Chapter Eleven #2
For two years, they had watched their older brothers tear the world apart in their grief, their anger, and their remorse.
They had seen them turn into monsters, and they had seen them hollowed out into ghosts.
But looking at them now, surrounded by the quiet hum of the rain and the steady breathing of the women they loved, Connor and Leon had never seen their brothers look so undeniably content.
It wasn't a corporate victory. It wasn't a legacy secured. It was just peace. And for the first time since the nightmare began, it looked like they were all finally going to get their happily ever after.
***
The following morning, the coastal storm had broken, leaving the sky a brilliant, washed-out blue.
The kitchen table was crowded with coffee mugs, half-eaten pastries from Tam’s bakery, and the Sunday papers. Connor and Leon were regaling Kinsley with a highly exaggerated story of a recent corporate buyout, while Marcy laughed, pouring fresh coffee for Kade.
But as the morning wore on, the atmosphere shifted. Kade and Cruz exchanged a loaded, serious glance across the table.
Cruz cleared his throat, setting his coffee mug down. The easy, domestic warmth in his eyes sharpened into the protective, calculated gaze of the titan he still was.
"We need to discuss next week," Cruz began, his deep voice instantly commanding the attention of the room. He reached under the table, his hand finding Kinsley’s knee and resting there, anchoring her.
"The legal finalization of the merged trusts requires all four signatories to be present in the Ashford Heights executive offices. Kade, Leon, Connor, and myself."
Kinsley popped a piece of a scone into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Okay. Have a safe flight. Bring me back some of those ridiculously expensive truffles from the bakery on 5th Avenue."
"We aren't going alone," Kade said softly, his eyes locking onto Marcy. He leaned forward, his frame radiating a fierce, unwavering devotion. "We want you both to come with us."
The kitchen fell completely silent.
The mere mention of Ashford Heights was enough to suck the oxygen from the room.
It wasn't just a city; it was the epicenter of their trauma.
It was the place where they had been branded parasites, where Camille Monroe had struck Marcy, where the legacy families had systematically destroyed their lives.
Kinsley swallowed her bite of pastry, leaning back in her chair. She looked at Cruz, her chaotic eyes calculating the variables. "You want us to walk back into the snake pit."
"There are no snakes left, Kinsley," Cruz promised, his voice a low, vibrating vow of violence against anyone who dared to test it.
"We dismantled the Monroe empire. Gabriela and her parents are social and financial pariahs; they have relocated to Europe.
And our parents... they have zero authority.
They cannot access the building. They cannot access us. "
"We would fly you on the private jet directly to the private helipad," Kade added, his gaze pleading with Marcy, seeing the sudden, pale apprehension flooding her features.
"You would step off the helicopter and directly into the penthouse.
You wouldn't have to see a single person from the past. And I swear to you on my life, Marcy, you will have complete protection.
I would burn the city to the ground before I let anyone look at you with anything less than respect. "
Kinsley shrugged, unbothered. She traced the rim of her coffee mug with a nonchalant flick of her finger. "I don't care. I'll go. I’ll wear my scuffed combat boots to the executive floor just to give your snooty receptionists an aneurysm. They don't scare me anymore, Cruz."
Cruz’s lips twitched into a fiercely proud, dark smirk. He squeezed her knee, enamored by her fearlessness.
But Marcy was silent.
Her hands were wrapped tightly around her warm coffee mug, her knuckles white.
She was staring at the wooden grain of the table.
Despite the peace of Pearlcove, the thought of breathing the air of Ashford Heights, of standing in the towers where she had been so thoroughly humiliated, sent a cold, phantom shiver down her spine.
"Marcy?" Kade whispered.
He didn't hesitate. Kade pushed his chair back, ignoring his brothers and Kinsley. He dropped to one knee right there on the kitchen floor beside her chair, uncaring of the domestic setting. He took her trembling hands in his large, warm ones.
"You don't have to go," Kade said fiercely, his eyes searching hers, willing to cancel the trip if it caused her a single ounce of pain. "I will bring the lawyers here. I will move the corporate headquarters to a barge in the middle of the ocean if you want me to. You never have to go back."
Marcy looked down at the man kneeling on her kitchen floor. She saw the depth of his love. He wasn't the boy who had failed to protect her anymore. He was a man who had built a fortress for her soul.
She took a slow, deep breath, the scent of the sea air grounding her. She didn't want to live in fear of a city. She wanted to stand beside the man she loved, unashamed and unbreakable.
"No," Marcy said softly, her fingers tightening around Kade’s hands. She offered him a brave, serene smile. "No barges. We will go to Ashford Heights. I think... I think it’s time to lay the ghosts to rest."