Caleb’s POV
The ferry from the mainland took forty minutes.
I spent most of it standing at the bow with my jaw tight, staring at the gray water.
For six weeks, my life had been a natural disaster.
My marriage was ending loudly, my lawyer was on speed dial, and I had effectively shut out the world just to survive the fallout.
Vesper had called me twice.
When she finally got me to answer, she’d let me vent, expertly redirecting the conversation to my own misery whenever I asked how she was doing.
I’d let her do it because my own head was barely above water.
But the first thing that hit my feed two days ago was a massive headline: Billionaire Hockey Star Jaxon Laurent Marries His PR, Vesper Bennett.
Jaxon Laurent.
My former teammate, before management traded me to the East Coast last month.
I didn’t knock when I reached the villa.
The housekeeper opened the gate, and I walked in, following the low rumble of familiar voices through the hallway.
I stepped into the living room and stopped dead.
Vesper was sitting cross-legged on the floor, bent over a board game beside Sunny.
Jaxon was sprawled on the couch with a controller in his hand, looking like he owned the entire island.
The whole scene was relaxed.
Comfortable.
Vesper looked up first.
“Caleb—”
”Don’t.” I pointed a finger at her, my voice sharp.
“Don’t say my name like I just dropped in for a casual brunch.”
She stood up, recovering her composure instantly.
“You literally just dropped in unannounced.
I didn’t even know you were on the island.”
”Because you never answer your damn phone!
You answered once in six weeks!” I snapped.
“You told me you’d explain everything, and then you proceeded to interrogate me about my divorce!”
Sunny’s wide, solemn eyes flicked between us.
She looked so much like Chloe that it sent a sharp ache through my chest.
“Lower your voice,” Vesper said, throwing a meaningful glance down at the floor.
“There’s a child in the room.”
I closed my mouth, forcing myself to take a breath.
“Hi, Uncle Caleb,” Sunny said quietly.
“Hi, Sunny-bug,” I said, my voice softening.
“How are you holding up?”
”Ves is teaching me how to cheat at Monopoly,” Sunny reported faithfully.
“I am teaching you strategy,” Vesper corrected without breaking a sweat.
On the couch, Jaxon set the controller down and stood up slowly.
“Fuck you,” I replied.
Vesper rolled her eyes, grabbing my arm.
“Kitchen.
Now.”
She made coffee like nothing was wrong, moving around the kitchen with a familiarity that made my eye twitch.
“How long have you been living here?” I demanded.
“Long enough.”
”Vesper, you were supposed to be handling his PR crisis, not marrying him!
What is going on?”
”Caleb.
Breathe.”
”You married Jaxon Laurent,” I lowered my voice, rubbing my temples.
“The guy is a walking headline.
I know what he’s like with women.
Is it real, Ves?”
She opened her mouth to give me one of her standard answers, but then she hesitated.
“I shouldn’t have given you that file,” I whispered.
“I was the one who put your name on their desk.
I told them you were the best.
I thought I was helping your career, Ves.”
I couldn’t look at her anymore.
I needed to hit him because if I didn’t, I was going to have to face the fact that this was my fault.
I crossed the distance back to the living room and bunched my hand in Jaxon’s collar, slamming him back against the wall.
“What did you do?” I growled, pulling my right fist back.
“Because I swear to God, Laurent, if you leveraged her situation for a publicity stunt—”
”Get your hands off him, Caleb.
Right now.” Vesper’s voice came from right behind me.
It wasn’t loud, but it was sharp.
“Did he pressure you into this?” I demanded, “Tell me the truth.”
”Nobody pressures me into anything, and you know that better than anyone,” she said.
Slowly, I let go.
Jaxon smoothed down his collar without a word.
In the corner, Sunny was clutching a Monopoly piece, staring at us in terror.
Jaxon’s posture shifted instantly.
The hard edge vanished, replaced by something incredibly soft.
“Hey, Sunny-bug,” he called out gently.
“Why don’t you take the board upstairs to your room for a little while, okay?
Uncle Caleb and I just need to talk about hockey.”
Sunny gathered the game and hurried upstairs.
Vesper turned to Jaxon, her expression solemn.
“Tell him.
He’s my brother, Jaxon.
All of it.”
So, Jaxon told me.
He laid it out clean and clinical—the custody battle with Julian Mercer, the threat of Sunny being taken away, and the legal advice that demanded a stable, two-parent household.
“So you married her to save Sunny?” I asked, sitting down heavily on the couch.
“What do you get out of this?”
”It neutralized my own PR disaster with the board,” Jaxon said quietly, leaning against the wall.
“A stable image kept my sponsorships alive.
It was a mutual arrangement.”
”A business deal,” I scoffed.
His eyes flicked to Vesper, who was staring out the window.
“But if you think I don’t care about her, you don’t know me at all, Caleb.”
I stared at him, the anger slowly draining out of me.
“You didn’t tell me,” I said, looking at Vesper.
“Your life was imploding on the nightly sports news, Caleb,” she said, turning around.
“What exactly was I supposed to do?
Call you mid-crisis and say, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m legally bound to your former teammate now?'”
”Yes!
That is exactly what a sister is supposed to do!”
”Well.” She tilted her head slightly.
“Now you’re in the light.
Welcome.”
I rubbed both hands over my face, the fight bleeding out of me.
“How bad is it?” she asked, her voice much quieter now.
I let out a breathless laugh.
“Bad.
It’s completely over.
She just wants the final signature on the divorce decree.”
Vesper didn’t say anything.
She just sat down beside me on the couch, her shoulder pressed firmly against mine—the exact way she’d done since we were kids whenever the world got too loud.
Across the room, Jaxon broke the silence.
“You can stay.
The villa has plenty of space.
Take as long as you need to figure things out.”
I studied him.
Four seasons of playing on the same ice taught you when someone was performing for an audience.
This wasn’t a performance.
“I’m staying,” I said, holding his gaze.
“But not because you offered.
I’m staying because she’s my sister, and I still don’t trust you.”
A faint, sharp smirk tugged at the corner of Jaxon’s mouth.
“Fair enough.”
Vesper looked between the two of us, thoroughly exhausted.
“Nobody is grabbing anyone’s collar in this house ever again.
Am I clear?”
I was staying.
Until I understood exactly what this mess was, and exactly what Jaxon Laurent was planning to do with my sister’s heart.