Chapter 5 - THE NEWS HE SHOULD HAVE HEARD FROM HER
Daniel did not go to Grace immediately.
That surprised everyone.
Marcus asked, “You want the car?”
“No.”
Sofia stared.
“You just found out Grace is pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not going?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Because she didn’t tell me.”
Sofia understood first.
Grace had chosen not to tell him after what she saw.
Daniel had no right to storm into her space simply because he now possessed the information.
He hated it.
But he understood.
Mateo was reunited with Sofia.
Daniel watched from a distance.
The boy held his mother for nearly a full minute.
Then looked over her shoulder at Daniel.
Sofia followed his gaze.
She approached later.
“DNA test.”
Daniel nodded.
“When Mateo wants.”
Sofia looked surprised.
“You don’t want one immediately?”
“I do.”
“Then?”
“He just got kidnapped because adults turned his paternity into warfare.”
Daniel looked at the boy.
“He gets some control.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“Thank you.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Do not thank me for basic decency.”
“Basic decency has been scarce lately.”
Fair.
Grace spent the night at Lily’s.
Daniel sent one message.
DANIEL: I know.
She read it.
No answer.
Second message.
DANIEL: I am not coming over unless you ask.
Still nothing.
Third.
DANIEL: I’m sorry you lost the chance to tell me the way you wanted.
Grace began crying when she read that.
Lily sat beside her.
“That one was good.”
“Don’t.”
“It was.”
“I’m still angry.”
“You can be angry and notice accurate sentences.”
Grace stared at her stomach.
Seven weeks.
Eight tomorrow.
Daniel’s child.
Maybe Daniel already had another child.
Her life felt like someone had put every emotion in a blender.
“Do you think he cheated?” Lily asked.
Grace thought.
“No.”
“Do you think the kiss meant nothing?”
“No.”
Lily nodded.
Good answer.
Because “not cheating” did not automatically make the moment harmless.
Grace continued.
“He should have stepped back.”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“He froze because Sofia threatened me.”
“That appears true.”
“It still hurt.”
“Yes.”
Grace looked at her.
“You’re extremely annoying tonight.”
“Pregnancy hormones.”
“Yours?”
“Secondhand.”
The next morning, Grace went to work.
She was a senior interior architect.
Not a glamorous job despite what Daniel’s world assumed.
Construction schedules.
Budgets.
Contractors ignoring drawings.
She liked it.
Normal problems.
At noon, the receptionist said, “Someone left flowers.”
Grace froze.
Lilies?
No.
Peach-colored roses.
Daniel remembered she hated lilies.
No note asking forgiveness.
Only:
I AM HERE WHEN YOU WANT THE CONVERSATION.
Grace hated how much that mattered.
She did not call.
Two days passed.
Then three.
Daniel did not pressure.
Security remained near her office.
Grace noticed.
He had placed them a block away, not at the door.
Subtle by Daniel standards.
On Sunday, she called.
“Come over.”
He arrived twenty minutes later.
Too fast.
“You were nearby.”
“Yes.”
“How nearby?”
“Three blocks.”
“Daniel.”
“I was eating lunch.”
“At one of your restaurants?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
He looked nervous.
Daniel Mercer nervous.
She almost softened.
Then remembered the study.
They sat in Lily’s living room.
Lily left.
“Pregnancy.”
Daniel’s eyes dropped toward Grace’s stomach.
His face changed.
He said nothing.
Grace watched.
This was the moment she had imagined.
Not like this.
Never like this.
“Seven weeks when I came to your house.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“You came to tell me.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I’m still sorry.”
Grace swallowed.
“Say something else.”
He looked at her.
“I’m terrified.”
That surprised her.
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
She almost smiled.
“Specific.”
He continued.
“I’m terrified you’ll decide I’m not someone you can raise a child beside.”
Grace’s throat tightened.
“I’m terrified my family has already put you in danger.”
“Yes.”
“I’m terrified I already failed before knowing the baby existed.”
Her eyes filled.
“And?”
Daniel looked toward her stomach.
“And I am happier than I have any right to be.”
Grace started crying.
She hated that.
Daniel did not touch her.
He waited.
That mattered.
“Do you want the baby?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Immediate.
Too immediate to be strategic.
“Yes,” he repeated.
“What if I don’t want to live at your estate?”
“Then we don’t.”
“What if I don’t want guards inside my home?”
“We negotiate what is necessary.”
“That sounds like no.”
Daniel caught himself.
“You’re right.”
Grace waited.
“Your home. Your consent.”
“And the child?”
“We make safety decisions together.”
Better.
“What about Sofia?”
Daniel looked down.
“The kiss.”
“Yes.”
“I should have moved.”
“Yes.”
“I froze after she threatened you.”
“Yes.”
“That does not erase how it looked or what it did to you.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
Grace believed him.
Still not enough.
“Were you still in love with her?”
Daniel looked surprised.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“She was your fiancée.”
“Eleven years ago.”
“You never told me.”
“That was wrong.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Because she was the last person who made me feel stupid for trusting.”
Grace absorbed that.
“She left you.”
“I thought she chose someone else.”
“And you buried it.”
“Yes.”
“Then I came.”
“Yes.”
“You never thought I deserved to know that part?”
He looked ashamed.
“I told myself it didn’t matter anymore.”
Grace nodded.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“You decide what matters before I get the information.”
Daniel went still.
That landed.
Grace continued.
“You do it because you think knowledge creates danger.”
“Sometimes it does.”
“And silence creates what?”
He had no answer.
She gave one.
“Distance.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I don’t want our child growing up inside secrets.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then Mateo.”
“Yes.”
“What happens?”
“DNA test if he wants.”
“And if he is yours?”
Daniel answered carefully.
“He becomes my son.”
Grace’s chest tightened.
“And our baby?”
“Becomes my child.”
“No hierarchy?”
Daniel understood exactly what she was asking.
“No.”
“What about inheritance?”
He almost laughed.
“Already?”
“You literally have murderous siblings over this.”
“Fair.”
He became serious.
“Equal provisions.”
“Regardless of mother?”
“Yes.”
“Regardless of birth order?”
“Yes.”
“And if Mateo is not biologically yours?”
Daniel paused.
Grace watched.
“He still matters to me now.”
That answer surprised her.
“You barely know him.”
“He was used because of me.”
“That isn’t fatherhood.”
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“But neither is DNA by itself.”
Grace looked away.
Damn him.
Reasonable again.
“Do you want to come to my appointment Friday?”
Daniel stopped breathing.
She saw it.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
Too fast.
Grace almost smiled.
“You do not get to bring six guards into the waiting room.”
“Two.”
“One outside.”
“Grace.”
“One.”
He sighed.
“One.”
Progress.
Friday morning, Daniel sat beside Grace in the obstetrician’s office.
No suit.
Dark sweater.
He looked more nervous than he had during gunfire.
Dr. Patel performed the ultrasound.
Then the sound filled the room.
Heartbeat.
Fast.
Tiny.
Daniel froze.
Grace looked at him.
His eyes filled instantly.
Not a tear.
Several.
He looked embarrassed.
Grace squeezed his hand before deciding whether she meant to.
He looked down.
Did not move.
Dr. Patel smiled.
“Everything looks appropriate for eight weeks.”
Daniel stared at the monitor.
“That’s the baby?”
“Yes.”
“It looks like…”
He stopped.
Grace smiled.
“A bean?”
“I was going to say shrimp.”
Dr. Patel laughed.
Grace laughed too.
For one second, it was almost the moment she had imagined.
Then Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He ignored it.
Again.
Ignored.
Third time.
Grace looked.
“Answer.”
“No.”
“Could matter.”
“Nothing matters more right now.”
The line echoed too closely to something she wanted.
But reality did not care about timing.
Marcus appeared at the doorway.
His face told them immediately.
Daniel stood.
“What?”
Marcus looked at Grace before answering.
“Sofia got the DNA results.”
Daniel froze.
“That fast?”
“Private lab.”
“And?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Mateo is yours.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Daniel sat back down.
Not because he was upset.
Because suddenly he had become a father twice in the same week.
May you like
Once to an unborn child.
Once to a ten-year-old boy who had lived an entire childhood without him.
