Chapter 9
The first man arrived eleven minutes later.
Not at the front door.
Side entrance.
Whitmore security lieutenant named Harris.
Six years with me.
He stopped when he saw my guards.
“Boss.”
“Why are you here?”
“Birthday.”
“It ended.”
He looked toward Victor.
That was enough.
I smiled.
“Harris.”
His face changed.
Victor closed his eyes.
One.
My captain removed Harris’s weapon.
The second man called.
A warehouse captain.
Asked whether “the package moved.”
Two.
The third did nothing.
That worried me more.
Victor smiled again.
“You’ll never find him.”
I looked at him.
“Then he’s smarter than the other two.”
Natalie whispered:
“Sebastian, we can still end this.”
I turned.
“How?”
“You let Lily stay with Dad for a few days.”
Lily clung to my leg.
Natalie saw it.
“That. Exactly.”
“What?”
“You’ve made her terrified of everyone except you.”
“No.”
I stared at her.
“You did that.”
Her face hardened.
“She needs to stop being the center of your life.”
There it was.
Not Mercer.
Not strategy.
Jealousy.
Old and ugly.
“She’s my daughter.”
“And I’m your wife.”
“Yes.”
“I’m carrying your son.”
The room went silent.
She had never told me the baby’s sex.
Not once.
Every appointment, she insisted we wait.
I stared.
“You know?”
Natalie froze.
Victor looked away.
Ethan muttered something.
I stepped closer.
“When did you find out?”
“No.”
“You just said son.”
She touched her stomach protectively.
“I misspoke.”
Victor snapped:
“Leave it.”
I looked at him.
That was interesting.
“Why does it matter?”
Nobody answered.
Noah suddenly looked at Ethan’s phone.
“There’s a voice message.”
Ethan moved.
“Don’t.”
Noah pressed play.
Adrian Mercer’s voice filled the room.
“Once the boy is born, Natalie has all the leverage she needs.”
My blood went cold.
Mercer continued:
“Lily only matters until then.”
The message ended.
Natalie’s face had gone white.
Lily looked up at me.
She didn’t understand the words.
I did.
May you like
This plan had started long before the birthday.
And my unborn child had been part of it from the beginning.
