Chapter 57 BOUNDARIES
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
KANE'S POV
My whole body felt hot, still buzzing from the explosion at the port.
I needed release. Something raw. Something that would drown out the noise in my head. Sex. Hard. Fast. No talking. But Samantha was the only one that gave me that kind of pleasure.
Samantha’s room was the closest answer.
I didn’t knock. Why would I? She was mine. She’d been mine since the first time I looked at her and saw the ghost of someone I used to love staring back. The door opened but it was empty.
Bed made. Lights off. No trace of her.
I was annoyed.maybe. Where the hell was she?
I turned and headed for the pink mansion. Micky was here, and after the day I’d had, seeing my daughter’s face was the only thing that could reset me.
I pushed through the double doors into the main sitting room.
Eliana was curled on the cream sofa on the sofa, legs tucked under her, scrolling through her phone. She looked up when I entered. That slow, knowing smile curved her lips.
I didn’t return it. Didn’t even pause. My eyes were already scanning past her toward the hallway that led to Micky’s room.
Then I heard a small, broken sob.
My heart dropped.
I moved faster than I meant to, Micky was in the corner of her playroom, knees drawn to her chest, face buried in her arms. Her little shoulders shook with every hiccup.
I dropped to my knees in front of her, Micky. Baby. What’s wrong?”
She launched herself at me, arms wrapping around my neck, face pressing into my shoulder. Her tears soaked through my shirt instantly. Hot. Silent at first, then louder, wrenching.
“Tell me,” I murmured against her hair. “You know I can fix anything. Anything.”
She cried harder, fingers clutching the back of my jacket like I might disappear.
I rocked her gently, one hand stroking down her back. “Come on, princess. Use your words. Who hurt you?”
She pulled back just enough to look at me. Her eyes, big, dark, exactly like her mother’s, were red-rimmed and swollen. “I… I went to see Mummy.”
The words made me upset
Samantha….Again??
I swallowed the flare of irritation. Not now. Not when my daughter was breaking apart in my arms.
“Okay. And then what happened?
“Grandma…” Her voice cracked. “Grandma slapped her.”
“What?”
Micky nodded, fresh tears spilling. “She took Mummy’s phone. And her clothes. Mummy was crying. Really crying.”
My mum??
she’d laid hands on Samantha.
In front of my daughter.
Rage boiled up slowly in me
I forced my voice steady for Micky. “It’s okay. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
She sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “Mummy was so sad. Grandma was bad”
I felt angry not at my mother. Not even at Samantha for letting my kid get attached.
But at my mum now.
I hated it.
I pulled Micky closer, chin resting on the top of her head. “Listen to me. I’m going to get Samantha new clothes. A better phone. Whatever she needs. And I’m going to make Grandma say sorry. Out loud. To her face.”
Micky’s head lifted. Eyes wide. “Really?”
“Have I ever promised you something and not done it?”
She shook her head slowly.
“Exactly.” I brushed a tear from her cheek with my thumb. “But you have to stop sneaking over to the other mansion, okay? It’s not safe. And it makes me worry.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “I’m lonely here.”
I felt sad
“You’ve got Nanny Rose. And Nanny Claire. And me.”
She poked her lip out further. “It’s not the same.”
I exhaled through my nose. “I know. I’ll… I’ll talk to Samantha. Get her to come say hi sometimes. Okay?”
Her whole face lit up….. “Yay!”
I forced a smile, hugged her tighter. Inside, my mind was already moving. Samantha would pay for this, indirectly, maybe. For making Micky cry by existing too close. For making me feel things I’d buried years ago. For turning my daughter into a bridge between us whether I liked it or not.
But first….my mother.
I kissed the top of Micky’s head. “Go wash your face, princess. I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded, sliding off my lap.
Eliana was leaning in the doorway now, arms crossed, watching the entire exchange. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes tracked me like a predator sizing up prey.
I met her gaze.
“You heard?”
“Hard not to.”
I stepped closer, voice low. “Stay with her until I get back.”
She tilted her head. “Planning something?”
“Family business.”
A small smile touched her lips. “Careful, Kane. You’re starting to look human.”
I didn’t answer. Just walked past her.
The hallway blurred as I moved toward my mother’s wing. Samantha’s face kept flashing behind my eyes, tear-streaked, probably trying to hide how much it hurt. Not because I cared. Not really. But because Micky cared. And anything that hurt Micky was a problem I eliminated.
I didn’t knock on my mother’s door either.
It opened under my fist.
She was at her vanity, brushing her silver-streaked hair, back straight, posture perfect even at this hour. She didn’t startle when I entered. Just met my eyes in the mirror.
“Kane.”
“You slapped her.”
“Its a wonder you finally came to say hi”
Her brush paused mid-stroke. “I disciplined an insolent girl who keeps crossing boundaries she has no right to cross.”
“She’s not yours to touch.”
“She’s in my my son's house. Wearing my son’s protection. Sneaking my granddaughter into her room. Taking things that don’t belong to her.”
I stepped closer. Voice dropped. “You made Micky cry”
“The child will survive a little disappointment.”
“No.” I leaned in, palms flat on the vanity, caging her reflection.
“She won’t. Not on my watch. You don’t touch what’s mine. Not Samantha. Not Micky. Not ever again.”
“You’re letting that girl twist you, Kane. She looks like……
”
“Don’t.”
“...like her. And you’re too weak to see it.”
I straightened. “Tomorrow you will apologize. To Samantha. In person. And you will replace everything you took. Phone. Clothes. All of it.”
Her laugh was soft, brittle. “Or what?”
“Or I stop pretending we’re still family and send you and your guest out of my home”
Finally she nodded once. “Fine.”
I turned to leave.
“Kane.”
I paused at the door.
“She’s dangerous,” my mother said quietly. “Not because she’s like Sally, Because she makes you feel. And feeling makes you sloppy. She's a mutate, you will die.
Threaten me all you want but I won't let my son die"
I didn’t answer.
I walked out.