Chapter 19 · Untitled Chapter

"You're holding something back."

Sienna doesn't look up from the burned ledger page on the coffee table. Her fingers follow the charred edge like she can still read the missing words.

"I'm holding a lot back," she says. "You want a list?"

"Start with my name."

I lean over the table, close enough for my shadow to cover the page. "It's right next to Mia's. Same date. Same deal number."

Her finger stops.

"Val—"

"Don't." I slam my palm beside hers. The paper jumps. "Don't call me Val like we're on the same side. That's my sister's signature. That's my father's. And that's a dollar amount with six zeros that I never saw."

Sienna finally looks up. Her eyes go flat and careful.

"Your father borrowed against both of you," she says. "Collateral on a business loan."

"Collateral."

"The lender could claim whatever was listed if he defaulted."

"People, you mean."

She pulls the ledger closer. "I mean whatever was listed."

"You wrote this contract."

"I brokered it. Your father needed cash to keep his construction company alive. Marcus found the lender. I prepared the terms."

"And when he defaulted?"

"The lender collected."

My hand closes around the table's edge.