Chapter 3 - THE OTHER SONGrace opened the door only after Lily made Sofia stand six feet back with both hands visible.
Sofia Bellini looked different from the woman in Daniel’s study.
No red dress.
No perfect posture.
She wore a black coat over jeans and carried no handbag.
Her face looked tired.
Grace hated that she noticed.
“Five minutes,” Grace said.
Sofia nodded.
“Fair.”
Lily held the knife behind one leg.
Sofia noticed.
“I’m not armed.”
Lily replied, “Good for your health.”
Sofia almost smiled.
Grace did not.
“Medical records.”
Sofia’s expression became serious.
“I received copies this afternoon.”
“From who?”
“Unknown encrypted sender.”
“Why send them to you?”
“To make sure I knew you existed.”
Grace’s hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.
Sofia saw.
Her face changed.
“You are.”
Grace stiffened.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Do not look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you understand.”
Sofia looked away.
“I understand more than you think.”
Grace wanted to hate her.
It would have been easier if Sofia had been cruel.
Instead she looked frightened.
Lily stepped in.
“Ten-year-old son.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
“Mateo.”
“Daniel’s?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace laughed sharply.
“That is incredible.”
“I know.”
“You were engaged to him.”
“Yes.”
“You became pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“And somehow forgot to mention a child for a decade.”
Sofia’s jaw tightened.
“I did not forget.”
“Then explain.”
Sofia looked at Grace.
“Daniel’s father ordered me to leave.”
Silence.
Even Lily lowered the knife slightly.
“Thomas Mercer?” Grace asked.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s father had died nine years earlier.
Publicly, heart attack.
Privately, Grace knew he had been feared even by men who now feared Daniel.
“Why?”
“He believed I was connected to the Bellini family.”
“You are.”
“My uncle was.”
Sofia corrected.
“My mother married into them. I wasn’t involved.”
“Thomas didn’t believe you?”
“He believed blood was destiny.”
Grace thought of Daniel.
He did not.
At least she had believed that.
Sofia continued.
“Daniel and I were twenty-seven.”
“You were engaged.”
“Yes.”
“Happy?”
Sofia smiled sadly.
“Sometimes.”
Grace hated the question the moment she asked it.
“Then?”
“I got pregnant.”
Grace felt physically sick.
Sofia continued.
“I planned to tell Daniel.”
The parallel was almost cruel.
“Before I could, Thomas came to me.”
“What did he say?”
“That if the child was Daniel’s, it would become a target.”
Grace’s hand tightened over her stomach.
“He offered me money.”
“Did you take it?”
“Yes.”
Grace’s face hardened.
“Five million dollars.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
Sofia continued.
“I put every dollar into a trust for Mateo.”
“Then you left.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell Daniel?”
“Because Thomas showed me photographs.”
“What photographs?”
“Daniel after an assassination attempt. A car bomb. Men watching my apartment.”
Grace went cold.
“He convinced you Daniel couldn’t protect the baby.”
“He convinced me staying would get him killed.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“Protection through lying.”
Sofia looked at her.
“You sound like Daniel.”
“That is not a compliment tonight.”
“No.”
Sofia accepted it.
“How did Daniel never find you?”
“I changed my name. Lived in Vermont first. Then Montreal. Then Seattle.”
“What happened to the engagement?”
“I sent a letter saying I had chosen someone else.”
Grace stared.
“That was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas said Daniel would keep looking if he thought I was in danger.”
She swallowed.
“He was right.”
Grace sat.
Daniel had once told her that betrayal made him different.
Harder.
He had never named Sofia.
Now she understood.
“Does Mateo know?”
“He knows Daniel may be his father.”
“Why tell him now?”
“I didn’t.”
Sofia’s face tightened.
“Someone else did.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Message?”
Sofia pulled out her phone.
A photograph.
Mateo walking out of school.
Text:
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY SHE STOLE A MERCER HEIR.
Grace felt nauseous.
Lily whispered, “Someone is targeting children.”
“Yes.”
Sofia continued.
“Then I received Grace’s clinic records.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Which clinic?”
Grace immediately knew.
Dr. Patel’s office.
Small private practice.
No connection to Daniel.
Unless someone followed her.
Sofia looked at Grace.
“The records show seven weeks.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
This was no longer hers.
The news she had carried with hope had been stolen before Daniel even heard it from her.
“Does Daniel know?”
“No.”
“About my pregnancy?”
“No.”
“I told him nothing.”
Sofia looked ashamed.
“I came here because you needed to know.”
Lily lowered the knife completely.
Grace turned away.
She imagined Daniel learning from enemies.
A file.
A threat.
A security report.
Not from her.
She hated that.
Then Sofia said, “There’s more.”
Grace turned.
“The sender included a sentence.”
“What?”
Sofia showed her.
TWO MERCER HEIRS. ONLY ONE FAMILY SURVIVES.
Grace stopped breathing.
Lily whispered, “What the hell does that mean?”
Sofia answered.
“I think someone wants Daniel to believe our children are competing.”
Grace stared.
“Competing for what?”
“His empire.”
Grace almost laughed.
“My baby is the size of a blueberry.”
“People have killed for less.”
Sofia’s voice carried the weight of experience.
Grace hated that too.
Her phone rang.
Daniel.
She stared.
Sofia said, “Answer.”
Grace did.
“Grace.”
“What?”
“I’m outside Lily’s building.”
She looked toward the window.
Of course.
“You said you didn’t know where I was.”
“I traced Sofia.”
Sofia muttered, “That is irritating.”
Grace’s anger returned.
“You tracked her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she disappeared after leaving my study.”
“So you assumed she came to me.”
“Yes.”
“You were right.”
“I know.”
Grace rubbed her forehead.
“Daniel.”
“I’m coming up.”
“No.”
Silence.
“No?”
“No.”
“Grace—”
“Do not turn every fear you have into permission.”
Daniel went quiet.
Sofia looked at Grace differently.
So did Lily.
Grace continued.
“You wait outside.”
“For how long?”
“Until I decide.”
“Okay.”
That answer surprised her.
Five minutes later, Daniel called again.
Not pushing.
“Someone approached Mateo’s school.”
Sofia went white.
“What?”
Grace put speaker on.
Daniel continued.
“My people intercepted a man photographing the entrance.”
“Who?” Sofia demanded.
“Former Bellini associate.”
Sofia’s face tightened.
“My uncle?”
“No. Someone who worked for him.”
“Name?”
“Carlo DeLuca.”
Sofia sat.
She knew it.
“Why?”
“I’m trying to find out.”
Daniel continued.
“I need Mateo moved.”
Sofia said, “He’s with my cousin.”
“Not anymore.”
Her face drained.
“What?”
“Your cousin’s apartment is empty.”
Sofia stood so fast the chair fell.
“No.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“My security team found signs of forced entry.”
Sofia grabbed her coat.
Grace stopped her.
“Where is Mateo?”
“I don’t know!”
Now Sofia looked exactly like what she was.
Not rival.
Not ex-fiancée.
Mother.
Terrified.
Grace hated herself for understanding.
Daniel said, “I have teams searching.”
Sofia was already moving toward the door.
Lily grabbed her arm.
“Running outside alone helps nobody.”
Sofia stared.
Then broke.
“My son.”
Grace stepped forward.
Seven weeks pregnant.
Heart shattered.
Still angry at Daniel.
Still unsure what came next.
But one thing became clear.
The children were not the conflict.
The adults were.
“Daniel,” Grace said.
“Yes.”
“Come upstairs.”
He did.
When the door opened, Grace saw him for the first time since the kiss.
He looked at her.
Then Sofia.
Then Grace again.
His eyes dropped briefly toward her stomach.
Not because he knew.
Because Grace’s hand was there.
He froze.
Grace saw understanding threaten to form.
Not yet.
She stepped closer.
“We find Mateo first.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Grace—”
“First.”
He swallowed.
Then nodded.
“First.”
The search began.
Within an hour, one clue emerged.
Mateo’s phone had last connected near a warehouse in Red Hook.
A Mercer warehouse.
Daniel stared at the address.
“That building is closed.”
“Who has access?” Grace asked.
“Family.”
Sofia looked at him.
“How much family?”
Daniel’s answer was grim.
“My mother.”
“My sister.”
“My uncle.”
“Three cousins.”
“And my brother.”
Grace frowned.
“You never mentioned a brother.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“That’s because he’s been in prison for eleven years.”
“For what?”
Daniel looked at Sofia.
She already knew.
“Murder.”
Then Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived.
Mateo.
Alive.
Sitting in a warehouse office.
Beside him was a man Grace had never seen.
Daniel had.
His face went completely still.
Sofia whispered, “Who?”
Daniel looked at the image.
“My brother.”
A second message followed.
BRING BOTH WOMEN.
NO POLICE.
WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO DECIDE WHICH CHILD DESERVES THE MERCER NAME.
Grace’s blood went cold.
May you like
And Daniel Mercer realized the brother he believed was still behind federal walls had somehow walked back into his life—
already knowing about both unborn and living children.
