Page 79 of Kingpin's Secret Baby

His face softens, the hard lines around his mouth easing.

For a moment, he doesn’t say anything, just watches me like he’s weighing his words. Like he knows that whatever he says won’t be enough.

“He’s with Harold,” the man says gently. “Following him.”

I blink, trying to process his words.

“We couldn’t risk a fight with Valeria so close,” he explains. “Too many guns. Too many chances for something to go wrong.” His voice dips, steady but weighted. “We needed Harold to believe he had control. So we let him think he won... long enough for Piers to track him back to wherever he’s hiding.”

My breath stutters. “You’re... you’re saying you let him take her?”

“We’re buying time,” he says firmly.

I shake my head, unable to process what he’s saying.

“I know it doesn’t feel like it,” he says quietly, “but Piers is doing everything he can to bring her back safe.”

“You’re telling me you justlethim walk away?” My voice cracks, raw and disbelieving.

“We didn’t let him do anything,” Piers’s twin says, his voice calm but firm. “We played him.”

I scoff bitterly. “Sure didn’t feel like that.”

His eyes narrow slightly, his patience thinning. “If we’d fought him here- in a castle crawling with his men- how do you think that would’ve ended?”

I open my mouth, but no words come.

“You think Harold wouldn’t have used her against us?” His voice softens again. “You think he wouldn’t have put a gun to her head just to prove a point?”

A cold shiver snakes down my spine, and suddenly I can’t breathe.

“We couldn’t risk it,” he continues. “But now... Harold thinks he’s won. He thinks we’re scrambling to come up with his money, that we’re desperate and out of options.”

“But… you can’t…,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “You can’t know he won’t hurt her first.”

“We know Harold,” he says quietly. “He won’t risk harming her until he’s gotten what he wants. Piers will wait until Harold’s away from his men- when he’s just some overconfident bastard who thinks he’s got the upper hand. That’s when we take her back.”

I shake my head, my eyes burning. “And if you’re wrong?” My voice shatters on the question.

He doesn’t answer right away. When he does, his voice is low, almost apologetic.

“That’s why Piers went,” he says. “Because if something goes wrong... he won’t let Harold lay a hand on her.”

I let out a shuddering breath and close my eyes, clutching the seat beneath me as if it could anchor me to something solid in this chaos. “How long?” I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.

“Not long,” his twin answers, his voice softer now, less commanding, almost apologetic. “We’re working fast. We just need you to trust us a little longer.”

I don’t know how to answer. My trust in Piers- my trust in everything- feels fragile, like it could break apart if I breathe too hard.

But as we continue to drive, heading toward some unknown destination, I close my eyes and hold onto one thing: the hope that Piers will keep his word. That they’ll bring my daughter back to me.

I just have to hold on. Just a little longer.

Chapter 39

Piers

The urge to run after Fantasia nearly undoes me. My fists clench, nails biting into my palms as I force myself to stay put. Every instinct I have screams to push past Arthur and Roger, to make sure she’s safe- to see her with my own eyes, breathing and whole. But I can’t. Not yet.

---