Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN RED
Lily read the message twice.
Then a third time.
“Whoever sent this is trying to scare you.”
“It’s working.”
She turned the photograph over.
Daniel and the woman in red—Sofia Vasquez—were walking through the revolving doors of an expensive hotel.
The picture had clearly been taken from across the street.
Daniel wore a black overcoat.
Sofia wore sunglasses despite the late hour.
They were not touching.
But they were together.
Three months ago.
Three months before I saw her kiss him.
Three months while Daniel was sleeping in my bed, making coffee in my kitchen, complaining that my couch was too small and refusing to admit he liked it anyway.
Lily watched me.
“This proves they were at a hotel.”
“That’s enough.”
“No, it isn’t.”
I stared at her.
“You defended Daniel for exactly zero seconds last night.”
“I’m not defending him.”
“It sounds like it.”
“I’m defending your brain from whoever mailed this.”
She pointed at the message.
“Someone knew you were here.”
My stomach tightened.
“Maybe they followed me.”
“Exactly.”
“And that is somehow better?”
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“It means this isn’t only about whether Daniel cheated.”
I looked down at the photograph.
Sofia.
Now the woman had a name.
I hated that knowing it made her more real.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I ignored it.
Lily sighed.
“You cannot keep doing that.”
“I can today.”
“What if the photograph has something to do with what he was trying to explain?”
“Then he can explain it when I decide I’m ready.”
Another call.
This one from an unknown number.
Lily and I looked at each other.
I answered carefully.
“Hello?”
A woman spoke.
“You got the photograph.”
I froze.
Lily immediately moved closer.
“Who is this?”
“You already know.”
I looked at the image in my hand.
“Sofia?”
A soft laugh.
“So he told you my name.”
“No.”
That silence was small but important.
Then:
“Interesting.”
“What do you want?”
“To help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“You do.”
Her voice was calm.
Confident.
The same confidence I had seen through the study doorway.
“You’re in danger because of Daniel.”
I placed one hand over my stomach instinctively.
Lily noticed.
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t know how to love anyone without turning them into leverage.”
I thought about Daniel’s words.
She kissed me because she wanted someone watching to believe I had let her.
“What happened last night?”
Sofia laughed again.
“You mean when you watched us?”
My blood went cold.
“You knew I was there.”
“I suspected someone was.”
“Who?”
“That is the question Daniel should be answering.”
My pulse pounded.
“Were you trying to make me think you were with him?”
“No.”
A pause.
“I was trying to make someone else think I still had influence over him.”
“Why?”
“Because the man watching wanted proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Daniel could still be manipulated.”
My mind raced.
“You kissed him to manipulate him?”
“I kissed him to protect someone.”
“Who?”
“You.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the edge of the table.
Lily whispered,
“What is she saying?”
I shook my head.
Sofia continued.
“Daniel will tell you I’m dangerous.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
At least that was honest.
“He’ll tell you not to believe me.”
“Should I?”
“No.”
That answer startled me.
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because you deserve one truth before he buries you under half of them.”
My heart hammered.
“What truth?”
“His brother is coming back.”
I frowned.
“Daniel doesn’t have a brother.”
Sofia went silent.
Then she said very quietly,
“That’s what he told you?”
My skin prickled.
“Who is he?”
“Vincent Mercer.”
The name meant nothing to me.
“Daniel’s older half brother. Same father. Different mothers. Vincent was supposed to inherit everything.”
“Everything?”
“The Mercer organization.”
I hated the word organization.
It sounded clean.
Neutral.
Nothing about Daniel’s world was either.
“What happened?”
“Daniel took it.”
“Why?”
“Because Vincent killed the wrong person.”
My stomach turned.
“Who?”
Sofia’s voice changed.
“My sister.”
The anger beneath it was so deep I could feel it through the phone.
I stopped breathing.
“Daniel didn’t tell you about Elena?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“What happened?”
“Seven years ago, Elena worked at one of the Mercer restaurants. She heard something she shouldn’t have. Vincent thought she was talking to federal agents.”
“And was she?”
“No.”
Sofia’s voice broke for the first time.
“She was nineteen.”
I closed my eyes.
“He killed her?”
“Yes.”
“And Daniel?”
“Daniel found out afterward.”
“What did he do?”
“He turned on his own brother.”
I opened my eyes.
Sofia continued.
“He gave enough information to make Vincent disappear without exposing the entire Mercer family. Then Daniel took control.”
“Disappear?”
“Prison first.”
“And now?”
“He got out six weeks ago.”
Everything inside me became cold.
“And you’ve been meeting Daniel because…”
“Because Vincent contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I hate Daniel enough to help him.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“Then why help Daniel?”
“Because I hate Vincent more.”
I looked toward Lily.
She could only hear my side.
Her face was full of questions.
Sofia continued.
“Vincent wants the Mercer empire back. Daniel won’t give it to him.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Another pause.
Too long.
I whispered,
“What does it have to do with me?”
“You are the one thing Daniel has that Vincent believes he can use.”
My chest tightened.
“That’s why Daniel kept me separate.”
“Yes.”
“And why you kissed him?”
“Vincent has people watching Daniel. He wanted to know whether I could still get close.”
I thought of the open study door.
“Daniel knew someone was watching?”
“Yes.”
“And he agreed to that?”
“He agreed to let Vincent believe I was working him.”
I felt sick.
“He could have told me.”
“He should have.”
For the first time, Sofia sounded almost sympathetic.
“That’s Daniel’s weakness.”
“What?”
“He thinks carrying secrets alone makes him noble.”
A humorless laugh escaped me.
“That sounds familiar.”
“Then understand this.”
Her voice hardened.
“If Vincent knows where you are, you need to move.”
Lily heard enough to catch that.
“Move?” she whispered.
I turned away.
“Why did you send the photograph?”
“I didn’t.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I called because I heard someone else had sent it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how did you get my number?”
“Daniel’s world has very few secrets from the right people.”
That was not reassuring.
“Sofia—”
A violent sound came through the phone.
Metal.
Glass.
Then Sofia gasped.
I stood.
“What happened?”
No answer.
“Sofia?”
Someone shouted in the background.
The line disconnected.
I stared at the phone.
Lily grabbed my arm.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone rang immediately.
Daniel.
This time, I answered.
“Daniel.”
“Where are you?”
His voice was different.
Sharp.
No softness.
No negotiation.
“Lily’s.”
“Stay inside.”
“What happened to Sofia?”
Silence.
“How do you know about Sofia?”
“She called me.”
A curse.
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened?”
“Someone hit her car.”
My stomach dropped.
“Accident?”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
Lily heard that single word.
Her face changed.
Daniel continued.
“You need to leave Lily’s apartment.”
“Sofia just told me not to move.”
“Sofia is not responsible for your safety.”
“Neither are you anymore.”
His voice hardened.
“This isn’t about us.”
“It became about us when you decided I wasn’t entitled to know that your brother existed.”
Silence.
Then:
“She told you about Vincent.”
“Yes.”
“Damn it.”
“Is it true?”
“Yes.”
The admission hit harder than expected.
“You lied to me.”
“I withheld something that could put you in danger.”
“That is called lying.”
“I know.”
He did not argue.
That almost made it worse.
I looked down at my stomach.
The baby.
His baby.
I could not keep delaying this forever.
But not over the phone.
Not while someone was trying to kill people around him.
Daniel said,
“Marco is coming upstairs.”
“No.”
“You need protection.”
“No.”
“Stop fighting me for thirty seconds.”
Anger flashed through me.
“I have spent eighteen months not fighting you because I trusted you.”
He went quiet.
I continued.
“You don’t get to become honest only when danger reaches my door.”
“You’re right.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because then I have nothing to argue with.”
For one impossible second, Daniel almost laughed.
I heard it.
Then his voice became serious again.
“I’m coming to you.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking.”
“Then I won’t be here.”
His breathing stopped.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make yourself impossible to protect just to prove I can’t control you.”
That sentence hit something raw.
“You think that’s what this is?”
“No.”
“You think I’m being difficult?”
“No.”
“You don’t understand anything.”
“Then tell me.”
I squeezed my eyes closed.
This was it.
The secret pressed against my chest.
Seven weeks.
The ultrasound.
A tiny heartbeat the doctor had shown me on a screen.
I whispered,
“I was at your house last night because I needed to tell you something.”
Daniel went completely silent.
“What?”
I sat down.
Lily’s eyes widened.
I could barely breathe.
“I went to the doctor yesterday.”
“Are you sick?”
The fear in his voice was immediate.
“No.”
“What happened?”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“I’m pregnant.”
Nothing.
No breath.
No sound.
Nothing.
Then a chair scraped violently on his end of the call.
“Say that again.”
“I’m pregnant.”
“How far?”
“Seven weeks.”
A sound escaped him.
Not a word.
Almost a broken breath.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“The doctor confirmed it?”
“Yes.”
“Is everything okay?”
“So far.”
He went silent again.
Then I heard something I had never heard from Daniel Mercer.
His voice shook.
“You’re having my baby.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I was going to tell you.”
“Last night.”
“Yes.”
He whispered a curse.
“I saw her kiss you instead.”
“I’m sorry.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You’re sorry for what I saw?”
“I’m sorry you had to stand there believing it.”
Something crashed through the apartment building hallway.
Lily and I both turned.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Fast.
Daniel heard it through the phone.
“What was that?”
Another crash.
Then someone slammed against Lily’s front door.
Once.
Twice.
Lily screamed.
Daniel’s voice transformed instantly.
“Get away from the door.”
I grabbed Lily.
We ran toward the bedroom.
“Lock yourself in.”
The front door splintered.
Lily whispered,
“Oh my God.”
Daniel shouted through the phone,
“Marco is thirty seconds away.”
Thirty seconds.
The longest thirty seconds of my life.
A man entered the apartment.
We heard him moving through the living room.
Lily and I locked ourselves in the bathroom.
I pressed both hands over my mouth.
My entire body shook.
Not for me.
For the tiny life inside me.
The bathroom doorknob moved.
Once.
Then hard.
Daniel’s voice came through my phone.
“Stay with me.”
The door shook.
“Daniel—”
“I’m here.”
Another violent hit.
Wood cracked.
Lily grabbed a metal towel bar from the wall.
Then gunfire erupted outside the apartment.
One shot.
A shout.
Something heavy struck the floor.
Silence.
My breathing stopped.
“Marco?” Daniel shouted through the phone.
A voice came from the other side of the bathroom.
“It’s me.”
Marco.
Lily sank against the wall.
I started crying.
“Open the door,” Marco said.
Daniel’s voice came through the phone again.
“Not until Marco says the code.”
I stared.
“The what?”
Marco sighed from outside.
“Peach pie.”
Despite everything, a hysterical laugh escaped me.
Daniel had chosen peach pie.
Of course he had.
We opened the door.
Marco stood there with a gun lowered beside his leg.
Behind him, another man lay facedown near the broken front entrance.
Alive.
Groaning.
Marco looked at me.
Then his eyes dropped toward my stomach.
Daniel must have told him through his earpiece.
His face changed.
For the first time since I had met Marco Bellini, the terrifying man looked almost gentle.
“Congratulations.”
I burst into tears.
Marco glanced around the destroyed apartment.
“Terrible timing.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel arrived.
He did not walk through the broken doorway.
He ran.
His eyes found me.
Then my stomach.
Then me again.
He crossed the room.
But stopped three feet away.
As though suddenly he did not know whether he was allowed to touch me.
The most feared man in New York stood there looking terrified.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
“I don’t know.”
His face drained of color.
Daniel turned toward Marco.
“Car.”
“I’m already—”
“Now.”
I grabbed Daniel’s sleeve.
“I’m not bleeding.”
“I don’t care.”
His eyes met mine.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
For once, I did not argue.
Because beneath the anger, betrayal, secrets, and shattered trust, there was one fear we shared completely.
May you like
For the first time, Daniel and I were not fighting about his world.
We were both terrified it had already touched our child.
