The Weight of SecretsThe penthouse felt colder after the audio feed cut off. Bella stayed on the couch, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around them like she could hold herself together that way. Her eyes were fixed on the blank screen where Voss and Dragomir had just been talking about her—about the baby—like she was a chess piece they could move or sacrifice.I sat beside her, close enough that our thighs touched, but I didn’t reach for her hand yet. She needed space to process. I could see it in the way her breathing stayed shallow, the way her fingers flexed and unflexed against her sleeves.After a long minute she spoke, voice quiet but steady. “Who is Dragomir?”I exhaled slowly. This was the part I’d been dreading. Not the fight itself—the fights I could handle. It was the explaining. The pieces of my past I’d kept locked away because they hurt too much to look at, and because I never wanted her to carry them.“Viktor Dragomir,” I said. “He was my father’s biggest rival back in

: Midnight CodeThe van smelled like old leather and takeout coffee nobody had touched in hours. Bella sat beside me on the narrow bench seat, knees bouncing just enough to show the nerves she wouldn’t admit out loud. Marcus was up front driving slow through Brooklyn side streets, headlights off, letting the streetlamps do the work. The tablet between us glowed with Kyle’s apartment building feed—empty hallway, flickering bulb over 4C.Bella kept staring at the new photo on my phone. The red dot on her chest in our own kitchen this morning. She hadn’t said much since it came through, just traced the image with her thumb like she could erase it if she pressed hard enough.“Talk to me,” I said quietly.She exhaled through her nose. “I’m trying to figure out how they got inside again. We changed the codes, doubled the cameras, added drones. And still… this.” She flipped the phone facedown on her thigh. “It feels personal. Like someone’s standing right behind me every time I turn around.”

: Warehouse on the EdgeThe coordinates led to an old industrial park on the far side of the city, where the skyline gave way to rust and silence. Chain-link fence sagged around acres of cracked concrete, broken windows staring like empty eyes. The warehouse sat at the back gray metal siding, loading docks overgrown with weeds, one floodlight still burning yellow over the main door. No cars. No movement. Just the low hum of distant traffic and the wind moving through chain links.Marcus killed the headlights a quarter mile out and coasted to a stop behind a row of abandoned shipping containers. He killed the engine. The sudden quiet pressed in.“Team’s already in position,” he said low. “Two snipers on the roof across the street. Drones overhead thermal shows one heat signature inside. Single person. No weapons visible. No explosives on scan.”Bella stared out the window at the building. Her hand rested on her stomach, fingers spread like she was shielding it from sight. “Vanessa?”“L

Chapter 38: The East GateThe warehouse air turned thick the moment the drone’s red dot settled on Bella’s stomach. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t step back. She just stared at the hovering black shape like she could will it out of existence with the force of her glare. The countdown in my head kept running. Ten minutes. Nine fifty-nine. Nine fifty-eight.Marcus’s voice came sharp in the earpiece. “Snipers have the drone in sight. Clean shot. Say the word.”I held up a hand. “Hold. We don’t know if it’s armed. One wrong move and it could be rigged to detonate.”Bella’s eyes never left the drone. “He wants me to walk out there. To the east gate. He wants to see me hand myself over.”Dragomir’s voice crackled again through the speaker, calm and amused. “Smart girl. You have nine minutes now. Bring her to the east gate, Lockwood. Alone. No team. No guns. Just you and the woman. If I see anyone else, the drone drops a little present. Something small. Something that goes boom. You’ll hear it

40: The TourThe private maternity ward at Mount Sinai smelled like antiseptic and fresh linens—the kind of clean that made every sound feel sharper.The soft beep of monitors down the hall.The quiet squeak of nurses’ shoes on polished tile.The low murmur of voices behind closed doors.We arrived at dawn, before visiting hours, before the hospital woke up fully. Marcus had cleared the floor with the admin. Only our people were here now.Security in scrubs.Techs in plain clothes pretending to check wiring.Snipers on the roof disguised as maintenance.Bella walked ahead of me, hand resting lightly on her stomach, eyes scanning every corner like she was memorizing it for a fight. She hadn’t slept much. Neither had I.The photo of the incubator sat heavy between us—a promise we both knew Dragomir’s people intended to keep.Marcus led the way down the corridor.“Room 1408 is at the end. Corner unit. Two exits—one to the main h