Page 77 of Kingpin's Secret Baby

For one fleeting second, hope flares in my chest.

But then Harold pauses, his smile sharpening like a blade. His fingers tighten on Valeria’s jacket, and instead of handing her over, he steps back.

“You really thought I’d give you both for that pathetic offer?” he sneers, bouncing Valeria slightly in his arms like she’s nothing more than a bargaining chip.

“No,” I whisper, dread flooding my veins.

“You want your daughter back?” Harold’s smile widens, cruel and smug. “Then you’ll pay more.”

“No!” I lurch toward him, but Piers holds me back, his arm locking around my waist. “Please!” I cry out, my voice breaking. “Don’t take her- please!”

Harold’s smile widens, vicious and gleeful. “Then you’d better make sure your man here brings me what I ask for.”

Piers’s arm tightens around me, his face grim. Achilles steps forward, his voice cold and steady. “We’ll pay,” he says. “Just tell us how much.”

My breath stalls.

“What?” I whisper, my head snapping between them. “You’re just... letting him walk away?”

“It’s the only way to keep her alive,” Achilles mutters. His voice is low, like he’s trying to convince himself as much as me. “We’ll get her back.”

“You don’t know that!” My voice breaks, raw with panic. “You don’t know what he’s going to do!”

“We’ll pay,” Achilles says again, louder this time- firmer. “We’ll make it right.”

Harold’s grin stretches wider. “I want double,” he says as he takes a deliberate step back, then another, Valeria still tucked in his arms.

“Valeria!” I scream, lunging forward. “Please!”

Piers’s hold tightens again, keeping me rooted in place.

“You’reletting him take her!” I sob, thrashing against him. “Don’t- don’t let him- ”

But Harold’s already turning away, striding toward the castle doors, his men flanking him on either side. One of them glances back- just to smirk- before shifting his hand meaningfully toward the gun at his side, his footsteps crunching against gravel, fading into the distance.

“No!” My scream is ragged, desperate, piercing the cold air.

I watch helplessly as Harold disappears through the castle doors, the heavy wood slamming shut behind him with a thundering finality.

I go limp in Piers’s arms, and if Piers wasn’t still holding me, I would’ve crumpled to the ground. The sound that leaves me doesn’t feel human- a broken, guttural cry that tears from my chest as my world slips further out of reach.

Chapter 38

Fantasia

My throat is raw from screaming, my muscles burning as I thrash against Piers’s iron grip.

“Let me go, Piers!” I sob, digging my nails into his arm, twisting and kicking as hard as I can. “Please! He’s got her- he’s got my baby!”

Piers’s arms tighten around me, pinning mine to my sides as he hauls me backward across the gravel.

“I can’t leave her!” My voice cracks, a jagged, ugly sound that scrapes up my throat. “Let me go!”

I wrench hard, my heel slamming into his shin. He grunts under his breath but doesn’t let up, just keeps dragging me toward Achilles’s car. My shoes skid across the gravel as I claw at his hands, his sleeves, anything I can reach. My vision is blurred, tears pouring freely down my face.

“You’re letting him take her!” I sob.

The car door swings open, and before I can twist away, Piers shoves me inside. My shoulder slams into the seat, pain jolting through me. I barely have time to scramble upright before the door slams shut, sealing me inside.

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