Chapter 17
854 Words
Kaden POV
The camera was still warm when I crushed it.
That’s how I knew it had been live.
Someone was watching us less than an hour ago.
Keira’s hands were shaking against my shirt.
I could feel it.
I hated it.
“Don’t let go,” she whispered.
Like she thought I would.
“Not a chance,” I said.
I wanted to tear the house apart, find every wire, every lens.
But if I moved, she’d see how close I was to losing it.
So I held her instead.
“Mate,” I said again.
Low.
Just for her.
“Mine.
Say it back when you’re ready.”
She didn’t.
She just buried her face in my chest and nodded.
That was enough for now.
---
I called Mrs. Hale at 1:07 AM.
She answered on the first ring.
“Found another one,” I said.
“In my room.”
“I’m sending IT and two officers,” she said.
“Don’t touch anything else.”
I hung up and sat Keira on my bed.
Kept my hand on hers.
“If I let go, will you bolt?”
She shook her head.
“No.
I’m tired of running.”
Good.
Because I was tired of chasing.
The officers came in twenty minutes later.
They swept both our rooms, the hallway, the bathrooms.
Found three more cameras.
One in the air vent above Keira’s bed.
One behind the mirror in the upstairs bathroom.
One in the smoke detector in the hallway.
Professional job.
Not Mia.
Not Lila.
Someone who knew the house layout.
Someone who’d been here before.
Dad.
Mr. West.
My dad.
The thought hit me like a punch.
He had keys.
He had access.
He’d been “checking on the property” twice last month.
But why?
To protect Mom?
To get at whoever was leaking?
Or was he the leak?
I didn’t know.
But I was going to find out.
---
At 4 AM, the house was quiet again.
Keira had fallen asleep against my shoulder.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t want to wake her.
She looked peaceful like this.
No fear.
No walls.
Just Keira.
I brushed a thumb over her knuckles.
She’d been holding my hand since we sat down.
Even asleep, she hadn’t let go.
Mine.
The word kept coming back.
Not because I wanted to own her.
Because the thought of anyone else touching her made me sick.
I’d spent my whole life taking what I wanted.
Girls, games, the starting spot.
It never felt like this.
This felt dangerous.
Like if I lost her, I wouldn’t recover.
The door creaked open.
Mom stood there, robe on, eyes red.
She saw us and stopped.
“Kaden,” she said quietly.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s safe,” I said.
“For now.”
Mom nodded.
She didn’t ask why Keira was in my bed.
She didn’t need to.
She’d seen the way I looked at Keira since day one.
“Dad wants to talk,” she said.
“He says he knows who’s behind the cameras.”
Of course he did.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Study.
Waiting.”
I glanced back at Keira.
Sleeping.
Safe.
For now.
“I’ll be back,” I told her, even though she couldn’t hear me.
In the study, Dad was behind his desk.
No yelling.
No excuses.
Just tired.
“You installed them?” I said.
“No,” he said.
“I hired someone to watch the house after the leak.
Guy named Rory Finch.
Ex-security contractor.
I thought if I knew who was coming for you two, I could stop it.”
“So you had cameras in our rooms?” I said.
My voice was flat.
“I told him exterior only,” Dad said.
“He went rogue.
He’s been leaking everything to ruin me.
To make me pay.”
“For what?”
“Old business,” Dad said.
“Before I met your mom.
Before I married her.”
I laughed.
No humor in it.
“Great.
So my life’s a hostage negotiation.”
Dad looked at me then.
Really looked.
“Is it true, Kaden?
About you and Keira?”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t need to.
My face gave me away.
Dad’s expression softened.
“Then protect her.
Even if it means cutting me out.”
I nodded once.
That, I could do.
Upstairs, Keira stirred.
I was out of the study before Dad could say another word.
When I got back to my room, she was sitting up, eyes wide.
“Was that Dad?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“We have a name.
Rory Finch.”
She swallowed.
“And he’s watching us?”
“Not anymore,” I said.
“Not if I find him first.”
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against mine.
For three seconds, the whole world went quiet.
Then she whispered,
“Don’t let them break us.”
“I won’t,” I said.
“Because you’re mine.
And I don’t lose what’s mine.”
- Writer
