The Billionaire's Hidden Debt

Chapter 10: The Safe House

The water was like hitting a wall of ice. For a second, the world was nothing but bubbles and darkness. Then, a strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled me upward.

We broke the surface, gasping for air. The speedboat was only a few feet away. Silas hauled me onto the deck like a wet rag before climbing up himself. He didn't waste time—he revved the engine, and the boat roared to life, cutting through the waves and leaving the mansion behind.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice rough. He was dripping wet, his shirt clinging to his chest, but he looked more alive than I’d ever seen him.

"I’m freezing," I managed to say through chattering teeth. "And I think I swallowed half the ocean."

Silas reached into a locker on the boat and threw me a heavy wool blanket. "Wrap yourself in that. We’ll be at the safe house in twenty minutes. It’s an old fishing cabin off the coast. Thorne doesn't know it exists."

As we sped through the dark water, I looked at the locket still clutched in my hand. "Silas? In the tunnel... you said my mother's disappearance wasn't an accident. You said my father was targeted. If you knew all this, why did you wait until now to tell me?"

Silas kept his eyes on the horizon. "Because I didn't know if I could trust you, Ava. I didn't know if you were working with Thorne."

I pulled the blanket tighter. "You thought I would work with the man who destroyed my family?"

"Thorne is very good at making people believe he’s the hero," Silas said quietly. "But now that he’s tried to kill us both, I think it’s safe to say we’re on the same side."