Page 100 of Gilded Locks

“What do you want, sister?” Stone asked in a unique display of compassion and patience.

“I want it to be over. Can I stay in my room? I promise to lock the door.”

“If that’s what you want.”

She looked up at Cole with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said with militant formality. “I’ll be watching.”

Her smile was tentative.

“You’re not alone in this anymore,” Ash reminded. “You have all of us and nothing to fear.”

“That’s right.” Marigold reached for Katya’s hand, squeezing gently.

The Volkovs welcomed her into their private circle, a place deeply protected for family alone. They were as good as sisters now. And sisters protect each other.

Katya smiled despite her fear. Her grip tightened around Marigolds. Sturdier now. Calm. “It’ll all be over soon.”

“I’ll walk you to your room,” Ash said, taking Katya’s hand. He paused and placed a kiss on Marigold’s lips. “In case I don’t see you before the big show.”

“Ten minutes,” Cole announced, gaze glued to the monitors.

Stone moved to a bank of computers, his fingers dancing across controls with practiced ease. The screens came alive with feed from the harbor, showing a sleek yacht cutting through dark water toward their dock.

“There,” he said quietly. “Jordan Calder comes calling.”

Even from a distance, even on grainy security footage, Marigold could see her half-brother’s familiar figure standing at the yacht’s bow. Tall, golden-haired, traditionally handsome in a way that made people trust him despite the screaming warnings of all natural instincts.

Beside her, Katya made a sound like a wounded animal, drawing Marigold’s attention as she prepared to come face to face with her nightmare. “I can’t,” she whispered, all her earlier bravado crumbling. “I thought I could, but I can’t. He’s here and I can’t breathe. I?—”

“Get her out of here, Ash,” Hunter ordered.

Katya’s rambling broke into shallow gasps of panic. Her hands shook so violently she had to clench them to her stomach to still them.

Ash, always the nurturer, was beside her instantly, gathering her into his arms as if she were a child. “It’s okay. He can’t get to you.”

Marigold went to her friend and hugged her tight. “Big breath in, Katya.” She breathed with her friend. “Now, blow it out small.” Her lips formed a small oh. “Just right.”

Katya repeated the breathing, nodding in appreciation as her panic slowly calmed.

“Go with Ash. Go back to your room. And the next time you see us, this will all be over.”

Ash’s stare met hers over his sister’s head, his eyes filled with admiration as he mouthed, ‘Thank you.’

Then his attention jerked to the monitors, the shift in his expression crystal clear. The enemy had landed in their territory, and a reckoning was about to begin. Katya’s response only further cemented the need for justice. But it also meant, with Katya taking a step back, the endgame might come down to her testimony alone.

Panic welled up inside of her, but she shoved it back down. For Katya, and all the other girls Jordan hurt, she would be strong. And afterwards, when she fell to pieces, her three bears would put her back together again.

Chapter 20

Acts of Contrition

Jordan entered the lodge like he owned it.

Marigold watched from the hidden observation room as her half-brother strode through the front doors with the casual arrogance of a man who’d never been told no. Tall, golden-haired, and devastatingly handsome in his tailored Savile Row suit, he moved with the fluid confidence of someone who believed the world existed for his pleasure.

Behind him followed his entourage—a sharp-eyed lawyer in designer glasses, two private security consultants who looked like former military, and a man with a medical bag who could only be the bought and paid for psychiatrist meant to declare her mentally incompetent.