“If you hadn’t threatened my family, I would have let you walk away.” Cole’s voice hardened. “I don’t care about the money or the family business. You could have gone back to the city and kept it all. Ruled over your little kingdom until the day you died. But you went after the two people I love more than anything.”
The world tilted on its axis.Love. He hadn't just said it to the old man. It felt like he’d said it to me.
He stepped closer to his grandfather. “I suspect the board of directors and the shareholders will be very interested in the little video we made. You’re going to be so busy fighting for your position that you won’t have time to think about coming after me and my family. And you will lose. I’ll also be speaking to an attorney about whether anything you said warrants criminal or civil charges. You threatened to destroy my daughter. I’m promising to destroy you.”
I saw real fear in the man’s eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"You should go now. Before Ava decides that ruining you legally isn't enough."
I took a step forward, my hands curling into fists. "He's right. Get out of here. Now."
His grandfather shot a look my way. Whatever he saw must have convinced him because he rushed to open the car door and slid inside. The car peeled away, leaving Cole and I alone.
Now that we’d resolved the threat to Maisie, all that remained was what to do about us. Cole had gone beyond words tonight, but was it enough to restore the fragile trust we’d been building before his grandfather showed up this morning?
Chapter 10
AVA
The taillightsof the black sedan disappeared around the curve, and the silence that followed was deafening. The adrenaline that had fueled me for the last hour drained away, leaving my knees shaking.
Cole’s hand grabbed my elbow, steadying me. “You okay?”
“I think so.” I let out a breath that shuddered in my chest. “Is it really over?”
“It’s over.” His voice was rough, but certain. “We have him.”
I looked down at the phone in my hand—the weapon that had saved my daughter. Then I looked up at Cole. In the harsh glare of the parking lot light, he looked exhausted. His tie was loose, his hair messy, and his eyes were filled with a raw vulnerability I’d never seen before.
He had destroyed his own legacy to protect us. He hadn’t hesitated.
“You said something,” I whispered, the memory of his words echoing in my ears. “To him. You said he went after the two people you love.”
Cole stilled. He didn't look away, didn't play it off as an act. “I did.”
“Was that part of the script?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
“No.” He took a step closer, crowding my personal space, and for the first time all day, I didn't want to back away. “I’ve never said I loved anyone before. Love was never part of the world I grew up in. But I love you, Ava. I think I fell in love with you six years ago, when I was too much of a coward to admit it. Seeing you again and getting to know the woman you’ve become only strengthened it. And I definitely love our daughter.”
Tears pricked my eyes, hot and fast. “Cole…”
“I broke your trust today,” he continued, his voice urgent. “I can't just fix that with words and a grand gesture. But I’m asking for a chance to earn it back. Not a weekend. Not a fling. I want the real thing. I want to drive you crazy leaving sawdust on the floor, and I want to argue about what time Maisie has to go to bed, and I want to wake up next to you every single morning.”
He reached out, his fingers brushing against my cheek, waiting for me to pull away.
I didn't.
I leaned into his touch, the anger that had fueled me finally dissolving into something softer. Something like hope. A watery smile tugged at my lips, but I wasn’t quite ready to give in. “It’s a bit of a commute. Maisie and I are in the city.”
“I have a truck,” he said, a grin finally breaking through his tension. “And I can build anywhere, Ava. As long as it's near you.”
“You'd move?”
“In a heartbeat,” he promised. “Moving a workshop is easy.”
He lowered his head, his lips hovering inches from mine. “So? What do you say? Can we try?”
Fear flickered in my chest—fear of the grandfather, fear of the future. But then I looked at Cole. He wasn't the boy who ranaway. He was the man who had just dismantled his own family’s empire to keep my daughter safe.
