MasukNathan POVSofia called at nine-seventeen AM.She didn't greet me. "Daddy, Grandpa says you and Mommy are on a boat. Can we come? Catherine says boats are safer than cars but I think she just wants to come and she's saying it to make it sound logical."I looked at Emily across the deck. She had her coffee and was watching me with the particular amusement she reserved for Sofia's phone calls."Hello Catherine," I said."Hello, Dad. Can we come?""We have five days left in Monaco. The boat has one bedroom.""We can sleep on the floor.""No Sofia.""Put Grandpa on."Rustling. Then Marcus. "Nathan. Before you say anything. I didn't suggest it. This was entirely their initiative.""How long have they been planning it?""Since Emily posted a photograph of the harbour on her private account two days ago.I looked at Emily. "Your daughter tracked our marina location from a photograph background using Google earth ."Emily put her coffee down. "Which one?""Young Catherine.""Of course." She
Emily POVWe ate dinner on the deck as the sun went down.Nathan had gone ashore mid-afternoon and come back with things from a store, bread that was still warm, cheese I couldn't name but couldn't stop eating, tomatoes that tasted like actual tomatoes, a bottle of something local that the man at the stall had handed him with the firm conviction of someone who brooked no argument about wine.No restaurant. No reservation. No dress code.Just the two of us on the deck of a boat with food between us and Monaco turning amber around the edges."This is the best meal I've had in months," I said."It cost eleven euros.""Twenty if you count the wine.""The wine was fourteen euros.""Nathan. You spent twenty euros plus on the best meal I've had in months.""The location does most of the work." He tore off a piece of bread and handed it across. "Emily, when the acquisition completes. what changes for you? Practically.""Nothing immediately. The structure I built stays. James keeps the enginee
Nathan POVMarcus called at 10:03 AM on day three.Emily was in the water. She had told me at nine-forty that she was swimming and disappeared below deck. She came back wearing a black swimsuit, went off the stern ladder into Monaco harbour. I had watched from the deck with coffee and considerable appreciation.She was still in the water when my phone rang."Marcus.""Nathan. Is she nearby?""In the harbour."A pause. "She's swimming in Monaco harbour.""Yes.""Of course she is." I could hear the smile. "I'll call back.""She'll be out in ten minutes. Tell me what you need to tell me and I'll relay it." I looked at the water where Emily was doing a lazy backstroke twenty metres from the boat. "Marcus, whatever you're planning with the acquisition, she's going to say yes. You know that.""I know. But I want her to say it, not assume it." A pause. "Nathan, I need to tell you something before I speak with her. Something about the acquisition structure.""Tell me.""I'm not buying Lotus-L
Emily POVDay two on the water felt different from day one.Day one had been a relief, a specific exhale of people who had been running and finally stopped. Day two was more quiet and peaceful like something that required no name.We had toast and coffee on the deck at eight. Nathan was reading while I watched the harbour. A man on the boat two slips down argued cheerfully with someone on his phone in French. A child on the dock threw bread to pigeons with the generosity of someone for whom this was the most important task of the morning."You're smiling," Nathan said without looking up from his book."The pigeons."He glanced over. "The child.""Both."He went back to his book. I went back to watching.This was the thing I hadn't known I was missing, a quiet morning with no agenda. No briefing at nine, no strategic meeting at ten, no crisis landing in Blake's inbox that would become an issue to me within the next hour. Just bread, pigeons and Nathan reading three feet away."What are
Nathan POVI woke up before Emily.I lay still and didn't move.Outside the porthole the harbour was pale and silver. Early. The city hadn't started yet. Just water and light and the occasional sound of another boat shiftingMy phone was on the shelf. Blake's message from last night is still unread in full.I reached for it slowly, trying not to shift the mattress.Emily's arm tightened across my chest without her waking up.I put the phone back.It could wait.She stirred twenty minutes later. Slowly and Ggradually. The way she woke when there was no alarm pulling her out."You're awake," she said into the pillow."Have been.""How long?""A while."She lifted her head. "You should have woken me," she said."You were sleeping.""So?""So I didn't want to."She looked at me for a moment. Then she put her head back down on my chest. "What time is it?""Six forty.""Before ten.""Well before ten.""Good." She pulled the blanket up. "Tell me something.""What kind of something?""Anyth
Emily POVThe boat was called Sable.Nathan hadn't told me that when he booked it. I found out standing on the dock at six in the evening with the Monaco harbour gold around us and the name painted in clean white letters across the stern."Sable," I said."After your first championship helmet design." He was watching my face. "You probably don't remember. The visor strip was sable and gold. I have a photograph of it somewhere."I looked at him. "You researched my helmet design.""Sixteen years ago. When I was finding reasons to think about you that weren't embarrassing." He said it completely straight-faced. "The helmet was a legitimate research topic.""Nathan Zhou.""Emily Zhou." He picked up my bag. "Come aboard."The cabin below was wooden with cream linen and portholes that framed the harbour like paintings. It was narrow but had a complete kitchen, the size of a good idea, a table for two, a bed that took up most of the cabin and looked directly through a low window at the water
Nathan POV Petra monitored their progress via body cameras Blake and Emily wore. "They're movingtoward the medical wing. Two guards in the hallway. They'll need to-”My word cutted short after seeing on screen, Blake efficiently disabled both guards with techniques from hismilitary training. Not
Nathan POVEmily collapsed in the street of Prague when Richard's video ended, her body shaking withrage and grief before collapsing. I held her while she broke into tears after she was revived. "They survived 20 weeks premature," she sobbed. "They fought infections, lung collapses,everything bi
Emily's POVSeventy-two hours to prove the twins were mine. Despite facing bioweapons andassassination attempts, this felt more impossible. How do you prove genetic parentage of fetuses someone else is carrying without invasive testing?At 3 AM, I paced our living room while Nathan, Blake, and Ma
Blake POVThe note found at Emily's door kept me awake for days. While the Lothan family had beenfighting for the twins, someone had been executing a larger operation. I needed to find outwhat.I started by reviewing security footage from the past six months-every location connectedto the Lothan







