Chapter 56

Ramon POV

He was right, and I hated it. Every instinct screamed at me to act immediately, to hunt down Samuel and eliminate the threat he represented. But acting recklessly could put Lake and Ollie in more danger, could trigger exactly the kind of retaliation we were trying to prevent.

“Increase security around the compound,” I ordered. “I want eyes on every entrance, background checks on every staff member, and protocols in place for potential breach scenarios. If Samuel tries to access this property, I want him contained before he gets within a hundred feet of my family.”

“Already done,” Marcus assured me. “I implemented enhanced protocols yesterday after Lake’s encounter with Samuel. But I’ll run another sweep, tighten the perimeter further.”

“Good.” I stood and moved to the window, looking out at the grounds where Ollie had played just days ago, innocent and happy.

“What about Hutchins? When he wakes up and realizes what happened, he’s going