The Heir's obsession-Chapter 63: Another Waiting Game

Chapter 63

JULAIN POLE

When I woke up in the middle of the night, for a few seconds I didn’t remember where I was. All I felt was warmth behind me and an arm locked around my waist. Jace held me like he had spent the entire night expecting me to disappear. Maybe he did. He didn’t sleep much. I could tell from the way his grip tightened every time I moved in my sleep.

But the room was empty and cold now. His side of the bed had no warmth left in it.

I sat up slowly and my head hurt from everything that happened yesterday. The news. The tension. The fear in Jace’s eyes he tried to hide. The phone call Jace received in the middle of the night when he thought I was asleep. Everything is piling on top of everything.

I rubbed my face and stood up. The house felt wrong. Quiet in the wrong way. That was the first sign.

The second sign was the look on Liam’s face when I walked downstairs.

He was sitting at the kitchen island with a mug he wasn’t drinking from. Luka and Rico sat across from him. All three of them looked like they hadn’t slept at all. They weren’t talking. They weren’t joking. They weren’t even moving.

Luka noticed me first. "Morning," he said, but it sounded tired. Scared and tired.

I didn’t sit down. I walked straight to them and lowered my voice. "The brothers left?"

Liam nodded. "Dominic said they had business to deal with. He wouldn’t say what."

I expected that. But there was something else. Something I had been holding in since before sunrise.

"I need to tell you guys something," I whispered.

All three of them looked at me instantly. Like they were bracing themselves. Like they already knew it wouldn’t be good.

"Last night... Aiko and her boyfriend left."

Luka blinked fast. "Left? As in... went to the guest room? Or left left?"

"Left left," I said. "Through the forest path behind the house."

Rico stood up so fast his chair scraped the floor. "What? And the brothers didn’t say anything?"

"No." I swallowed. "I think they didn’t want us to panic."

Luka pushed his curls back with shaking hands. "I am already panicking."

Liam leaned forward. "Wait... wait. They left while all of this is happening? I thought her father’s in town. They just walked out?"

"They didn’t walk," I said quietly. "I think the brothers were with them."

The boys stared at me. Real fear crept across their faces now.

Rico sat down again slowly. "Great. Amazing. Perfect. This is just what I needed today. A little breakfast panic."

Luka hit him on the arm. "Can you be serious?"

"I am serious," Rico snapped. "This is bad. Really bad."

Liam folded his arms. "So what do we do?"

I shook my head. "I don’t know. I just... I felt like you should know."

Silence fell over the kitchen. No one touched the food on the table. There was a toast on the table that had gone cold and the fruit bowl looked untouched. Even Liam wasn’t eating, and Liam ate through stress like it fed him back.

Luka whispered, "We really came here for a vacation."

It stung hearing it out loud. Because he was right.

We thought we were escaping. Getting a break after exams. Running away from our parents for a little bit. We thought Jace’s lake house would be quiet and peaceful and safe.

We were wrong about everything.

I took a slow breath. "I’m sorry."

Rico looked at me sharply. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I’m the one who dragged you all into this."

"No," Luka said firmly. "You didn’t drag us anywhere. We came because we wanted to."

Liam nodded. "You didn’t force me."

"And we already knew Jace wasn’t exactly... normal." Luka added.

"Wow," Rico muttered. "Understatement of the year."

"But we still came," Luka said. "Because we’re your friends. And because you’re our idiot."

That almost made me smile.

Almost.

Liam placed a hand on my shoulder. "We’re in this together. We’re not blaming you."

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

The kitchen door creaked. Dominic walked in with two Marino men behind him. They looked like they hadn’t slept in a while either. They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t need to. Their presence alone was loud.

They poured themselves coffee and stood by the doorway like statues. Watching and guarding.

Luka whispered, "This feels like we’re trapped in a horror movie."

Rico whispered back, "No. Horror movies have less tension."

We tried to eat after that, but none of us got far. I forced down two bites of toast before giving up. Luka poked his eggs with his fork like they personally offended him. Rico drank water like it was the only thing keeping him alive. And Liam—he’s not even eating at all.

Every time Dominic moved, every time one of the men shifted their weight, every time a floorboard creaked, we all jumped.

At one point, Liam said, "Guys. We are literally hiding in a mafia safe house."

Hearing it out loud changed the air. It made the reality feel sharper.

Because we weren’t just visiting anymore.

We were hiding.

And the danger wasn’t far.

I looked at the empty seat across from me. Jace’s seat.

He didn’t leave a note. He didn’t wake me. He didn’t say goodbye. He just held me through the night like I was something breakable and slipped out before dawn.

The house felt wrong without him.

The world felt wrong without him.

Luka leaned close. "Do you think they’re okay?

"They’re fine," I said automatically.

But my voice didn’t sound convincing. And everyone heard it.

"They can handle themselves just fine." I added.

Rico rubbed his forehead. "They went out to deal with something they didn’t want to tell us about."

Liam looked around. "Why didn’t they take us with them? Or move us somewhere else like Aiko and her boyfriend or at least tell us what’s happening?"

I didn’t answer. I had an idea why, but saying it out loud would only make the panic worse.

Because we were safer here than anywhere else.

Because they didn’t want us in the way.

Because if something went wrong, we wouldn’t be caught in the middle of it.

Because the danger was close.

Luka wrapped his arms around himself. "I want Jace to come back."

"I know," I whispered. "Me too."

Outside, the sky was gray. The water on the lake didn’t move. Even the birds were quiet. The whole world looked like it was waiting for something.

Dominic walked past us and opened the front door. Two more men stepped inside. They nodded to him and took positions by the windows.

Liam whispered, "Why do they need this many guards?"

Rico answered softly. "Because something is coming."

I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes for a moment.

I wasn’t worried about my father. He was probably yelling at the police by now, convinced he could shout his way through the situation like he always did. But my mom... I kept seeing her face, scared and confused, wondering why her son had suddenly vanished into chaos. She didn’t deserve that kind of fear. She didn’t deserve any of this, none of the danger, none of the uncertainty, none of the fallout surrounding us.

But right now I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t even call her. My phone was still off.

I opened my eyes.

The kitchen felt smaller now.

Luka stood up suddenly. "We need to do something. Sitting here is making me lose brain cells."

Rico nodded. "Yeah. We should stay together. No one goes anywhere alone."

Liam looked at Dominic. "Is that okay?"

Dominic didn’t look at us. He just said, "Stay inside. Stay visible. And please do not wander."

That chilled me more than anything.

Liam exhaled. "Right. Great. We are officially prisoners."

"Protected," Dominic corrected.

Prisoners sounded more honest.

We moved to the living room after that, because staying in the kitchen made us feel watched. But the living room didn’t feel much better. Every window showed the forest. Every shadow moved.

We didn’t turn on the TV. No one wanted to hear news reports. No one wanted confirmation that we were right to be afraid.

We sat together on the couch. Close. Quiet. And waiting.

My legs felt restless. My heart felt tight. My mind kept drifting back to Jace.

Where was he?

Was he safe?

Was he coming back soon?

The clock on the wall clicked slower than normal. Or maybe I was just too aware of everything.

Luka leaned his head on my shoulder. "Tell me when this ends."

"I will."

Rico exhaled. "I hate this."

Liam said what we were all thinking. "The brothers need to come back."

I nodded and stared at the front door.

I didn’t say it out loud, but I felt it in my bones.

They need to come back soon.

Because the house feels like it’s going to break without them.

And so am I.