Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Kissed Him Already Knew About My Baby—And Daniel’s Reaction Revealed a Secret More Terrifying Than CheatingDaniel arrived eleven minutes after I called.
Not thirty.
Not twenty.
Eleven.
I didn't ask how many traffic laws had died.
Lily was with me.
Daniel entered apartment, saw photograph on my phone, and became completely still.
That was Daniel at his most frightening.
Not yelling.
Stillness.
“Who knows?”
“My sister.”
His eyes moved to Lily.
She crossed arms.
“Don't interrogate me.”
Daniel looked back at me.
“Doctor?”
“Obviously.”
“Anyone at clinic know who father is?”
“No.”
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
He stared.
Then sentence registered fully.
“Father.”
Silence.
Lily looked between us.
I closed eyes.
Not how I planned.
Daniel whispered:
“Emma.”
I looked.
His face had changed.
Not mafia boss.
Not businessman.
Just man.
“Are you pregnant?”
“Yes.”
He sat.
Actually sat.
Like knees stopped working.
“How far?”
“Seven weeks.”
His eyes filled.
I had never seen Daniel cry.
Not once.
He looked at my stomach.
Then immediately back to face.
“Are you okay?”
“So far.”
“Baby?”
“Doctor says healthy.”
He covered mouth.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then he laughed.
One quiet, stunned sound.
“I'm going to be a father.”
Lily's expression softened despite herself.
I didn't.
Not completely.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“This doesn't fix what happened.”
His joy disappeared into something steadier.
“I know.”
“You don't get to use baby as reason I should forget Victoria.”
“I won't.”
“You don't get to decide where I live.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to surround me with armed men without asking.”
His eyes flicked toward threatening message.
“That one may require negotiation.”
“No.”
“Emma, someone photographed you leaving prenatal clinic.”
“I know.”
“They know gestational age.”
“I know.”
“That's not ordinary threat.”
“I know.”
His control strained.
Lily stepped between conversational lines.
“She said no.”
Daniel looked at her.
Then at me.
He breathed.
“What would make you feel safe without making you feel controlled?”
That question surprised me.
I thought.
“One person.”
“Security?”
“Yes.”
“Someone I choose?”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Someone we both approve.”
Better.
“Okay.”
Lily said:
“And not someone who reports every time she buys toothpaste.”
Daniel looked offended.
“I don't monitor toothpaste.”
I stared.
He looked away.
“Anymore.”
Despite fear, Lily laughed.
I nearly did.
Then Daniel's phone buzzed.
He checked.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Victoria left city.”
“When?”
“Forty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“Unknown.”
My stomach tightened.
“Daniel, why would your ex-fiancée care that I'm pregnant?”
He looked at Lily.
I understood.
“Say it.”
“Emma—”
“No more protecting me with half-truths.”
He stared.
Then sat.
“Victoria wasn't only my fiancée.”
“What does that mean?”
“Her father and mine built business alliance.”
“The illegal business?”
“Yes.”
Lily muttered:
“Fantastic.”
Daniel continued.
“Marriage would've joined two organizations.”
“But you didn't marry.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered Victoria was feeding information to federal task force.”
I blinked.
“She was informant?”
“Not exactly. She sold information to everyone. Federal agents. Rivals. Whoever benefited her.”
“What happened?”
“I ended engagement.”
“And?”
“Her father lost several contracts and blamed me. Six months later he was murdered.”
I went cold.
“Did you kill him?”
Daniel met eyes.
“No.”
I believed him.
That frightened me too.
“Who did?”
“I don't know.”
“Victoria thinks you did.”
“Yes.”
“And she came back?”
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Because my father died four months ago.”
I knew that.
Funeral had been private.
Daniel barely spoke about father.
“What does that change?”
“Inheritance.”
There was always inheritance.
“Mercer holdings are governed by old trust.”
I groaned.
“Please don't tell me firstborn son gets kingdom.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“No. My grandfather was slightly less medieval.”
“Comforting.”
“But trust gives controlling interest to my legal spouse or biological child if I die without spouse.”
Silence.
Lily said:
“So Emma's baby is worth money.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Not money.”
“What?”
“Control.”
My nausea returned.
“How much control?”
“Enough that certain people would care.”
“Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She believes she still has claim to part of Bell-Mercer network.”
I stood.
“No.”
Daniel rose.
“What?”
“No. My baby isn't inheriting criminal empire.”
“Agreed.”
I stared.
“Agreed?”
“Yes.”
“You didn't hesitate.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't want my child growing up like I did.”
Something in his face stopped me.
For first time, I realized Daniel might hate empire everyone assumed he loved.
“Then get rid of it.”
Lily stared at me.
Daniel stared too.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“It's not simple.”
“There it is again.”
“Emma—”
“You say you don't want child inheriting it. Then dismantle it.”
“If I walk away tomorrow, people die.”
I stopped.
“Employees?”
“Some.”
“Criminals?”
“Some.”
“Innocent people?”
“Yes.”
He looked tired.
“My father built system where legitimate and illegitimate operations overlap. Warehouses employ hundreds. Shipping routes carry legal cargo and sometimes things I wish they didn't. If I burn everything overnight, rivals move in.”
“You've known this.”
“Yes.”
“And done what?”
“Spent six years separating them.”
That was new.
“How much?”
“Sixty percent legitimate now.”
“Forty isn't.”
“No.”
I sat.
I had loved man without demanding details.
Now details were inside my womb.
“I need everything.”
Daniel looked.
“Everything?”
“If you're going to be father of my child, I need to know what world I'm bringing them into.”
He nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
Over next two hours Daniel told me more truth than in eighteen months.
Illegal gambling.
Protection schemes inherited from father.
Port bribery.
Money laundering.
No trafficking.
No narcotics.
Daniel had banned both years earlier.
He had moved legitimate businesses into independent corporate structures and quietly provided records to attorney preparing eventual cooperation agreement.
“You were planning to leave?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Within two years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because if plan leaked, you'd become leverage.”
I held up phone.
“Looks like I became leverage anyway.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
That night we selected security officer together.
Her name was Maya Torres.
Former NYPD detective.
Forty-three.
Mother of two.
She looked Daniel in face and said:
“If Ms. Hayes tells me to leave room, I leave.”
Daniel nodded.
“If I tell you not to?”
“I work for her.”
I liked Maya immediately.
Daniel hated arrangement.
Accepted.
He left at midnight.
Before leaving, he stopped.
“Can I ask something?”
“Yes.”
“Were you coming Thursday to tell me?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
Pain filled his face.
“What did you imagine?”
I almost refused.
Then:
“You smiling.”
His eyes closed.
“I would've.”
“I know.”
“Emma.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry I ruined that moment.”
Tears burned.
“You did.”
He nodded.
No defense.
He left.
At 2:06 a.m., Maya woke me.
“Get dressed.”
I sat up.
“What?”
“Now.”
Something in voice.
I dressed.
Lily came from guest room.
Maya showed phone.
Security camera outside building.
Black SUV.
Two men.
One carrying gasoline container.
My heart stopped.
Fire?
Maya moved us down rear stairwell.
Smoke alarm screamed before second floor.
They had already entered lobby.
Flames climbed.
Lily grabbed my hand.
We ran.
Outside, Daniel's security intercepted.
Police arrived.
Fire department.
Daniel came personally.
I stood across street watching flames lick windows of building where I had lived five years.
Daniel approached.
Stopped several feet away.
“Can I touch you?”
That question.
Even now.
“Yes.”
He pulled me against chest.
I shook.
“My apartment.”
“I know.”
“Everything—”
“I know.”
Then Maya shouted:
“Mr. Mercer!”
Daniel turned.
A man ran from alley.
Gun.
Daniel pushed me behind parked car.
Shots cracked.
Security returned fire.
Man fell.
Police swarmed.
Lily screamed.
I covered stomach.
Daniel crouched over me.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“You?”
“No.”
Maya checked.
Safe.
The attacker survived.
Police found phone.
On it was one unsent message.
To Victoria Bell.
Fire failed. Mercer arrived.
Daniel stared.
Then detective said:
“Mr. Mercer, there's another problem.”
“What?”
“We found something inside vehicle.”
A folder.
My medical records.
Ultrasound appointment.
Blood type.
Home address.
Lily's address.
And one photograph of Daniel and me taken six months earlier.
Across photograph someone had written:
THE CHILD ENDS THE AGREEMENT.
I looked at Daniel.
“What agreement?”
His face went white.
For first time since I'd known him, Daniel Mercer looked genuinely afraid.
Not for himself.
For us.
May you like
And when he answered, I understood why.
“The agreement that kept my mother alive.”
Related Stories
