Evelyn forgot how to breathe.

Adrian Moretti stood ten feet away from her son.

That was the nightmare.

Not Adrian finding her.

Not even Adrian discovering she had returned to New York.

This.

Adrian and Theo in the same room.

She crossed the classroom quickly.

"Theo."

"Hi, Mom."

"Get your backpack."

"But—"

"Now."

Theo studied her face.

He was only five, but he knew when not to argue.

Usually.

He slid off the chair.

Adrian stepped into Evelyn's path.

She froze.

"Move."

His expression didn't change.

"No."

Five years had changed him.

He looked harder now.

Sharper.

The tailored black suit, the controlled posture, the cold eyes—everything about Adrian warned people not to challenge him.

Evelyn remembered another version.

A man standing barefoot in a Hudson Valley kitchen at midnight.

A man who once laughed when she accused him of owning too many watches.

She buried the memory.

"Theo has school."

"He hacked my network."

Evelyn turned toward her son.

"You did what?"

Theo looked offended.

"I didn't hack it."

Nico raised an eyebrow.

Theo corrected himself.

"I entered it."

"Without permission?"

"The password architecture was insulting."

Evelyn closed her eyes.

"Theo."

"What?"

"You promised."

"I promised not to hack the Pentagon."

Nico made a choking sound.

Evelyn stared at her son.

"That was not the only thing you promised."

Adrian's gaze moved between them.

"You knew he could do this."

"I knew he was good with computers."

"Good?"

Nico held up his tablet.

"Your son made twelve senior cybersecurity engineers question their career choices before sunrise."

Theo smiled.

Evelyn pointed toward his backpack.

"Put it on."

Adrian caught one word.

"Your son."

His eyes returned to Evelyn.

"How old is he?"

Her body went rigid.

Theo answered.

"Five and three quarters."

Adrian looked at him.

"When's your birthday?"

Evelyn interrupted.

"We're leaving."

"September twenty-ninth."

Adrian's eyes snapped toward her.

Five years.

Almost exactly.

She saw the calculation happen.

"No."

The word escaped her before she could stop it.

Adrian took one step closer.

"No what?"

"Whatever you're thinking."

"I haven't said anything."

"You don't need to."

Theo looked between them.

"Do you two hate each other?"

"Yes," Evelyn said.

"No," Adrian said at the same time.

Theo frowned.

"That's confusing."

Nico muttered, "Welcome to the club."

Evelyn took Theo's hand.

"We're going home."

Adrian blocked the doorway.

"You disappeared."

"This is not the place."

"You stole confidential information."

"I didn't."

"Five years ago, every piece of evidence said otherwise."

"Then maybe you should have looked at better evidence."

His eyes narrowed.

There it was.

The Evelyn he remembered.

The one who pushed back when everyone else stepped aside.

Adrian lowered his voice.

"Where have you been?"

"Living."

"Where?"

"None of your business."

"It became my business when your child entered my network and opened Hawthorne."

Theo lifted one finger.

"In my defense—"

"No," Evelyn and Adrian said together.

Theo blinked.

Nico almost smiled.

Evelyn tightened her grip on Theo's hand.

"Move, Adrian."

His name sounded different in her voice.

It always had.

He stepped aside.

Not because she ordered him to.

Because he wanted to see whether she would run.

She did.

---

By noon, Evelyn had packed two suitcases.

Grace Miller stood in the Tribeca apartment doorway, watching her.

"You've been in New York for six weeks."

"Five weeks and four days."

"And now you're leaving?"

"Yes."

"Because Theo hacked a billionaire?"

"Mafia billionaire."

Grace stared.

"That distinction does not make this better."

Evelyn shoved clothes into a suitcase.

"Theo, pack your blue jacket."

From the bedroom came his voice.

"I hate the blue jacket."

"Pack it."

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know yet."

"Chicago?"

"Maybe."

"Seattle?"

"Maybe."

"Tokyo?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you don't speak Japanese."

"I can learn."

Grace closed the door.

"Evie."

Evelyn stopped.

Grace knew enough not to use that tone unless she was serious.

"Who is Adrian Moretti?"

Evelyn looked away.

"Someone I knew."

"That's not what your face said."

Theo appeared carrying the blue jacket.

"Mom looked like she saw a ghost."

"Thank you, Theo."

"You're welcome."

"Bedroom."

He sighed dramatically and disappeared.

Grace folded her arms.

"Tell me."

"I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

The intercom buzzed.

Evelyn froze.

Grace looked at it.

"You expecting someone?"

"No."

The doorman's voice came through.

"Ms. Carter? Mr. Adrian Moretti is here."

Grace's eyebrows rose.

Evelyn whispered something impolite.

Theo shouted from the bedroom.

"Is that Mr. Bad Firewall?"

---

Adrian entered the apartment three minutes later.

He noticed everything.

The suitcases.

The half-empty shelves.

The unopened moving boxes.

Evelyn's passport on the counter.

"Running again?"

"I'm traveling."

"With two suitcases and a terrified expression?"

"I'm not terrified."

"No. You were terrified at the school."

She stepped closer.

"Stay away from my son."

There it was again.

My son.

Adrian looked toward the hallway.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Not good enough."

"It doesn't have to be good enough."

Theo appeared behind her.

He was holding his tablet.

Adrian looked at it.

Evelyn immediately turned.

"Theo, no screens."

"I'm doing homework."

"You're in kindergarten."

"I still have homework."

Adrian's phone vibrated.

He pulled it out.

A pink pig filled the screen.

SYSTEM PATCH COMPLETE.

He looked slowly at Theo.

Theo smiled.

"I fixed your hole."

Nico, standing near the door, checked his own phone.

"He's right."

Evelyn stared at Theo.

"How did you—"

"I left myself a door."

Adrian's head snapped toward him.

"You left a backdoor in my system?"

Theo considered the terminology.

"A tiny one."

"Remove it."

"I just did."

"All of it?"

Theo hesitated.

Adrian stared.

Theo sighed.

"Fine."

He tapped twice.

Adrian's phone vibrated again.

ALL GONE :(

Nico walked over.

"I'm hiring him."

"No," Evelyn said.

Theo asked, "What's the salary?"

"No."

"Benefits?"

"Theo."

Adrian almost smiled.

Almost.

Then he saw the expression on Evelyn's face.

Fear beneath irritation.

Real fear.

He waited until Theo went back to his room.

Then he lowered his voice.

"Is he mine?"

Evelyn's face became unreadable.

"No."

Too fast.

Adrian knew it.

She knew he knew it.

"You always were a bad liar."

"And you always believed the wrong lies."

That stopped him.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"Evelyn."

She grabbed her passport.

"You need to leave."

Adrian didn't move.

"I spent five years looking for you."

"I know."

That answer hit harder than he expected.

"You knew?"

"Yes."

"And you stayed hidden."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Her eyes flashed.

"Because staying hidden kept us alive."

Us.

Adrian heard it.

So did Nico.

Evelyn realized her mistake.

Adrian stepped closer.

"Who were you protecting?"

She said nothing.

"Theo?"

Silence.

"From me?"

Her eyes filled with something he couldn't identify.

"From your world."

Adrian looked toward the bedroom.

A dinosaur backpack sat beside the door.

Five years.

September twenty-ninth.

Gray-green eyes.

His face.

His temper.

His refusal to back down.

"Who is his father?"

Evelyn's voice dropped.

"That doesn't concern you."

Adrian's expression turned cold.

"It concerns me now."

She opened the apartment door.

"Leave."

He walked toward it.

Then stopped beside her.

"This time, Evelyn, you're not disappearing."

She looked at him.

"You don't get to decide that."

"No."

His gaze moved toward Theo's room.

"But I do get to ask questions."

He left.

The door closed.

Evelyn locked it.

Then locked the deadbolt.

Her hands were shaking.

Behind her, Theo stood silently in the hallway.

"Mom?"

She turned.

He looked more serious than any five-year-old should.

"Do you know Mr. Bad Firewall?"

Evelyn swallowed.

"Yes."

Theo tilted his head.

"How?"

She couldn't answer.

Because five years ago, Adrian Moretti had been the most dangerous mistake of her life.

And the little boy staring at her was living proof of it.