Chapter 12
Jake
The cabin came into view as we crested the hill, a small, weathered structure nestled among the pines. Smoke curled from the chimney, and light glowed in the windows. The UTV was parked out front, confirming my suspicions.
I pulled over about a hundred yards away, cutting the engine as Declan pulled up behind us. “We go on foot from here,” I whispered to all of them. “Stay low and quiet.”
We crept through the trees, the fresh snow muffling our footsteps. As we got closer, I could make out voices— Caleb’s low rumble and, to my immense relief, Nora’s higher pitch. She didn’t sound scared, thankfully.
I gestured for Ella to stay hidden behind a large pine while I moved closer to one of the windows.
Peering inside, I saw Nora sitting at a small table, coloring, but she wasn’t alone.
Seated beside her was a man I’d never seen before.
Dark hair, expensive clothes, features that reminded me of Nora’s.
He was watching her draw with an expression of wonder, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was real.
My breath caught. This wasn’t a kidnapping. This was a reunion.
Caleb stood by the fireplace, arms crossed, watching them. His posture was relaxed but vigilant, like a bodyguard rather than a captor.
I felt Ella come up behind me, her breath warm against my neck. “What is it?” she whispered. “Is Nora—”
When she peered through the window, she froze. All the blood drained from her face. “Mikhail,” she breathed.
Declan caught her arm as she lunged forward. “Wait,” he hissed. “Something’s not right.”
Through the glass, I could see Nora laughing at something the man—Mikhail—had said. She pushed a crayon toward him, encouraging him to color with her. The scene was so normal, so peaceful, it made no sense with everything we knew.
“I need to get in there,” Ella said, her voice shaking.
“We go together,” I insisted. “Slowly.”
We approached the front door, guns ready but lowered. I knocked once, firmly.
The door opened almost immediately. Caleb stood there, relief washing over his face when he saw us. “Thank God,” he said. “I’ve been trying to call you.”
Before I could respond, Ella pushed past him. “Nora!”
“Mom!” Nora looked up from her coloring, face brightening. “Look who I’m drawing with! It’s Caleb’s friend, Mr. Mikhail. He knows all about foxes!”
Mikhail stood slowly, his eyes fixed on Ella. “Eleanora,” he said softly. “It’s been a long time.”
I stepped between them, my hand on my weapon. “Someone better start explaining, fast.”
Caleb closed the door behind us. “I know how this looks, Jake, but it’s not what you think. Mikhail isn’t the threat—his father is.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” I demanded. “After you took Nora without a word? And disabled the security system?”
“Because I knew you’d be tracked,” Caleb said urgently. “The PI, Kozlov—he works for Mikhail’s father. He’s been watching the house, monitoring your movements. I couldn’t risk calling to explain.”
Ella had pulled Nora into her arms, holding her protectively. “You’re supposed to be dead,” she said to Mikhail, her voice flat.
He nodded. “I was supposed to be, yes. That was the plan.”
“What plan?” I asked.
Mikhail glanced at Nora, then back to us. “Perhaps the little one should finish her drawing in the other room while we talk?”
Ella shook her head. “She stays with me.”
“Nora,” Caleb said gently. “There are some cookies in the kitchen. Why don’t you take your coloring stuff in there while the grown-ups talk? It’s just through that door.”
Nora looked between all of us, sensing the tension. “Is everything okay, Mom?”
“Everything’s fine, sweetheart,” Ella said, smoothing her hair. “Go ahead and color in the kitchen. I’ll be right here.”
Once Nora was out of earshot, Mikhail sank back into his chair, suddenly looking exhausted. “I never meant for any of this to happen,” he said. “Especially not to her.”
“Start talking,” I demanded. “Now.”
“My father wanted an heir,” Mikhail began. “Someone to continue his empire after he was gone. When he discovered that you weren’t actually his daughter, he became obsessed with wanting the MacGallan fortune and all its business ventures through me.”
“By forcing you to marry me,” Ella said bitterly.
Mikhail nodded. “At first, I went along with it. I was raised to obey him without question. But then I met you for real, not just in the photographs he’d shown me. And I...” He hesitated. “I fell in love.”
Ella’s laugh was harsh. “Love? You were spying on me for your father. I heard you on the phone that night.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I was reporting to him. But not what you think.” He leaned forward, his eyes pleading. “I was telling him the plan was working—my plan, not his. I was going to take you away, somewhere he couldn’t reach us.”
“Why should I believe you?” Ella demanded.
“Because I helped him fake his death,” Caleb said quietly.
All eyes turned to him.
“I was stationed in Cyprus when Ella planted the explosives,” he continued. “Mikhail had already contacted me through mutual connections. He knew what Ella was planning and saw it as an opportunity.”
“You knew?” Ella whispered, horror dawning on her face. “You knew I went—”
“Yes,” Mikhail said. “And I’m sorry for letting you carry that burden. But it was the only way to convince my father I was truly dead. The body they recovered was Vassily’s—my servant who had terminal cancer. He agreed to take my place, to give his life meaning in the end.”
I looked between them, trying to process this. “So you’ve been alive all this time. Where?”
“Moving,” Mikhail said. “Never staying in one place too long. My father has eyes everywhere. But when I heard rumors that a private investigator had finally located Ella and my daughter, I had to come.”
“How did you find Caleb?” I asked.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on Jake for years,” Caleb admitted. “When I learned Mikhail needed help reaching Ella safely, I came back. I knew you’d protect them, Jake.”
The pieces were starting to fit together, but I still didn’t trust any of it. “And the threats? The cut fencing? The package? Scout’s poisoning?”
“The text messages were from Caleb from a burner phone; the rest were not me,” Mikhail said firmly. “My father’s men. They’ve been watching, waiting for the right moment to take Nora. That’s why I had to act now.”
Ella still held herself rigid, disbelief etched in every line of her face. “You expect me to believe that after eight years of silence, you suddenly care about our daughter’s safety?”
“I have always cared,” Mikhail said quietly. “I’ve been sending money to a trust fund in her name every month. I’ve kept my distance because it was safer for both of you.”
“The package that arrived at Jake’s,” Caleb interjected. “It wasn’t a threat from Mikhail. It was a warning. He was trying to alert you that his father had found you.”
I studied my brother’s face, looking for signs of deception. “And Scout? The antifreeze?”
“Kozlov’s work,” Caleb said grimly. “He was eliminating your security measures one by one. First the dog, then the cameras. We couldn’t wait any longer.”
“So you took my daughter without telling me,” Ella said, her voice dangerously calm.
“I knew you wouldn’t come willingly,” Mikhail admitted. “Not after everything. But I needed to get Nora somewhere safe while we figured out how to deal with my father.”
“And what exactly is your plan?” Rory demanded.
Mikhail exchanged a glance with Caleb. “We have evidence of my father’s criminal activities. Enough to put him away for life. But we need time to get it to the right people.”
“Why haven’t you done that already?” Ella asked.
“Because the moment the evidence becomes public, every enemy my father has ever made will come after anyone connected to him,” Mikhail explained. “Including Nora. I needed to secure you both first.”
I could see Ella wavering, uncertainty replacing some of the anger in her eyes. “Does she know?” she asked softly. “Does Nora know who you are?”
Mikhail shook his head. “No. I introduced myself as a friend. I wouldn’t tell her without your permission.”
The room fell silent except for the crackling of the fire and the faint sounds of Nora humming to herself in the kitchen. I looked at Ella, trying to read her thoughts. She met my gaze, confusion and pain evident in her eyes.
“I don’t know what to believe,” she whispered.
“Believe that I want to keep our daughter safe,” Mikhail said. “Whatever you think of me, believe that.”
Connor moved to the window, peering out at the darkening forest. “We should stay here tonight. It’s not safe to move after dark, and the snow’s getting worse.”
I nodded reluctantly. “But we take watches. Trust is earned, not given.”
“Fair enough,” Mikhail agreed.
Ella stood abruptly. “I need to check on Nora.”
After she left, I turned to my brother. “If you’re lying to me—”
“I’m not,” he said firmly. “I swear on Mom’s grave, Jake. This is real.”
I studied him, searching for the signs I’d known since childhood. But his gaze was steady, his stance open.
“The bandaged hand?” I asked.
He grimaced. “Cut myself breaking into Kozlov’s motel room to plant a tracker on his phone. Got caught on the way out. Not my finest moment.”
“And the vet call?”
“I overheard you talking to Dr. Miller when you called to check on Scout,” he admitted. “Thought it would seem less suspicious if I ‘received’ the information rather than eavesdropped on it.”
It made sense, in a twisted way. But I’d been burned too many times by people I trusted to accept it all at face value.
“I’m watching you,” I warned both of them. “One wrong move, and I’ll put you down myself.”
Mikhail nodded solemnly. “I would expect nothing less from the man protecting my family.”
The word “family” hung in the air between us, loaded with implications.
I thought about Ella in the kitchen with Nora, trying to explain why we were in this remote cabin with two men she’d been taught to fear.
I thought about the way Mikhail had looked at his daughter—with awe and longing and regret.
And I thought about the kiss Ella and I had shared, the way she’d felt in my arms, the future I’d started to imagine despite myself.
Nothing was simple anymore. Nothing was certain except the storm howling outside and the long night ahead of us.
“I’ll take first watch,” I said, moving to position myself by the window where I could see both entrances to the cabin.
As darkness fell completely, I watched the snow pile up around us, trapping us together in this strange limbo of truth and lies, past and present. Whatever happened next, I knew one thing for sure: nothing would ever be the same again.