Nicholas Bell is the novel’s secondary protagonist and a major supporting character in Hannah’s personal arc; he grows over the course of the novel while making crucial decisions that lead to the resolution of the narrative conflict. In the previous novel, Nicholas functioned as an antagonist, representing the threat that the Organization posed to Hannah and Bailey’s lives. In this novel, however, Nicholas steps up as a crucial support figure who fills in the absence Owen leaves behind. When the novel reveals that Nicholas and Owen are working together to ensure that Hannah and Bailey never have to worry about the Organization again, it challenges Nicholas to reckon with the consequences of his life’s actions and strive for personal redemption. Thus, Dealing with the Consequences of the Past is key to his character arc.

Flashbacks reveal that Nicholas was drawn to work for the Organization when he saw the opportunity to liberate his family from financial burden and give them a life of comfort and happiness. This came at the cost of moral compromise, as Nicholas used his legal skills and knowledge to defend people he knew were criminals. Nicholas’s moral alignment only became complicated as his friendship with Frank grew, skewed to favor Frank’s and his family’s prosperity rather than the common good. This indirectly resulted in the death of Nicholas’s daughter, Kate, who lost her life because she became increasingly concerned that Nicholas was involving her fiancé, Ethan (Owen), in the Organization’s criminal activities. Through Nicholas, the novel thus suggests the double edge of Finding Purpose in Family, as Nicholas’s very love for his children contributed to his daughter’s death. The same event also complicates Nicholas’s loyalty to his closest friend, who defends his children for causing Kate’s death.

As later flashbacks reveal, Nicholas secures the novel’s happy ending by invoking a favor Frank owed him, which he uses to redirect the Organization’s attention away from Owen, Hannah, and Bailey. Their plan forces Nicholas into a state of self-exile, but Nicholas understands that preventing Kate’s fate from befalling his granddaughter and her family is the only way he can forgive himself for his role in Kate’s death.

Initially presented as the overarching antagonist of the series, Francis “Frank” Campano Pointe II is a secret ally to Nicholas in his plan to liberate Hannah and Bailey from the Organization. His true role in the narrative isn’t revealed until the climax, making it the final plot twist that drives the conflict to resolution.

Frank is the crime boss who runs the Organization, though this novel finds him in a state of transition as he prepares to turn his leadership role over to his eldest children, Quinn and Teddy. Flashbacks reveal the close nature of Frank and Nicholas’s friendship, which Dave uses to soften Frank’s role as an antagonist and turn him into a more sympathetic figure. Frank understands the risk Nicholas puts himself in by associating himself with the Organization, which is why he accommodates Nicholas’s requests and tries to provide whatever he can for Nicholas’s family. This is complicated, however, by the onset of conflict between their two families, as Kate and Owen’s actions lead to the incarceration of Quinn’s husband and Frank’s potential successor, Wesley. Frank cannot plausibly prioritize his friendship with Nicholas over his children, yet Frank still tries to manage the impact of Kate’s death by withholding the truth of Quinn’s involvement from Nicholas and offering him a favor to compensate him for his loss.

This favor proves to be crucial to the resolution, as Nicholas uses it to ensure Frank cooperates with his and Owen’s plan. Their arrangement allows Frank to preserve his friendship with Nicholas while also allowing him to save face before his family, who expect him to take revenge against Nicholas. Frank ultimately resolves to address his family’s shortcomings, using his retirement to guide them toward honoring his legacy.

Quinn and Teddy Campano Pointe are the novel’s true antagonists, representing the greatest threat to Hannah and Nicholas as they drive the narrative forward. Quinn is introduced as Frank’s immediate successor, the eldest daughter who is poised to continue his legacy as one of the biggest crime bosses in the United States. Teddy, on the other hand, is introduced as someone who is eager to prove himself to his father, though his impulsive nature, which makes him especially cruel in his displays of violence, often derails these efforts.

Dave complicates Quinn’s characterization by revealing that she never intended to take her father’s place as the leader of the Organization. Rather, her ascent to leadership is the unintended consequence of Owen’s actions against the criminal syndicate, which exposed the major role that Quinn’s partner, Wesley, played in the Organization’s hierarchy. The fact that Wesley then spent several decades in incarceration angers Quinn, who feels that Owen robbed her children of their father. Hannah is the only person among the protagonists who understands this perspective since she is also a wife and a mother. The revelation that Quinn was responsible for the death of Owen’s wife, Kate, lends further complexity to her character, as this event provoked Owen into turning state witness against the Organization. Thus, Quinn’s actions indirectly caused Wesley’s incarceration.

Quinn and Teddy are defeated through misdirection. Frank, in collusion with Nicholas and Owen, convinces his children to redirect their anger toward Nicholas, who possesses incriminating evidence that would permanently destroy the Organization.

Owen Michaels is a major supporting character who functions as the romantic lead of the novel and a tertiary protagonist. Owen initiates the narrative action by setting into motion a plan to liberate Hannah and Bailey from the Organization. He does this to reunite with his family and prove his commitment to Hannah in spite of his checkered past.

Owen is a tech expert who uses his skills to gain himself and Nicholas an advantage over the Organization. In the climax of the novel, it is revealed that Owen planted surveillance cameras at the properties of each of Frank’s children, as well as in the tablet that allows him to monitor the situation at Frank’s party. Owen also uses his tech skills to assemble the contents of the flash drive that leads Hannah to Nicholas in Paris. The flash drive is especially key in driving the novel’s emotional arc, as it forces Hannah to revisit the foundations of her relationship with Owen. By remembering the past, Hannah is assured that Owen remains committed to their future. This culminates in the ending on the new houseboat, which suggests that Owen has given Hannah’s past life back to her.