Page 67 of Kingpin's Secret Baby

Inside the house, I’ll have minutes- maybe seconds- to decide.

Do I stand behind my decision?

I don’t know.

Christ, I don’t know.

By the time I reach our porch, my body’s betraying me: keys chiming like alarm bells in my shaking hands, Valeria’s weight slipping on my sweat-damp hip. The door yawns open?—

And the axis of the world tilts.

Harold Ashwood stands in my living room, examining the photos on my mantle with casual interest. When he turns, his eyes lock on me- not with surprise or anger, but with the unsettling look of a man reclaiming something that once belonged to him.

“Well, well,” Harold drawls, his lips curling in something like amusement. “You really thought you could outrun me?”

“I didn’t run from you,” I say evenly, though my pulse pounds in my ears. “I ran from the life that nearly destroyed me.”

Harold snorts. “Romantic,” he mocks. “But I don’t give a damn what you were running from. You almost became more trouble than you were worth to find. But what matters now is that I finally found you.”

Valeria presses her face into my neck, instinctively picking up on my tension.

Then his gaze shifts to Valeria, and his eyebrows shoot up.

“This is unexpected,” he says, his voice silk over steel.

I steady my breathing, smoothing a hand over Valeria’s back, locking away the surge of panic rising in my chest. “What are you doing here, Harold?”

A dark smirk creeps across his face as he crosses the room, arms folded like he’s barely restraining his own amusement. “Do you have any idea how much I had to sacrifice because of you, cousin?”

I square my shoulders, stare locked on his like a blade pressed to a throat. Let him try to find fear in me.

He scoffs, shaking his head. “Two years. Two goddamn years of wasted resources trying to track you down, dodging Achilles’s men, moving from city to city like some desperate fugitive. All because my brother, Skylar, nearly died in that fight at Wesley Hall. The fight you started.”

“That was two years ago,” I say carefully. “Your brother survived.”

“Barely.” Harold's expression darkens. “And now I'm going to make it worth my while. We're taking a little trip to Germany. I think your brother will pay handsomely to get you back.”

Two years ago, I might have gone quietly. Accepted whatever fate had in store for me. But now...

I think of Valeria's tiny hands in my hair this morning. Of her laughter when I pushed her on the swing. Of all the promises I made to be better, to be stronger, for her.

I have to find a way out of this.

“I'm married to Piers Warwick,” I say, the words coming out steady and sure. For the first time, I embrace the lie Piers told to protect me. “If you take me, you'll have both Wesley Hall and the Ashwoods hunting you down.”

Harold's expression barely flickers. He tips his head, unimpressed.

“You think that scares me?” he scoffs.

“It should,” I counter quickly, pushing past the fear clawing at my throat. “You know what Wesley Hall is capable of- what they do to people who cross them. And Piers... you’ve seen what he’s like when someone threatens what’s his. If you take me, you're not just making an enemy- you’re making two.”

I shift Valeria higher on my hip, feeling the warmth of her little body against mine. “You think you can outrun them? Piers will burn the entire coast to the ground to find me. And Wesley Hall?” I let out a breathless, bitter laugh. “They don’t stop. Ever. You won’t just be looking over your shoulder- you’ll be living like a ghost, jumping at shadows for the rest of your life.”

Harold’s gaze narrows, calculating. He’s weighing my words, testing them for weakness.

“You’re bluffing,” he says, but there’s less certainty in his voice now.

“You sure about that?” I push harder. “If you think they won’t find you- if you really believe you’re smarter than both of them- then go ahead. Take me. But you’re not just signing your death warrant- you’re guaranteeing Valeria’s too. Because they won’t stop with you. They’ll go after anyone you’ve ever worked with, anyone who’s ever owed you a favor. They’ll pick them off one by one until there’s no one left to run to.”

---