Chapter Twenty-Six #2
And the truth I never said out loud pressed against my ribs. I was fairly certain I would always love her harder than she loved me.
Not because Mila lacked depth. If anything, she loved more honestly than anyone I had ever met. Loyalty ran through her in a way most people only pretended to understand. When she chose someone, she chose them completely.
But Mila was better than me. Kinder. Braver in ways that had nothing to do with strength.
There were parts of me I understood too well—the anger that rose too quickly, the instinct to destroy anything that threatened her. I had already seen what I was capable of in that hallway with Logan.
Mila carried light. I carried darkness.
And maybe that was exactly why I knew, with a certainty that felt carved into bone, that she was mine to protect.
Not to cage. Not to claim. Just to stand beside.
The idea of letting the world take something that rare away from me had never once felt possible.
Mila moved closer, her hand pressing lightly against my chest as she searched my face. “Luke, what happened?”
“They told him I attacked Logan,” I continued. “Left out the part where he had you pinned against a locker.”
Mila’s brow furrowed. “So the pressure started.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
She folded her arms, thinking, then dropped them again as if the motion felt too closed off. The tide rolled in behind her, water sliding across the sand.
“If the program starts hearing about violent recruits,” she said, “they start worrying about conduct violations and whether you’ll become a liability.”
“Exactly.”
Silence stretched while another wave curled onto the shore. Mila stared out at the water, shoulders tense.
“If this is happening because of everything surrounding Darren…” Her voice slowed as the thought formed. “Maybe you should put some distance between us for a while.”
My hands gripped her waist. “No.”
She searched my face. “Luke, you don’t know everything that’s happening right now.”
“Then tell me.”
Mila hesitated then exhaled quietly. “My mom met with someone today. A federal contact who’s been looking into financial irregularities connected to King Enterprises and Dunn Industries.
” Her fingers curled slightly in the front of my shirt.
“She gave them everything Darren had sent her before he died. Emails, names, transfers. Enough to start digging.”
The ocean rolled against the shore behind us.
“And you’re worried that investigation is what’s pushing all of this,” I finished.
“Yes.”
“There’s more happening on my side too,” I admitted.
Her brows knit together. “What do you mean?”
“I came home last night and overheard my father, Lorne, and Drew arguing in my dad’s study.” The memory sank heavy in my chest. “Offshore accounts. Financial transfers. Someone asking questions they shouldn’t be asking.”
Her hand stilled against my chest. “So it’s real.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly why you should step back from me,” she whispered. “If this turns into a federal investigation—”
I shook my head. “I told you I’d stand beside you.”
Her gaze lifted.
“And that includes your mom.” I didn’t care about Adriana, but Mila did, and I’d promised her back at the gala that I’d back them both.
“You’re talking about your future,” she insisted softly. “Hockey. Everything you’ve worked for.”
“And you’re talking about your family,” I replied.
My palm brushed lightly along her side. “That choice was never complicated for me.”
I stepped closer. “No, Mila.”
She blinked once, clearly expecting hesitation. “Luke—”
“I’m not stepping away from you.”
“This could cost you your scholarship.”
“It already is.”
“That’s my point,” she argued.
I closed the remaining distance between us. When she looked up at me, I drew her closer, my arms wrapping around her back until there was no space left between us.
“If someone thinks they can pressure me into leaving you by threatening my future,” I kept my voice steady, “then they don’t understand me at all.”
Her gaze searched my face carefully. “This isn’t small,” she warned quietly. “You’re talking about Michigan. About everything you’ve worked for.”
“I know exactly what they’re trying to do.”
“And?”
“And it won’t work.”
The tension in her shoulders loosened a fraction. Not completely. But enough.
“You’re certain.”
“Yes.” My thumb traced a slow line along her side through the fabric of her shirt. Her breath shifted slightly at the touch.
“Whoever’s behind the tip expects the pressure to build slowly.”
“Who? Logan?”
Possibly. But I thought about Charles Dunn. About the argument I had overheard in my father’s study. About the fractures forming inside my family’s company. Even my father’s expectations weren’t something I could ignore.
“Someone who understands how to destroy reputations.”
Mila studied me for another moment. “That could be a lot of people.”
“Yes.”
The tide crept closer to our feet, colder water soaking into the sand.
I slipped my hand into hers and pulled her gently toward me. She didn’t resist. Her body fit against mine as naturally as breathing.
“They’re trying to turn what happened with Logan into something that costs me Michigan. And they probably think that’ll make me regret stepping in.”
Her head tilted slightly as she looked up at me. “And do you?”
I leaned down until our foreheads touched. “No. Never.”
Her fingers fisted the front of my shirt. “They underestimated you.”
“They misunderstood what matters most to me.”
For a moment, neither of us moved. The ocean rolled in behind us, the wind carrying the scent of salt through the darkening air.
Her hand slid up the back of my neck before I could say another word. Then she pulled me down to her.
The kiss wasn’t tentative. It wasn’t careful. Everything we had been holding in over the past week collided between us in one breath—fear, anger, relief, the quiet certainty that neither of us had walked away.
Her mouth moved against mine with a kind of urgency that stole the air from my lungs. I felt it in the way her fingers threaded into my hair, in the way she rose slightly onto her toes to meet me.
My hands moved to her waist, steadying her as the wind pushed in off the water. For a second, the world narrowed to heat and breath and the steady crash of the ocean behind us.
She tasted faintly of salt from the wind and something warmer beneath it that I’d spent days trying not to think about. The familiar pull of her mouth against mine eased a tension I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying since Logan’s attack.
Mila kissed with her whole heart. No hesitation. No holding back.
Her hands trailed up my chest, gripping the fabric of my shirt as if she needed something solid beneath her fingers. The movement sent a rush of heat through me that had nothing to do with the cold air off the water.
My palm spread across the center of her back, feeling the steady rhythm of her breathing as the kiss deepened. The quiet sound she made slipped between us and went straight through me.
This was what it felt like when the world tried to take something from me—and I refused to let it.
When she finally broke the kiss, her forehead rested against mine while we both caught our breath. Her fingers were still tangled in the collar of my shirt, knuckles pale from how tightly she held on.
I didn’t move. Didn’t loosen my arms. The thought of letting go—even for a second—felt wrong in a way I couldn’t explain.
The ocean rolled in behind us, steady and relentless. And standing there with Mila pressed against me, I understood something with absolute clarity.
Whatever came next—they were going to have to fight both of us.
Whoever had started the sabotage believed quiet pressure would force a reaction. Force distance. Force retreat.
They had already begun moving. But they were wrong about one thing. I wasn’t stepping away from her. Not now. Not ever.