“Drew,” he answered. He scrolled down. “He said I need to watch this—it’s about Lorne. There’s a video.” He glanced up, met my gaze, then Mom and Edwardo’s too. “Probably all of us.”
I shifted closer, angling my body so I could see the screen as Mom and Edwardo moved closer. Luke hesitated for only a moment before tapping the video. The screen lit up with a news broadcast.
“…breaking developments tonight in a missing persons case that has remained unsolved for over a year…”
My breath caught as the words registered.
“…the body of Darren Langley was recovered earlier this week, and authorities have confirmed that evidence now directly connects his death to Lorne Hawthorne, who is already in custody on unrelated charges. Officials are expected to release further details as the investigation develops.”
Luke’s hand reached out and closed around mine.
“They found Darren.”
The world tilted.
For a second, my brain struggled to understand what he meant. Then I caught up, and the air left my lungs in a whoosh. My fingers curled around Luke’s hand automatically as the ground beneath my feet went wobbly.
The man lying on the pavement that night. Blood spreading across the concrete. The memory flashed so vividly, my stomach turned.
Luke’s arm wrapped around my back instantly, steadying me before I even realized I’d started to sway.
“Mila.” His voice stayed calm, grounding.
I tried to breathe. Darren Langley’s name hadn’t been spoken without tension attached to it. For over a year, he’d existed as something unfinished—an unanswered question hanging over my mom’s past, and to an extent, mine.
“I can’t believe they found his body.” My voice barely worked.
“Yes.”
The night seemed to go quieter around us. I forced myself to stand upright. He stood with me.
The video ended. Silence fell over the yard.
“So that means it’s real. If lawyers were notified… then Lorne’s been charged?”
“Yeah. It seems that way.”
I leaned into him without thinking, my shoulder pressing against his chest as if my body had already decided where safety was.
Behind me, Mom moved closer. I turned toward her slowly. I understood the relief in her face. It had been a constant shadow in our lives. The fear attached to the King name shifted—less immediate but not gone. “Are you okay?”
Edwardo wrapped his arms around her waist, studying Luke from behind her with the careful attention he always carried when something serious unfolded. “What else did you find out?”
Luke stayed calm beside me. “We found some documents of Darren’s, and my PI turned them over to Adriana’s FBI contact.”
Edwardo stilled. “You gave them to Nick?”
“I wasn’t taking chances with Lorne,” Luke said evenly. “Those records were too dangerous to keep. If Lorne decided to go after Mila or Adriana… I wanted the evidence somewhere he couldn’t bury it.”
Edwardo shifted slightly. “What kind of documents?”
“Financial records. Connected to King Enterprises,” Luke continued, “and Dunn Industries.”
Mom leaned back against Edwardo, her expression shaken but relieved. I wanted this over and behind us too. It was a constant shadow in our lives.
The fear attached to the name King loosened for the first time since we ran. We’d been right to fear Lorne. And with what was likely ahead for him, that threat diminished considerably. He was already behind bars. And if his sentence altered with Darren’s body unearthed, then we likely didn’t have anything more to worry about. I wanted to believe that.
Luke’s shoulder brushed mine again as he shifted closer.