Mira's POV
I'm halfway up the stairs when Kieran's hand catches my wrist.
"You're not going anywhere alone." His grip is iron, his voice deadly calm. "Whatever that text says, we handle it together."
"Let go!" I try to twist free, but he's too strong. "You don't understand—"
"Someone threatened Sophie. They told you to come alone. Am I close?"
My silence is his answer.
Kieran pulls me back down the stairs with frightening gentleness, like I'm fragile glass that might shatter. In the bookstore, he takes my phone before I can stop him.
"No! They said if you—"
"I know what they said." He reads the messages, his face going deadly still. "This is exactly what I was afraid of."
"Then you know I have to go! Sophie is—"
"Bait." Kieran looks at me, and for the first time I see real fear in his eyes. "Mira, this isn't some random kidnapping. This is Vincent Ashford making his move. And if you walk into that warehouse alone, you're not saving Sophie. You're giving him exactly what he wants."
"Vincent who?" I'm shaking so hard my teeth chatter. "I don't know any Vincent!"
Kieran's jaw clenches. "Your father."
The word hits me like a punch. "My father is dead. He died before I was born. My mother told me—"
"Your mother lied to protect you." Kieran guides me to sit down, but stays standing, alert. "Vincent Ashford isn't dead. He's very much alive. And he's been hunting you for twenty-eight years."
My brain can't process this. "That's impossible. My mother wouldn't—"
"Your mother was running for her life!" Kieran's control cracks for a moment. "Vincent Ashford is a crime boss. Drugs, weapons, human trafficking—you name it, he profits from it. Twenty-eight years ago, your mother worked as a bookkeeper for one of his front companies. He became obsessed with her. Trapped her. And when she got pregnant with you, she knew she had to run."
I'm shaking my head, refusing to believe. "No. No, my mother was a librarian. She was kind and gentle and—"
"And she changed both your names when you were ten. Moved you to three different states. Never stayed anywhere longer than a few years." Kieran crouches in front of me. "Why do you think that was, Mira? Why did you never have baby photos? Why didn't she have friends or family?"
Because she was hiding us.
The truth settles over me like ice water.
"The car accident," I whisper. "Eight years ago."
"Wasn't an accident." Kieran's voice goes soft, almost gentle. "Vincent's people found you. I was there that night, Mira. I was hired to protect you both, and I failed."
"You were... there?"
"I held your mother while she died." Pain flashes across his face. "She made me promise to keep you safe. To never let Vincent find you. That's why I've been watching all these years. Building my company, getting stronger, waiting for him to make his move."
My whole world is tilting. "You've been stalking me since I was nineteen? Because of some promise to my dying mother?"
"Yes." No hesitation. No shame. "And because I fell in love with you."
I laugh, but it's broken. "You don't even know me!"
"I know you talk to books when you're lonely. I know you cry watching romantic movies but pretend you don't. I know you donated your last fifty dollars to the animal shelter even though you couldn't afford groceries." His voice is raw. "I know you better than anyone alive, Mira. And Vincent knows it. That's why he took Sophie. He's forcing you to choose—your friend's life or your own."
"Then I choose Sophie!" I jump up, desperate. "She's innocent in this! She doesn't deserve—"
"And what happens after Vincent has you?" Kieran stands too, blocking my path. "You think he'll let Sophie go? He'll kill her anyway. Kill me. Kill anyone who knows you were taken. That's how he works."
"So what do I do?" I'm screaming now. "Let her die? She's my only friend! The only person who stood by me after Marcus destroyed me! I can't—"
My phone buzzes. Another photo.
Sophie's face, crying. Someone's holding a knife to her throat. The message reads: "40 minutes left. Still talking to Thorne? I'm disappointed, Mira. I thought you loved your friend."
"He's watching us right now," I breathe. "How is he watching us?"
Kieran moves to the covered windows, then freezes. Slowly, carefully, he reaches up and pulls down one of the blankets.
There's a camera. A tiny wireless camera stuck to the outside of the glass.
"He's been watching for days," Kieran says quietly. "Maybe weeks. He knows everything we say. Everything we do."
My stomach turns. "Then he heard you tell me about Vincent. About the promise. About—" I look at Kieran in horror. "He knows you love me."
"Which makes you even more valuable to him." Kieran's already moving, pulling out his phone. "I'm calling my team—"
"No!" I grab his arm. "He said no police. No help. Just me."
"Vincent wants you to feel helpless. That's his game. Break your spirit before he breaks you." Kieran looks at me, and his eyes are fierce. "But you're not helpless, Mira. You have me. And I have resources Vincent doesn't know about."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that I've been tracking Vincent's operations for eight years. I know his people, his properties, his methods." Kieran pulls up a map on his phone. "This address he sent? It's not random. It's a warehouse Vincent's company owns through a shell corporation. He wants home advantage."
"So it's definitely a trap."
"Yes. But traps work both ways."
Before I can ask what that means, the bookstore's back door crashes open.
I scream. Kieran shoves me behind him, gun appearing in his hand so fast I barely see him draw it.
But it's not Vincent's people.
It's Adrian. My delivery driver. Standing in the doorway with his hands up, breathing hard.
"Don't shoot!" Adrian's voice is panicked. "I'm not here to hurt her! I'm here to warn you!"
"Warn us about what?" Kieran's gun doesn't lower.
"About Vincent." Adrian looks at me, and his eyes are full of guilt. "Mira, I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner. I should have—"
"Told me what?" My voice is barely a whisper.
Adrian takes a shaking breath. "Vincent Ashford is my father too. You're my half-sister. And he sent me to spy on you, but I can't do it anymore. I can't let him hurt you."
The room spins. Another sibling? Another person lying to me?
"The cameras," Kieran says suddenly. "You planted them."
"Yes. But I'm done!" Adrian steps forward desperately. "Vincent's plan is worse than kidnapping. The warehouse address? It's a distraction. While you're focused on saving Sophie, his real team is coming here. To the bookstore. To take you from a place you feel safe."
"When?" Kieran demands.
Adrian checks his watch. "Now. They're coming now."
As if on cue, car engines roar outside. Tires screech. Men's voices shout commands.
Kieran moves fast, killing the lights and yanking me toward the back of the store. "The attic. The hidden room your mother showed you. Go. Now."
"But Sophie—"
"Is already dead if we don't survive the next five minutes!" He practically throws me toward the stairs. "Move!"
I run, my heart exploding in my chest. Behind me, I hear the front door being smashed open. Glass shattering. Men pouring into my bookstore.
Kieran fires three shots. Someone screams.
Adrian yells, "I'm on your side! Don't—"
More gunshots. I don't know who's shooting who.
I'm halfway up the stairs when a hand grabs my ankle.
I fall hard, my chin cracking against wood. Stars burst in my vision. A man drags me backward, his grip like steel.
"Got her!" he shouts.
Through my dazed vision, I see him—tall, silver-haired, wearing an expensive suit. His eyes are the same green as mine.
Vincent Ashford. My father.
He smiles down at me like I'm a lost puppy he's finally found.
"Hello, daughter. We have so much to catch up on."
Then something hits my head, and the world goes black.