Chapter Twenty-Nine
MILA
Luke texted me just after nine. Roof. Nothing else.
He didn’t need more words. The roof above the rink had been ours since the beginning. Whenever things in Blackwood became too complicated, we went there to breathe.
I grabbed my hoodie and slipped out, calling to Mom and Edwardo that I was meeting Luke.
The drive across town felt strangely quiet that night. The streets were calm in that deceptive way small towns adopted when something significant had happened and the news hadn’t started circulating yet.
I parked beside the rink and let myself in through the side entrance Luke and I used. The building sat dark and hollow at night, the ice below humming faintly beneath the refrigeration system. I climbed the narrow stairwell that led to the roof, the metal railing cool beneath my hand.
When I pushed the door open, Luke was already there, waiting.
He’d spread our blanket across the roof, the same one he always brought up here. The night air carried the briny scent of the ocean, cool enough to make me pull my jacket tighter around my shoulders.
Luke sat with his back against the low concrete barrier that ringed the roof, long legs stretched out in front of him. The lights of Blackwood spread out below like scattered stars, but his attention lifted the moment he heard the door close behind me.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
I crossed the roof slowly and lowered myself onto the blanket beside him. His arm slipped around my shoulders immediately, drawing me into the familiar warmth of his body.
The silence between us felt heavy but not uncomfortable. I rested my head against his shoulder and looked out across the town.
“So,” I murmured finally. “It happened.”
Luke’s gaze shifted toward me. “How’d you know?”
“Mom got a call about it a few minutes before you texted,” I answered quietly. “Her FBI contact.”
His brow rose. “What’d he tell her?”
“I only know what she told me.” I snuggled closer to him. “Just that Lorne was arrested. She didn’t go into details.”
Luke exhaled slowly. “Yeah.”
He didn’t rush into the explanation. His hand moved absently along my arm, grounding himself as much as me. “Federal agents came just before I got home from hockey.”
I pictured it instantly. The driveway at the King estate. The marble foyer. The kind of controlled chaos that followed men who carried warrants like weapons.
“They walked him out in front of everyone.”
The words landed quietly between us. “Your dad?” I asked.
“He was there.” Luke’s jaw clenched. “Mom too. Drew.” He paused before continuing. “Dad and Lorne hadn’t seemed to expect it.”
“How bad was it?”
Luke leaned his head back against the concrete wall behind us. “It was very civilized,” he answered. “No shouting or drama.”
The wind brushed across the roof, stirring a loose strand of my hair against his neck. “And Lorne?” I couldn’t imagine him accepting his fate easily.
Luke gave a short breath that held no humor. “He argued. For about thirty seconds.” His fingers tightened briefly where they rested against my arm. “Then he realized it didn’t matter.”
The image of Lorne Hawthorne losing control felt almost surreal. That man had carried himself through Blackwood with the kind of ruthless confidence that came from believing rules only applied to other people.
Luke turned his head slightly toward me. “Charles Dunn was there.”
My stomach clenched.
“He saw everything.”
That was enough. Of course he’d been. His threat was unfurling at record speed all around us.
I tilted my face upward to study Luke’s expression in the faint glow of the town lights. “How are you doing?”
His eyes moved across the skyline before returning to me. “I expected something like this eventually,” he admitted. “Your mom talking to the feds made that inevitable.”
The mention of Mom twisted low in my chest. “She didn’t do it to hurt your family.”
“I know.” His answer came immediately. “I never thought she did.”
I studied him carefully. “You’re sure?”
Luke’s hand moved up to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing lightly along my cheek.
“Mila,” he murmured softly, “the only person responsible for what happened tonight is the man they put in the back of that car.”
The certainty in his voice eased something restless inside me. Still, the reality of the situation pressed against my ribs. “Things are getting ugly,” I warned.
“Yes.” No hesitation. He simply acknowledged the truth. “But that doesn’t change anything.”
I tilted my head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
Luke studied my face for a long moment. “I mean that whatever fallout comes from this investigation,” he continued evenly, “it won’t stay contained to my family.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” The quiet conviction in his voice left no room for doubt. “Lorne’s arrest doesn’t end anything,” he continued. “It pulls the rest of it into the open. My family. King Enterprises. Whatever Darren uncovered.”
The truth of that pressed heavily against the quiet night around us. The arena beneath our feet carried a faint mechanical pulse through the concrete. Finally, I exhaled slowly. “Blackwood is going to explode tomorrow.”
Luke gave a faint smile that held no amusement.
“Blackwood exploded the moment those SUVs pulled into our driveway.” He brushed a strand of hair back from my face, his fingers lingering briefly along my jaw.
“Lorne being locked away isn’t the worst outcome.
He’s dangerous and can turn on people without warning. What matters now is what happens next.”
“And what do you think happens next?”
Luke looked out across the dark stretch of ocean beyond the town lights. “People start protecting themselves.”
A chill trailed down my spine. “Which means?”
“Which means anyone involved in whatever Lorne was doing inside King Enterprises will start moving quickly to distance themselves from him.”
“And that’s bad?”
Luke turned his head slightly toward me. “It’s dangerous.”
“Why?”
“The truth has a way of surfacing whether anyone wants it to or not,” he explained calmly.
Luke shifted his arm around my waist and drew me in until I was tucked securely against his side. The warmth of him grounded the moment in a way nothing else could.
I tipped my face upward, studying him in the faint glow of the town lights. His jaw was still tight from everything he’d witnessed that night, the tension sitting just beneath the surface of his calm. “Are you worried?”
Luke studied me for a long moment before answering. “No.”
“Not even a little?”
He brushed his thumb along the curve of my cheek. “I’m cautious.”
That answer felt far more honest than reassurance would have. I leaned forward and pressed my lips gently against his, my hand lifting to the back of his neck. The kiss started softly.
Then his hand threaded into my hair and deepened the kiss, pulling me closer against him as the tension of the entire week spilled quietly between us. His other arm wrapped tighter around my waist, anchoring me against him as if the rest of the world could wait a few more minutes.
For several seconds, everything disappeared—the investigation, the arrests, the quiet war unfolding around us. There was only the warmth of his mouth, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath my palm, and the familiar strength of his arms holding me close.
When we finally broke apart, I rested my forehead against his.
“Whatever comes next,” I whispered, “we face it together.”
Luke’s fingers gripped gently at the back of my neck. “Always.”
The word carried the same quiet certainty his promises always did.
We stayed on the roof a while longer after that, watching the town lights flicker across the dark stretch of ocean until the pressure around my chest loosened just enough to breathe.
Eventually Luke walked me back to my car. The drive home felt calmer than the one earlier that evening.
But the moment I stepped inside the house, I knew Mom and Edwardo had been waiting. They sat at the kitchen table with the lights dimmed low, both of them turning toward me as the door closed behind me.
Mom looked up from the table as I stepped into the kitchen. “How’s Luke?”
I pulled out the chair across from them. “He’s fine. He told me what happened from his side,” I replied quietly. “The agents showed up right before he got home. They walked Lorne out in front of everyone.”
Mom’s expression flickered. “That must have been… unpleasant.”
Edwardo remained still beside her, his attention fixed on me. “How did the family react?”
“Luke said it was quiet. No shouting. Just… final.”
Edwardo nodded, absorbing the information.
Mom leaned back in her chair, her gaze drifting briefly toward the dark window above the sink. “My contact only confirmed that the warrant had been executed,” she explained. “He didn’t share details.”
“He wouldn’t,” Edwardo replied evenly. “Not yet.”
I looked between them. “So this isn’t the end?” I wasn’t sure why I’d asked. I knew it wasn’t. Dunn wasn’t done dismantling lives. And there was still Darren’s death.
Edwardo shook his head slowly. “No.”
Mom folded her hands on the table. “Lorne being arrested doesn’t remove the danger. If anything, it changes the shape of it.”
My stomach twisted. “How?”
Edwardo leaned back slightly in his chair. “When powerful men realize one of their own is about to fall, they start turning on each other.”
The same warning Luke had given me on the roof echoed in my mind. “And when they do that?”
Edwardo’s gaze held mine. Then he added one final thought, his voice calm enough to make the words even colder. “When that happens, the truth rarely stays buried. Bodies have a way of surfacing when the balance of power starts to collapse.”
A chill ran down my spine. Somewhere in Blackwood, the war surrounding Darren had just shifted direction. And this time, nothing about it would stay buried for long.