Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
PRESENT
I sit in the family office, and it’s a full house. Six months ago, I used to be the only one up here. This was my space. My quiet. I’d have private meetings with clients and time to decompress. If I needed to think, I’d do jumping jacks or burpees or even skip rope right in the middle of the room. Other times, I’d kick my boots up on the sill of the oversized window, stare out at the horses, and contemplate what it all meant—how far I’d come.
Now? I barely have space to breathe.
Enzo, Ava, Rio, and Callum are all here, heads down, working. The air hums with quiet focus, the click of keys, the low murmur of discussion. I should be getting things done, too. Should be checking emails, making phone calls and setting up tomorrow’s training schedule.
Instead, I’ve been staring at the same email for thirty minutes.
Kat reached out to Callum about the flash drives, which was the right move. I’m glad she did. An answer to why someone is after her could be buried in those drives.
Yes. She needs to come here. But I shouldn’t be here at all.
I can’t decrypt the drives. I wouldn’t know the first thing about it. Hell, if Enzo and Ava weren’t in the family, I wouldn’t even be able to use a VPN. But when Callum mentioned they were meeting at the ranch to decode them, somehow my ass ended up in this chair like I had no say in the matter.
I need to be here. I need to know if she’s safe.
It was good we had a day apart yesterday. I came back to Julia’s extra late, after what I hoped was bedtime, because some part of me is still that damn twenty-one-year-old young man who can’t be trusted around her.
I don’t know how to do this—how to protect her while keeping my hands off her. How to be in her orbit without getting pulled under.
I’ve had years to try and explain Kat out of my mind, out of my heart. First, I tried to dismiss it. Told myself we were total opposites. But opposites attract, and anyway, the thing that was different about us—her world, my world—wasn’t the way we defined ourselves.
And then two years after the end, I started coming into really good money myself.
That should have been the moment I could move on, right? When I became the kind of man who could’ve been with her. But it didn’t change a damn thing.
Because the truth is, I was never meant to get over her.
Kat wasn’t just my first love—she was the only time I ever felt whole. The only time I let myself be truly vulnerable with another human being, and instead of destroying me, it made me stronger.
I glance back at my screen. Still on the same email. I scrub a hand down my face. I shouldn’t be here.
And then the door creaks open.
Kat peeks her head around the doorframe, her long, dark hair cascades over her shoulder. “Is it okay to come in?”
Ava stands. “Of course.” She gestures to the empty seat opposite her.
Kat steps inside, peeling off her chunky cardigan—the same one from last night—and it takes everything in me not to stare.
She’s nervous and wastes some time on small talk. “Theo is helping Julia with her horses this morning.”
Ava smiles kindly. “You’d think the giant Clydesdale would be the sassy one but boy is her Shetland a handful. He’ll have fun.”
The nod Kat returns is so feeble I want to reach out and soak in her nerves. Hold her steady. Carry everything for her.
She’s stunning in a long, simple cotton dress. Comfortable. Everyday. And yet, somehow, she’s no less than a goddamn goddess.
She’s changed since she was eighteen. She was beautiful then, too, but there’s something about a woman’s body after she’s carried a child.
A miracle was produced by that body. A miracle that was stolen from me .
The thought catches me off guard. I shouldn’t be thinking about this. Shouldn’t be watching the way she absentmindedly twirls her hair up into a bun, baring the delicate curve of her neck.
We sure would have made beautiful babies.
I rip my gaze away and pretend to focus on my computer screen. Because if I don’t, I’ll start thinking about what it would be like to pull her into my lap right here, right now. To let my hands roam, to feel what’s changed, what hasn’t.
This isn’t why I’m here.
Kat glances at me and offers a small wave and an even smaller smile. I return both before forcing myself to get back to work.
I need to keep my distance.
But I also need to be here.
Because Callum, Ava, Enzo, and Rio? They’re brilliant at what they do, but none of them is the right person to guide Kat through this.
Ava will have compassion. Callum is used to dealing with the public. But Enzo and Rio? They’re different. Enzo’s a genius—his GhostEye software has helped take down massive criminal operations, including the cartel that kidnapped his fiancée. But Enzo and Rio aren’t customer-facing people. They’re blunt. Direct. And they deal with law enforcement, not victims.
Kat doesn’t just need someone to decode a flash drive. She needs someone who understands what it’s like to have their world ripped out from under them.
And that sure as hell isn’t going to be Rio.
She fumbles for the words as she sits. “I know I should give these to the FBI, but… I hope you understand. If I do that, I’ll never get answers. I don’t even know if these fl ash drives will help at all in the investigation.” She exhales sharply. “But if there’s anything important, I want to know about it before I give them over.”
Callum nods. “I get that. We’ll have to turn them over if we find something, but you want to know what you’re dealing with first.”
“That’s it.” She digs in her purse. “They could just be nude photos of mistresses for all I know. But if not, I hope you’ll be able to tell me what I’m dealing with so I can prepare myself.”
As she hands the drives to Ava, I tense.
She doesn’t realize what she’s asking.
She doesn’t realize that if these hold something dark, something dangerous, she’s not just getting information. She’s getting certain knowledge there’s a target on her back.
Suddenly, I feel sick.
Ava plugs the first drive in, her fingers flying across the keyboard. “This will only take ten minutes or so for each one.”
Kat blinks. “That fast?”
Enzo deadpans. “If he’d chosen a Hooli drive, it might’ve taken thirty.”
Kat lets out a nervous laugh, but her shoulders are tight, her posture wary. “Remind me not to keep any secrets from you.”
I catch her eye and toss her a look that says I’m here. I’ve got you.
Ten minutes later, Enzo and Ava read the screen.
Their faces fall.
Callum leans over the monitor, expression darkening.
Rio, who hasn’t glanced up from his work once, finally does. “Spit it out.”
Callum treads carefully. “Nicholas’ activity at Pacific Dreams is under investigation?”
Kat nods. “Yes…”
Callum exhales. “Well, let’s just say… the investigation is warranted.”
Kat stiffens. “What is it?”
Enzo scans information on the laptop screen, scrolling relentlessly. “Nic was doing business with the ’Ndrangheta.”
“The what?”
“The Sicilian Mafia.”
Kat doesn’t react at first. Not physically. Not verbally. It’s like the words don’t register at all. Like her brain refuses to let them in.
And then, a small, sharp shake of her head. “No… no, that’s—” She lets out a brittle laugh like she’s misheard him, like this must be some kind of sick joke.
I feel it before she even realizes it—the spiral. The way her entire body locks up, breath shallowing, hands trembling just slightly. The way she grips the edge of the table like it’s the only thing holding her in place.
“Wait—” she starts, but her voice fractures.
Confusion spreads across her face like wildfire, burning through her in real time. Her hands press against her chest as if trying to hold herself together, as if she can keep herself from breaking apart.
“So he was… was he using Pacific Dreams as a cover or…” Desperation shakes through her. “I don’t understand.”
“We won’t know until we sift through the files,” Enzo says carefully.
Callum cuts in, soft but firm. “We have to hand these over to the FBI.”
Kat’s entire body jolts. “No… wa it…”
It’s not just panic. It’s something deeper.
She knows what this means. It means the farmhouse, the booby trap… they weren’t accidents. The Mafia wants those drives.
Her fingers gather the fabric of her dress, her breath coming quicker now, erratic. The color drains from her face, her lips slightly parted. She tries to form a thought, a word, anything—but there’s nothing.
“But if it’s true then we… me and Theo…” She can’t even finish the sentence.
She inhales sharply, but the oxygen doesn’t seem to reach her lungs.
And then—she moves.
Suddenly, she’s shoving her chair back, the legs scraping against the floor. A sharp, panicked motion.
“I need a minute.”
Her voice is barely above a whisper, but it rings through me like a gunshot.
And then she’s gone.
The door swings open, her hair whipping over her shoulder as she rushes out.
Ava’s chair scrapes back, the instinct to follow immediate—but I’m already on my feet.
“Ava. I got this.”
I don’t wait for an answer.
I don’t think.
I run.
Because if Nic was in bed with the Mafia, then Kat hasn’t just lost everything?—
She’s not safe. Not even close.
And whether she wants me to or not, I’m not letting her go through this alone.
I chase Kat down the stairs, her name ripping from my throat. “Kat! Wait!”
She doesn’t stop.
She bursts through the doorway at the bottom. The crisp autumn air slaps me in the face as I run after her.
She’s running from everything. From the truth, from the life she thought she had… But she’s also running from me.
Because she knows—if I catch her, if I hold her, it’ll make this real. She won’t be able to bury it anymore.
I know it, too, but I don’t stop.
She cuts left, through the stable yard, eyes darting like she’s searching for somewhere to hide. Somewhere to fall apart where I won’t see her.
But I do see her.
I catch her inside the barn, where she’s doubled over, hands on her knees, her whole body shaking with breathless, guttural sobs.
It wrecks me.
Her shoulders tremble, and she’s trying so damn hard to hold it all together, but it’s not working. A wheezing, painful sound rises from deep in her chest, and it shreds me open.
“Gone,” she chokes out, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. “Theo has lost everything.”
Her voice cracks, and the sound is worse than a bullet to the chest.
“Ten fucking minutes, Santi. That’s all it took for Theo to have nothing. No college fund. No house to go back to if I can’t make this work…” Her breath stutters and he r head falls forward, tears dripping onto the dusty barn floor.
She’s unraveling right in front of me.
“I just need a second.” She fights so damn hard to steady herself. “I just need a moment to get myself together because I have really fucked up.”
I can’t take it anymore.
I step forward and gently tug at her arms, pulling her upright. Before she can stop me, I haul her against my chest.
She goes limp in my arms. Her hands fist my shirt, and she presses her face into my chest, muffling her sobs against me. Every quiet, broken sound cuts me to pieces.
“What have I done?” she whispers.
I grip the back of her head, anchoring her to me. “You haven’t done anything.”
“I should have kept those drives to myself…”
“That wasn’t an option…”
She shakes her head like she doesn’t know the answer but still thinks she’s right. She plants her palm firmly on my chest, trying to push me away before she sinks too deep. “I can’t talk to you about this.”
I step closer, bracketing her between my body and the barn wall.
“You can tell me anything, Michi …”
At the sound of our past creeping into our space, she stills.
I trail my fingers under her jaw, tilting her face to mine. I need her to see it. “Tell me anything. I’m on your side.”
She searches my gaze as if trying to figure out what she can believe.
I brush my thumb over her lower lip, still swollen and red-stained from crying. I’ve wanted to kiss away those tears since the second I saw them .
“I’m on your side,” I repeat, softer this time.
She inhales sharply, her fingers dragging down my arm. Electricity crackles in the wake, setting every nerve on fire. When her hand reaches my fingertips but drops away instead of holding on, I have to clench my fists to keep from grabbing her.
A tear slips over the curve of her cheek. She licks it off her lips, and fuck, I’m gone.
“It’s not that I’m surprised,” she says, voice shaking. “Nic was exactly the kind of guy who would be doing shady deals and unethical things. But… What are we going to do? Me and Theo… I have a few bits of jewelry to my name. I don’t even have a car anymore…”
She teeters on the edge of something too dark to name.
I grip her waist. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her lashes flutter. “You can’t…”
I ease in even closer, hips locking with hers, so she understands exactly what I mean. “I want to.”
Her lips part. “Why?”
Why?
Because this is how men ruin themselves.
I already have one life to protect; I can’t afford to gamble with two more. Owen is my priority. My future. But Kat…
She’s my greatest regret. My eternal temptation.
Before, she was a memory I could lock away. Now, she’s something else. Something volatile. Something I can’t ignore.
Taking her back means inviting the storm. It means putting everything—Owen, the safety of Monarch Hills, the life I’ve clawed my way toward—on the line.
But if I walk away now, I’ll never get another chance. And the truth is, I don’t think I can live with that .
She repeats her question, this time with less doubt and more hope. “Why would you help us?”
A fire burns in my chest. I can’t hold it back.
“Because I’m not done with you.”
Her breath snags in her throat, the sound tight, unsteady, a tremor between us.
It’s dangerous admitting it, saying it. But it’s the goddamn truth.
Her fingers curl into my shirt. She pulls me closer even as she fights it.
Her words slip out, hushed and unsteady, as if speaking them might break her. “I’m scared… I don’t want to bring danger here. To Theo, to this town… to you.”
I swallow hard. She’s right. There is danger in this. In us.
But the second she looks at me like that? Like she knows this will burn us both, but she still wants the fire?
I’d rather burn alive than walk away.
“This town is stronger than you think.” I slide my hand lower and tug her flush against me. “And I’m stronger than you think.”
She stares at me, pausing so long I wonder if I’ve died. Desire smolders inside me. I need to taste her. It takes every ounce of strength to hold back. And then?—
“Santi…”
My name in her mouth is the match.
“Fuck it.”
I crash my lips against hers. The kiss wrecks me. Her fingers tangle in my hair, her mouth parts as I claim her, devour her, remind her exactly who the hell she belongs to.
She’s soft and desperate, her body molding to mine. I pin her hard against the wall, my body craving more.
She mutters into my mouth. “No… ”
But she doesn’t push me away.
Her hands hit my chest, pausing for a beat before gripping my shirt and yanking me closer.
I slide my hand to the back of her neck, deepening the kiss, pouring every unspoken word, every unsaid truth into it.
She breaks away just enough to breathe, her lips brushing mine. “This is a mistake…”
My rough groan falls on her lips. “I know.”
She’s breathless. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”
I drag my fingers through her hair, tilting her head up so she has no choice but to see what I’m about to say.
“Then stop me.”
Silence.
Her fingers are still tangled in my shirt like she’s holding on for dear life.
“We’ll figure this out,” I whisper, my voice steady even though nothing about this is safe. “I’ll protect you and Theo, no matter what it takes. You don’t have to carry this alone anymore.”
Her blue eyes glisten, stormy and uncertain—but I see it. She wants to believe me.
She doesn’t fight me when I kiss her again. Softer this time. Slower. Sealing the promise I just made.
Even if I have no fucking clue how I’m going to keep it.