16. Evie
Evie
Once everyone has eaten their body weight in food, Shay stands and points a serving spoon at the men.
“You lot know where the dishwasher is.”
Ethan stands and collects the dishes, taking them to the sink to rinse. He passes them to Henry, who stacks them. Daniel picks up the carving board. Angus reaches for the serving bowls. Ben scoops up a sleepy Max and carries him upstairs.
Tom sighs dramatically. “I see my opinions continue to carry absolutely no weight around here.”
Kitty slips her hand into his. “Of course they do.”
He brightens.
She smiles sweetly. “We just ignore them.”
Luna hides a smile behind her coffee mug.
Shay loops her arm through mine. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“For some girly time.”
The living room somehow manages to feel even warmer than the kitchen.
Shay curls one leg beneath her on the sofa. Luna settles into the opposite corner with the quiet ease of someone who never seems to take up more space than she needs.
Delaney appears carrying a notebook.
Kitty plucks it neatly out of her hands before she can sit down. “Not everything requires minutes.”
“It might.”
“It doesn’t.”
Delaney sighs with the long-suffering air of someone who’s had this argument many times before, but she lets Kitty tuck the notebook onto a nearby shelf.
I smile. “You two always like this?”
Kitty laughs. “Sisters.”
“What she means,” Jenna says, settling into the armchair, “is yes.”
Delaney shakes her head. “Someone had to keep her alive.”
Kitty frowns. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You tried to eat peanut butter twice.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot the first time. The second time, you thought maybe it wouldn’t aggravate your asthma.”
Kitty has the grace to look sheepish. “I was very optimistic at thirteen.”
The room fills with laughter.
Delaney’s expression softens as she looks at her sister. “Our parents died when Kitty was little.” She says it simply, without asking for sympathy. “Somebody had to remember doctor’s appointments, school forms, allergy lists, bills…”
“And birthdays,” Kitty adds quietly.
Delaney smiles. “And birthdays.”
Kitty reaches across and threads their fingers together. “You did a good job, sis.”
Delaney squeezes her hand. “I did my best.”
For a second, neither of them says anything. They don’t have to. The love between them sits in the silence, easy with years of practice.
“Now she organizes all of us instead,” Shay says with a grin, breaking the moment.
Delaney looks entirely unapologetic. “Organization prevents emergencies.”
Daniel’s voice drifts in from the kitchen. “It also creates filing systems for emergencies.”
“I heard that,” Delaney calls back.
“You were supposed to.”
Another ripple of laughter passes around the room.
For a little while, the conversation drifts wherever it wants.
Pregnancy.
Cravings.
The merits of ginger biscuits over peppermint tea.
Shay insists heartburn means the baby’s going to have lots of hair.
Delaney immediately announces that’s an old wives’ tale. “I’ve got a spreadsheet somewhere.”
I laugh. “About hairy babies?”
“Pregnancy myths,” Delaney corrects.
Kitty grins. “Column C is ‘Hairiness.’”
Shay tops up my water before I realize my glass is nearly empty.
“So,” she says gently, “can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Your folks.” She hesitates just enough to tell me she’ll happily leave it alone if I don’t want to answer. “You close?”
Nobody leans forward as if they’re waiting for gossip. They’re simply… listening.
I twist my turquoise ring around my finger. “My parents split when I was a baby.”
Shay nods.
“My mom raised me. Mostly.”
“And your dad?” Kitty asks softly.
“He’s a businessman. One of those men who thinks writing a check is the same thing as showing up. We haven’t spoken properly in years.”
I look down at my hands. “He’s dead to me.”
The words land quietly.
Shay reaches across and squeezes my hand, her smile so warm it makes my throat tighten. “Well, you’ve got people now. That’s how it works around here.”
Kitty nods enthusiastically. “You're stuck with us.”
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.
The sound of running water drifts in from the kitchen, followed by the clink of crockery and the low rumble of men’s voices.
A minute later, Henry appears first, drying his hands on a tea towel. “There you all are.”
“As if we'd go far,” Shay says.
He smiles, bending to kiss the top of her head before settling beside her on the sofa. She instinctively leans into him.
The others follow.
Tom plucks Kitty from the armchair and settles her on his lap.
Angus takes the seat beside Luna, wrapping his arm around her. She leans her head on his shoulder.
Daniel settles beside Delaney, one arm draped along the back of the sofa behind her. Ethan and Jenna claim the loveseat together, her hand finding his before either of them has properly sat down.
Ben lowers himself into an armchair with the familiar ease of a man who’s occupied it a thousand times.
Jacob hesitates for the briefest moment.
Ben looks up. “Sit down, Jake.”
There’s no ceremony to it. No awkwardness. Just an empty space on the other sofa beside his chair and an invitation that sounds like it’s been waiting years to be accepted.
Jacob’s mouth twitches. “Don’t mind if I do.”
He takes the seat.
They don’t say anything else.
I've heard enough from Gabriel, and seen enough today, to understand they barely know how to talk to each other. Healing doesn't always arrive in grand gestures.
Gabriel is the last to come in. His eyes find mine immediately. He smiles—that quiet, private smile that's become one of my favorite things in the world—and crosses the room to me.
He sits beside me, close enough that our thighs touch. His hand finds mine instinctively, our fingers lacing together as naturally as breathing.
For a moment, the room settles.
Coffee mugs. Soft conversation. It’s... peaceful.
Then Daniel clears his throat.
Conversations taper off one by one. Coffee cups lower. The easy smiles fade.
Daniel waits until he has everyone's attention before he speaks. “I wish we were getting together under better circumstances. But we got confirmation this morning that Marlon Ennis didn’t die in an accident.”
Nobody flinches. As if they’ve been waiting for this.
Henry exhales quietly. “So it’s murder.”
“We don’t have enough evidence to call it that officially.” Daniel’s voice stays level. “But somebody wanted him permanently unavailable.”
Jacob’s jaw tightens. “Marlon knew too much.”
“He handled loans across three counties,” Ethan says. “Land transfers. Financial records. He knew who’d been approached, who’d refused to sell, which shell companies were connected.”
“And who was paying them,” Jenna adds.
I don’t interrupt. I’ve already heard most of this from Gabriel yesterday.
Instead, I find myself watching the people around the table. Nobody looks shocked. Just… tired. Worried. Like they’ve been carrying this fight for years.
“We gave the FBI the name Vance mentioned when Jenna and I confronted him in town,” Ethan continues.
“The higher-up who’s been directing everything.
The land purchases. The intimidation. The poisoned well.
The fire that nearly killed Luna. The forged documents that almost tore this family apart by making it look like Gabriel had betrayed us. Marlon Ennis’s murder.”
My head turns so fast my neck protests.
I stare at Gabriel.
Forged documents?
He never told me that.
Someone had tried to convince the people he loved that he’d turned against them.
My heart twists. My fingers tighten around his.
He glances at me. “You okay, darlin’?” he asks quietly.
I nod automatically. Too quickly. Because the name Ethan mentioned stirs a memory somewhere deep in the back of my mind.
We gave the FBI the name Vance mentioned…
Vance.
I know that name. I’ve heard it before. At a charity gala. Men in tailored suits talking while I smiled for photographs I never wanted to be in. My father introducing me to people whose names blurred together because none of them were there to meet me.
Julian Vance.
I can almost see him. Expensive suit. Perfect smile. The kind of man my father surrounded himself with. The kind of man who made everyone else in the room feel as though they should be grateful for his attention.
A prickle runs down my spine.
Gabriel’s thumb strokes the back of my hand. “Evie?”
I drag my eyes back to him and force a smile. “I’m fine.”
“We always knew Vance wasn’t calling the shots,” Tom says.
“He wasn’t,” Jenna confirms. “He answered to one man.” She draws a slow breath. “The FBI now has enough evidence to tie every major decision back to Alexander Voss.”
The world stops. It simply… falls away.
Everything else falls away, leaving only the name echoing inside my head.
Alexander Voss.
No.
No.
No.
Gabriel’s fingers tighten around mine. “Evie?”
I can’t hear him properly through the roaring in my ears.
Another voice is speaking—Daniel? Ethan?
I can’t make out the words.
Every face turns toward me as I surge to my feet.
“I…”
The words won’t come.
I can’t—
I can’t breathe.
I stand and run.
Someone calls after me. I don’t know who.
The hallway blurs. I catch a glimpse of my face in a mirror. White. Terrified.
I barely make it to the downstairs bathroom before I’m on my knees. Everything I’ve eaten comes back up. My whole body shakes.
The door opens behind me.
“Evie.” Gabriel’s boots cross the tile in three quick strides. “Easy, sweetheart.”
He’s beside me before I can protest, gathering my hair away from my face with one hand while the other rubs slow circles between my shoulders. “I’ve got you.”
Another wave hits.
He doesn’t let go.
When it’s over, he reaches for a towel, wets it beneath the tap, and gently presses it into my hand. “There you go.”
I wipe my mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I…” The words dissolve into another shuddering breath.
He crouches in front of me now, one knee on the floor. His eyes search my face. “Talk to me.”
I shake my head. “I-I can’t.”
“You can.” His voice is so calm. So certain. Like nothing I could possibly say would make him let go of me.
He thinks it’s the pregnancy. Morning sickness.
God, I wish it was.
He brushes a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Is something hurting?”
“Yes.” The answer breaks on the way out.
His expression changes immediately. “Where?”
I close my eyes. “My whole life.”
Silence.
He waits. He always waits.
I don’t know how long we stay there.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Long enough for the tears to start falling. When I finally look at him, I can barely see through them.
“Ethan said the FBI knew who Vance was working for.”
Gabriel’s face tightens. “Yeah.”
I swallow. The words stick in my throat like broken glass. “The man he worked for…”
My voice disappears.
Gabriel reaches for my hand. “Evie?”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
When I force them open again, there’s no denying the truth. “Alexander Voss”—my breath catches—“is my father.”