Alina’s POV
Ronan left me alone in the study, and I didn’t follow. The smart move would have been to go find Jaxon or Maddox, talk to them about the recordings. Instead, I sat at that laptop and listened to my father’s voice over and over again.
*“I do what I do to keep her safe.”*
*“Her mother was asking questions she shouldn’t have.”*
*“The girl needs rules. Structure. Control for her own good.”*
It felt more like manipulation disguised as concern. And the hardest truth? Some of what he said might have been true. He might actually care about me. He might believe he’s protecting me. But in my family, love and control were so mixed up that I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
Just then, my phone buzzed. I glanced at a text from an unknown number: *We need to talk. Mee
