The DNA report arrived at 7:16 the next morning.

Adrian read it once.

Then again.

Probability of paternity: 99.99%.

He sat alone in his office.

For the first time in years, Adrian Moretti didn't know what to do next.

He had a son.

A five-year-old son.

Theo.

The child who had invaded his network.

Insulted his security.

Kicked him under a dinner table.

His son.

Adrian looked at the date of birth again.

September 29, 2021.

Five years reduced to a line on a laboratory report.

Five birthdays.

First words.

First steps.

First day of preschool.

Fevers.

Nightmares.

Christmas mornings.

He had missed all of it.

His office door opened.

Nico entered without knocking.

"Well?"

Adrian handed him the paper.

Nico read it.

His expression changed.

"Damn."

Adrian looked out the window.

"Where is she?"

"Safe house."

After Grace discovered the apartment had been searched, Adrian had moved Evelyn and Theo to a secure Moretti property in Manhattan.

Evelyn had fought him for twenty minutes.

Theo had asked whether the safe house had faster Wi-Fi.

"Car," Adrian said.

---

Evelyn was making pancakes when Adrian arrived.

Theo sat at the kitchen island with a laptop.

Adrian placed the DNA report on the counter.

Evelyn looked at it.

Then at him.

She didn't ask what it said.

That made him angrier.

"You knew."

Theo looked up.

Evelyn closed the laptop.

"Bedroom, please."

"But—"

"Now."

Theo studied Adrian's face.

"Is he mad?"

"Bedroom."

Theo climbed down.

As he passed Adrian, he said, "Your forehead vein is doing something weird."

Adrian stared at him.

Theo disappeared.

The bedroom door closed.

Adrian turned to Evelyn.

"You knew."

"Yes."

One word.

Five years of his life inside it.

"Say it."

"Adrian—"

"Say it."

She looked him directly in the eyes.

"Theo is your son."

His jaw tightened.

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long did you know before you disappeared?"

Evelyn hesitated.

"Two weeks."

He laughed once.

There was no humor in it.

"You knew you were carrying my child, and you ran."

"I survived."

"You stole five years from me."

Her expression changed.

"I stole them?"

"First word."

"Adrian."

"First step."

"Stop."

"First birthday."

"You think I don't know what you missed?"

"I didn't even know he existed!"

His voice filled the kitchen.

The bedroom door opened slightly.

Evelyn saw it.

"Lower your voice."

Adrian followed her gaze.

The door closed again.

He forced himself to breathe.

When he spoke again, his voice was quieter.

"Why?"

Evelyn folded her arms.

"If I had brought a baby into your world five years ago, would he still be alive?"

Adrian didn't answer.

"That's why."

"You could have told me."

"I tried."

His eyes sharpened.

"What?"

Evelyn immediately regretted it.

"Nothing."

"No. You said you tried."

She turned away.

Adrian stepped around the counter.

"What happened?"

"I sent a message."

"I never received one."

"I know that now."

"When?"

"After I found out I was pregnant."

"To whom?"

Evelyn said nothing.

Adrian understood.

"Someone intercepted it."

"Maybe."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"That's a lie."

She spun toward him.

"Do you think I enjoyed this?"

He stopped.

"I spent five years looking over my shoulder. I changed apartments whenever the same car appeared twice. I paid cash. I avoided photographs. I taught a child that he couldn't tell strangers where he lived."

Her voice shook.

"I watched every playground entrance. Every school pickup. Every unfamiliar face."

Adrian said nothing.

Evelyn pointed at the DNA report.

"You see five years you lost. I see five years I kept him alive."

The anger inside Adrian didn't disappear.

But it changed.

"Who threatened you?"

She looked away.

Before she could answer, the bedroom door opened.

Theo walked out.

He carried a dinosaur backpack.

"I'm ready."

Both adults looked at him.

"For what?" Evelyn asked.

"To leave."

"Why?"

Theo shrugged.

"You always leave when people find us."

Evelyn's face broke.

Adrian felt something sharp in his chest.

Theo looked at him.

"Are you my dad?"

No one moved.

Evelyn whispered, "Theo."

"I heard."

Of course he had.

Theo was five, not deaf.

Adrian crouched.

It felt strange.

He couldn't remember the last time he had lowered himself to meet anyone at eye level.

"Yes."

Theo stared at him.

"Really?"

"Really."

Theo thought about it.

"Did you know?"

"No."

"Mom didn't tell you?"

"No."

Theo looked at Evelyn.

Then back at Adrian.

"Are you mad?"

"Yes."

"At me?"

The question hit Adrian harder than anything Evelyn had said.

"No."

The answer came instantly.

"Never at you."

Theo studied him.

Then pointed toward the DNA report.

"Is that the proof?"

"Yes."

"Can I see?"

Adrian handed it over.

Theo scanned the page.

"99.99."

"Yes."

"What about the other point-zero-one?"

Adrian stared.

From behind him, Nico's voice came from the doorway.

"I told you he was yours."

Theo looked at Nico.

"That's scientifically irresponsible."

Nico nodded.

"Definitely yours."

For the first time that morning, Evelyn almost laughed.

The moment didn't last.

Adrian's phone rang.

Security.

He answered.

"What?"

Nico's phone buzzed at the same time.

His expression changed.

Adrian listened.

Then looked toward Theo.

"Where?"

Nico opened his tablet.

"What happened?" Evelyn asked.

Adrian ended the call.

"Someone accessed the school's parent database last night."

Evelyn went pale.

"Whose file?"

Adrian already knew.

"Theo's."

Silence.

Theo looked between them.

Adrian turned to Nico.

"Double security."

"Already doing it."

"No school until we know who accessed it."

Evelyn shook her head.

"We can't keep him locked inside."

"We can keep him alive."

"You don't get to take control of everything because you found out you're his father twelve hours ago."

Adrian stepped closer.

"And you don't get to pretend someone isn't hunting him."

"I know someone is hunting him!"

The room went quiet.

Adrian stared at her.

"You know?"

Evelyn realized what she had said.

Nico stopped typing.

Theo watched his mother.

Adrian's voice became dangerously calm.

"Tell me everything."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I still don't know who I can trust."

"You can trust me with my son."

"Five years ago, I trusted someone inside your family."

Adrian froze.

There it was.

The first real crack in the past.

"Who?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"I never saw his face."

"His?"

"He knew I was pregnant."

Adrian's expression darkened.

"He knew before you disappeared?"

"Yes."

"And threatened Theo?"

Evelyn didn't answer.

She didn't need to.

Adrian turned away.

For years, he had believed Evelyn stole from him and vanished.

Now another possibility was forming.

Someone had wanted her gone.

Someone inside the Moretti organization.

His phone buzzed.

Theo's tablet buzzed at exactly the same time.

Theo frowned.

"I didn't do that."

Adrian looked at him.

The screen went black.

Then white letters appeared.

HELLO, PIGLET.

Theo stopped breathing.

Evelyn rushed toward him.

A second line appeared.

YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HIDDEN.

Adrian's entire body changed.

The father who had been confused, furious, and five years too late disappeared.

The Mafia King returned.

"Trace it."

Nico was already moving.

The message vanished.

Then a third line appeared.

THE BOY CANNOT STAY ALIVE.

Evelyn grabbed Theo and pulled him against her.

Adrian stared at the screen.

Something inside him became perfectly calm.

Someone had threatened his son.

That was a mistake.

He looked at Nico.

"Lock down every Moretti property."

"Done."

"Pull every internal access log from the last five years."

"That's millions of records."

"I don't care."

Adrian looked at Evelyn.

She was holding Theo so tightly that the boy's face was buried against her shoulder.

For five years, she had been running from something.

Now that something had found them.

Adrian stepped toward his son.

Theo looked up.

For the first time since they met, the little boy wasn't sarcastic.

He looked five.

Just five.

"Is someone going to hurt us?"

Adrian crouched in front of him.

"No."

"How do you know?"

Adrian's gaze moved to the threatening message still glowing on the tablet.

Because whoever had sent it had just made the one mistake Adrian Moretti never forgave.

They had touched his family.

He looked back at Theo.

"Because they have to get through me first."