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Autumn, on the other hand, glares in response.

“What?” I ask. “Don’t you feel completely impotent here, doing nothing? Wouldn’t it be doing something if Bennett asks him to come here? He still owns part of the resort right now. Can’t Bennett give him a heads up that he’s needed on the island?”

Bennett blinks. “Are you sure?” He glances around the kitchen, like Vin might already be standing in the doorway. “He’ll lose his mind if he figures out what’s going on. And so will West.”

I nod slowly, trying not to show what a mess I am inside. So full of fear and fury and something I don’t even want to think about. I hate that I love him. That I let myself fall so hard for him. That I feel weak and useless without him here. “I think I am.” I shoot a look at Autumn. “We just need to know what’s happening in New York.”

Autumn sighs. “Okay, I’ll call Parker. Hang on a minute.” She walks out of the room, her phone in her hand and I turn back to Bennett.

“If you don’t want to be involved in this, it’s okay,” I say softly. “I understand. He’s family. And he’s not a nice man.”

“I want to do it,” he says quickly. “For you. For West.” He lets out a long breath. “You’ve taken care of me. You’ve showed me there is so much more. I appreciate that. A lot.”

I give him a soft smile. God, I think I love this kid. Is it okay to adopt a grown adult who’s only a few years younger than you?

Autumn walks back into the room, shoving her phone in her pocket. “Long story short, Vin is definitely blackmailingWest, but not for any reason other than to hurt him. He’s been planning it for a long time, and West thinks he has a lot of dirt on him.” She clears her throat. “Either he walks away from everything he loves, or Vin will steal it all away.” She looks at me. “Including by hurting you.”

Bennett lets out a low growl. “He’s such an asshole.”

A chill runs through me, but under it is something sharper. Stronger. I’m so tired of running away from problems. “Then it’s time to call his bluff,” I say, sounding more confident than I feel.

Bennett nods. “Okay, I’ll call Vin.”

WEST

I’ve spent the past few hours trapped in the kind of scene I used to thrive in. Staying up past midnight, surrounded by too much whiskey, too many masculine voices, and an almighty mess that needs cleaning up.

Except the mess is mine, and I have no idea how to make it go away.

It’s so ironic that I thought I’d left it all behind. The backstabbing, the moral bankruptcy. I thought I was better than that.

Turned out, the problem was me all along, and now I’ve infected the people I love with it.

Eden. My stomach tightens.

I flick to my messages, seeing the last one she sent. Asking me to call her. Panicking because I was at Vin’s and I didn’t know what he was about to unleash.

Her first thought was to alert me. To save me. To protect me. She’s a good person, and I don’t deserve that.

Parker’s fallen asleep on the sofa, an empty glass clasped tightly in his hands. He’s gotten about a dozen calls from Autumn, and I think they’ve worn him out.

As for Hudson, he’s sitting in my study, talking quietly to somebody. Likely Asher, who left earlier to head down to his security company’s office to head up getting some intel.

Walking into my bedroom, I stare at Eden’s message until the words blur. My thumb hovers over the call button. If I had an ounce of sense, I’d delete her number and pour another drink.

But I don’t. I press the screen, lift the phone to my ear, and wait.

She picks up on the second ring. “West?”

I close my eyes, wanting to savor her voice. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear it until now. “Hi.”

“What’s happening?” she asks, breathless, like she’s as desperate to hear my voice as I am to hear hers.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I lie, because I’m selfish enough to want to hear her… not hating me for one more time. To remember how she sounded, when she loved me.

“Don’t,” she says quickly. “Stop shutting me out. West, I can handle this if you let me in.”

Her words shred me open. She knows more than I wanted her to, and she’s still standing in front of the fire willing to burn for me.