Chapter Twenty: Crawl

Driving home from the venue, Lark provokes Lachlan, stretching the anticipation. At the apartment, they engage in a negotiated power-play: Lark consents to degradation and control, and Lachlan reciprocates by honoring her signals and limits. Their night becomes a marathon of sex that leaves them both sated and newly aligned.

Near dawn, they settle into unexpected comfort. Lachlan walks Bentley and returns to Lark inviting him to stay. In the morning, over breakfast, Lark casually reveals one resin artwork—the coffee table—contains a victim’s remains, explaining a previous odor. Their banter shifts to business when Leander summons them; they decide to attend together and revisit suspect options.

At Leander’s, he is courteous and fascinated by Lark, but Lachlan steers them to the office to work. Accepting that the Club Pacifico payments checked out, they broaden to insiders who could benefit from family chaos. Lark identifies Stan Tremblay, her aunt’s longtime enforcer, as a meticulous record-keeper who might hold answers.

Lachlan warns Lark not to trust anyone, sharing that Leander once covered up the brothers’ patricide and moved them to America—an act that earned loyalty but not blind faith. Lark runs an advanced search on Tremblay. The system returns warnings and then a “Code 100.”

Lachlan explains the code: homicide. Stan Tremblay is already dead. The revelation collapses their working theory and signals a deeper, closer threat than they anticipated.