Yes.”
Her throat worked when she swallowed. The steam thickened between us. The noise from the other tub faded to a dull hum in the background. For the first time in months, my chest felt… light. Just warmth and the quiet acknowledgment that I wanted something beyond dominance and damage control.
She moved closer until her legs bracketed mine beneath the water. “You’re not as hard as you pretend to be,” she murmured.
I smirked faintly. “Careful.”
She leaned in, fingers curling against the back of my neck. “I don’t see armor right now.”
“You’re the only one who gets to see all of me.”
Her lips brushed mine. Slow. Unrushed. No urgency behind it. Just connection.
The kiss deepened gradually, water shifting around us as she climbed into my lap. My hands found her waist automatically, steadying her against me.
I didn’t push. Didn’t claim. Just held.
Her forehead rested against mine when we broke apart.
“This feels dangerous,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Because it’s so easy.”
I almost answered. Then my phone buzzed on the deck chair beside the tub. Once. Twice. Three times in quick succession. I ignored it.
Mila’s gaze flicked past my shoulder. “Do you need to get that?”
“Not tonight.”
It buzzed again. I swore under my breath and reached for it.
Drew’s name appeared, and I scanned the message. You need to call me. Now.
“What?” Mila asked.
“Nothing.”
The signal bars at the top of my screen flickered. Dropped. Came back.
The trees beyond the deck shifted in the wind again. Mila’s posture changed slightly. She glanced toward the dark stretch beyond the railing. “You ever get the feeling someone’s watching?”
My head snapped up. I scanned the tree line automatically. Black silhouettes. Movement from wind. Nothing distinct.
I glanced back at my phone, debating on returning Drew’s missed call. The reception dropped completely. No service. Then Theo’s music cut out mid-song.
“What the hell?” he yelled from the other tub.
Jax stood immediately, water sloshing over the edge. Power flickered once from the house behind us, then steadied.
Mila’s fingers curled against my shoulders. “Luke.”
“I’ve got it.”
I set her gently back into her seat and climbed out of the tub, water streaming down my back. The night air hit colder now.
My phone vibrated once more as signal returned. Unknown number. Call incoming. I stared at it for a second. Then accepted. “Yeah.”
Static crackled through the line, then the call dropped. Silence rushed in behind it. I stood there for a long second, staring into the dark beyond the deck.
Behind me, Mila stepped out of the tub and grabbed a towel. “Who was it?”
“I don’t know.”
I forced my shoulders to loosen before turning back toward the house. Headlights cut across the trees again—closer this time.
“Inside,” I ordered.
No one argued.
Jax stepped in immediately, hand hovering at Avery’s lower back as he steered her toward the sliding doors.
Chase didn’t hesitate. He caught Chloe’s wrist and pulled her with him, jaw locked.
Theo moved with Tori at his side, one hand braced against the doorframe as he ushered her through.