Chapter 62: Fractures in the Foundation

Aria's POV

With my heart still processing the name he had just mentioned, I gazed at Cole.

Liam.

The name was crisp, resonant, and confusing, like a bell that had been struck too hard.

I hardly recognized my voice as I answered, "No." "There must be an error."

Cole's gaze was fixed on mine. Chilly. Concentrated. But I could see the pain beneath that intensity. Betrayal.

"There's no error," he declared. "The message was redirected using the access code? He owned it. I was the only other individual with it.

I took a step back, needing *space*, requiring air. "Liam has been by your side from the start. You have *faith* in him.

Cole gave a slow nod. "I did." He was therefore the ideal candidate to elude me.

"No," I muttered once more while shaking my head. "In Prague, he saved us." When you learned about your father, he was present. He—

"You don't think I am aware of that?" Cole's voice was sharp as he snapped. "Don't you think I've mentally reviewed every single damned moment? Are you trying to figure out what went wrong?

I winced.

Immediately, his face softened. "I apologize. I'm not upset with you. I'm just—

"Hurting," I concluded softly.

He gave a nod.

I gripped the railing as the wind nipped at my flesh as I made my way to the balcony's edge. Every conversation I had with Liam was replayed in my head. His teasing. His devotion. He gazed at Cole as if he were a brother.

It was all illogical.

"What makes him betray you?" I asked without looking back.

Cole stated, "That's what I plan to find out." "But I can no longer make any assumptions."

He walked to my side, his presence grounding me even when everything else was breaking apart.

“You think he’s working for *them*?” I inquired.

“I think he’s working for *someone*,” Cole murmured. "And if he has been giving them false information, then everything we have planned and done is compromised."

A shiver ran down my spine. "Now what?"

Cole gave me a glance that was impossible to read. "Now? We vanish.

I blinked. "What?"

The duration is 48 hours. No cell phones. No trackers. Off the grid, just the two of us.

I looked over at him. "You believe he's paying attention?"

He remarked, "I believe whoever is behind this wants us to feel safe." desires that we *talk*. Thus, we don't. Not in a place where they can hear.

I gulped down the growing panic in my throat. "Where are we going?"

Cole smiled tightly. "I am aware of a location."

\---

**Safehouse Later That Night**

It was a long drive. Quiet. I didn't press, and Cole didn't say much. He was struggling with something serious, and I also needed some time to take it all in.

We eventually found ourselves in a tiny hamlet tucked away in the middle of nowhere, distant from any traces of human habitation. There was silence. Too silent.

As I looked around the interior, Cole made a fire; it was basic, primitive, yet cozy. The sort of place you would flee to if everything fell apart. Perhaps that was precisely the reason we were here.

Cole was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, his legs outstretched, whiskey in hand, when I came back into the living room. He glanced at me.

"You ought to get some rest," he replied. "You've experienced enough."

I sat next to him and shook my head. "You have, too."

He didn't dispute.

The silence was filled with the crackle of the fire between us. I gazed at the fire, allowing its warmth to relieve my internal strain.

"Do you believe that everything has been false?" I asked quietly. "Liam, the vineyard, the passing of your father... everything?"

Cole was silent for a while. Then, "I believe that we have only touched the surface of what is truly happening."

I was afraid of what he said. I knew he was correct, not because they were novel.

"What about Elias?" I inquired. "Are you certain he's clean?"

"I'm not sure," Cole said. But we'll find out if he's not. And if he is, perhaps he is the unexpected ally we were looking for.

Once more, a thicker silence descended between us.

Cole's voice was hardly audible above a whisper until he spoke. "I think about the night I met Liam all the time."

I turned to face him.

He stated, "I was seventeen." My father had recently enticed me to work full-time in the industry. Smoother and older, Liam was already making inroads into the inner circle. He prevented me from striking a bargain with someone who would have buried me, saving my ass that evening.

He lowered his voice.

"And now, my only thought is that perhaps he did it because someone instructed him to."

I extended my hand and grasped his. Or perhaps he was genuinely concerned. Perhaps something evolved during the journey.

Cole's eyes were hollow as he gazed at me. "And the alternative means I never saw the truth, so perhaps I'm just trying to convince myself of that."

Every shadow and crevice in his mask was brought to life by the flickering firelight on his face.

Then he bent closer.

I didn't stop him.

Slowly, desperately, his lips touched mine. Not like the time we kissed when it was hot and hungry. This one was unique.

It was a query this time.

And I replied.

Because I desired him despite everything, including the uncertainty, betrayal, and dread. I *needed* him. His ability to make me feel *seen* was more important than his ability to make me feel safe.

He pressed one hand against the small of my back and the other into my hair as he intensified the kiss. My fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer, until there was nothing between us but heat and skin and emotion that threatened to break us both open.

When we finally drew apart, breathless, his forehead lay against mine.

"We'll overcome this," he muttered. "With each other."

I shut my eyes. "Even if we were truly betrayed by Liam?"

He clenched his jaw. "We then cut him out."

The words were painful. I knew he meant them, though.

I was also aware of something else.

Blackridge was no longer the only factor in this.

It was a war.

We were in the middle of it, too.