Chapter 1
Lorenzo did not reach Grant.
Sofia stopped him.
“Dad.”
Her voice was weak enough that he turned immediately.
One hand rested beneath her stomach. Mud clung to her maternity dress and cardigan. She was breathing too quickly.
Everything else became secondary.
“Car. Now.”
Grant pushed himself free of the collapsed irrigation rack.
“She’s fine.”
Lorenzo looked at him.
“You don’t speak for her.”
Eleanor stood beside the overturned baskets, one hand against her cheek.
“She’s been dramatic this whole pregnancy.”
Sofia flinched.
Lorenzo saw it.
Not anger.
Recognition.
She had heard that sentence before.
He supported her toward the waiting SUV.
Grant followed.
“You can’t just take my wife.”
Sofia stopped.
For several seconds she looked at her husband.
Then she said:
“I asked you to let me go to my doctor.”
Grant’s face tightened.
“You were worked up.”
“You took my keys.”
“For your own safety.”
“You took my phone.”
“You wouldn’t calm down.”
Lorenzo did not need another word.
He opened the car door.
Sofia climbed inside.
One of the bodyguards called the maternal-fetal medicine center while they drove toward Manhattan.
The nurse who answered did not sound relieved.
She sounded alarmed.
“We’ve been trying to reach Mrs. Hale for nine days.”
Lorenzo looked toward Sofia.
She looked confused.
“My phone hasn’t rung.”
The nurse continued.
Sofia had missed two follow-up appointments.
Her most recent bloodwork showed elevated protein.
Her blood pressure had been concerning.
The baby had also measured small at the previous ultrasound.
The final scan was not optional.
It was supposed to determine whether Sofia needed closer monitoring or early delivery.
Sofia slowly turned toward Lorenzo.
“I didn’t know any of that.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Mrs. Hale, someone called us twice saying you were transferring your prenatal care.”
“I never transferred anything.”
Lorenzo’s expression changed.
“Who called?”
The nurse could not discuss the details over speakerphone.
But she could tell them one thing.
The contact number on Sofia’s chart had been changed six days earlier.
Sofia gave her own cell number.
The nurse compared it.
“That isn’t the number we have.”
“Whose number is it?”
The nurse read the last four digits.
Sofia closed her eyes.
Lorenzo already knew from her face.
May you like
“Whose?”
“My mother-in-law’s.”
