Page 100 of Seek Me Darling

“No,” I breathe, shaking my head. “No fucking way.”

Rule says nothing. Just watches me like he’s waiting to see which direction the shrapnel flies first.

“You’re lying,” I hiss. “You’re just saying that to fuck with me.”

“I’m not,” Huxley says calmly. “Max Vaughn is my father.”

Chapter 36

Seanna

“No,”Iwhisper,likedenial alone can make it untrue. “You’re lying.”

The name echoes—louder inside my skull than in the room.Vaughn. It shouldn’t shake me this hard. Shouldn’t feel like someone’s kicked a hole straight through my stomach. But it does.

Because that namemeanssomething. It means Max. It means safety. It means childhood memories of being told not to touch the encrypted drives on his desk. It meanstrust.

And now it meansthis?

I stare at Ruin—Huxley—like if I glare hard enough, maybe the mask will crack. Maybe this whole fucking fantasy will dissolve and leave me with a version of reality that makes sense.

“Max never said anything,” I snap, voice rising sharp and raw. “Not once. Not even a hint.”

Except… that’s not true.

The memory punches through the haze like a knife between ribs—just last week, hehadlet something slip. Not much. Barely a whisper. But it was there. A shadow in his eyes. A quiet nod. A line about keeping people hidden to protect them. I’d brushed it off at the time, assumed it was just his usual cryptic bullshit. But now? Now it clicks. Now it burns.

“No onecouldknow.” Ruin’s voice doesn’t waver. “Not after what almost happened to my mother.”

That stills me.

“What happened to her?” I ask slowly.

Ruin leans forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees. “She was targeted before I was even born. Max told me it was because of his work. Because he got too close to something someone wanted buried. He doesn’t talk about the details. Only that he spent months with her in hiding. After that, he moved us constantly. Never the same place twice. Never told anyone. Not even your parents.”

I try to breathe, but there’s something thick in my chest now. Something that tastes like betrayal and grief, old and fresh all at once.

“He didn’t want us to be found,” Ruin says. “Didn’t wantmeto be found. He always said the safest secret is the one no one even knows exists. He kept me off the grid. No birth records. No schools. No friends. Just training. Constant relocation.”

My pulse stutters.

“Max doesn't trust anyone around his family,” Ruin continues, voice softening just a fraction beneath the harsh modulation. “He couldn't afford to. But he did tell me stories. When I was little, he’d come home late some nights, sit on the edge of my bed, and tell me what I thought were bedtime stories. But they weren’t fairy tales—they were real people, hidden in plain sight. He'd tell me about your parents. About Agent Alexandra Darling and the two men who loved her enough to tear the world apart.”

I swallow hard, my throat dry, a lump forming as I try to picture Max—stoic, guarded Max—sharing anything so intimate, so personal.

“He started telling me about these beautiful twin girls,” Ruin continues, and something twists low in my stomach at the tone in his voice—soft, almost reverent. “Hydessa, quiet and steady. And Seanna—the black-haired girl with a spirit of fire, the little storm of a girl who fought every rule, who burned bright and fierce. Even before I ever saw your face, even before I knew what you looked like, you were already seared into my mind. You’d wormed your way into a part of me I couldn’t rip out even if I tried.”

My breath stalls, throat tightening. I can feel Rule watching us, silent and still as stone, but I can’t look away from Ruin.

“He didn’t know he was planting seeds,” Ruin continues. “But every story Max told wormed its way into my bones. Especially yours. Because of those stories I knew you. Seanna, the storm. The untamed fire. The fearless girl who laughed when most people would scream.”

My chest aches, something heavy settling into the hollow space carved by his words.

“How did Rule get involved?” I manage, voice quieter than I want it to be.

Ruin looks at Rule for a moment. “We were teenagers. Bored, too smart for our own good, both with access to places on the dark net we shouldn't have had. We met in a chat room—two kids from entirely different worlds. He had his own darkness. His own secrets. But we connected and became friends. And then…” He pauses, taking a slow breath, looking back at me. “Then, eventually, I told him about you.”

My pulse spikes painfully, fists clenching against the cuffs.

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