LOGIN* Miranda *The world came back to me in fragments before I opened my eyes. First, the quiet. Not the suffocating silence I had grown used to, but the kind that meant danger was near, that something was about to happen. This silence was soft. It breathed. It wrapped around me like warm sheets, like something safe.Then the ache of my whole body. A deep, lingering soreness settled in my stomach, heavy and undeniable. My limbs felt weak, my chest rising slowly as if even breathing required effort. But beneath it all, there was something else.Something lighter. I remembered I gave birth, pushing my son oug of me. I felt my heart swell with gladness. My eyes fluttered open.The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, but I didn't panic. Not this time. My hand instinctively moved to my stomach, and I know. Flat. Not completely, not yet, but empty in a way it hadn't been for months.My heart skipped. The memories rushed back all at once pain, voices, the doctor, Lorenzo's hand gripping mine, his
* Lorenzo *"Congratulations on your healthy baby boy!"Armand cheerfully exclaimed as I went inside the library and poured myself a glass of whiskey in my eyes. I still couldn't believe it. My mind was still occupied with his tiny face."Thank you, Armand."I took a sip of the whiskey and relaxed. I haven't slept for twenty-four hours since Miranda started her labor. But strangely I don't feel exhausted at all."Any news on my brother?"It sounded casual but Armand groaned. Suddenly he remembers something unpleasant."Fortunately, Marcial was quiet boss, there is no email from him. But I am sure he already know that we have transferred into a different place. He could be trying to find us now. He seemed desperate for money the last time you spoke to him.""You're right. And how about my father?"Armand smiled and shook his head. "The old man has no idea where we are hiding. But he has paid people to look for you and Miranda. I have friends from the underground business, your picture
* Miranda *The days passed then turned into weeks, leading up to my due felt, strangely complete. Not calm. Not entirely peaceful. But settled in a way I hadn't allowed myself to feel before. Everything was ready.The small room Lorenzo had prepared had slowly transformed into something softer, something warmer than anything his world should have allowed. The crib stood near the window, sunlight brushing over it every morning like a quiet promise. The tiny clothes were folded neatly, some I had arranged myself despite the nurse insisting I should rest.I needed to do it. To touch every piece of what was waiting for our son and make it real. Because for so long, nothing in my life had been certain. But this. This was.My hand rested over my stomach as I stood there, feeling the slow, heavy shift of him inside me. Seven months had turned into eight. Eight into nine. Every movement now was stronger. Demanding to be born. Alive and kicking."You're impatient," I whispered softly, a faint
* Lorenzo *Miranda's words didn't leave me when I stepped out of the room. It occupied my mind throughout the day.Not as doubt or hesitation. Since Marcial made his demand, I wasn't thinking about how to pay him.I was thinking about why he needed the money.The door shut quietly behind me, sealing Miranda, back into the illusion of safety I had built for them. The moment the lock clicked, the air around me changed.Armand was already waiting at the end of the corridor.He didn't ask questions. "Office," I said. That was enough. Minutes later, we were underground. One of the secured rooms beneath the property, no windows, no signals getting out unless I allowed it. Armand placed the tablet in front of me, files already pulled up."Brazil operations," he said calmly. "I started digging the moment Marcial reached out."I didn't sit immediately. My gaze stayed on the screen, but my mind was still on Miranda's voice. It's odd that he would ask you for that much. She was right."Show me
* Miranda *I didn't ask him what the call was about when he answered his phone. The moment the phone rang, I felt it, the shift. The air changed around him. The warmth that had wrapped around us only seconds ago turned sharp, as something invisible had cut through it. Lorenzo didn't raise his voice. But I could tell based on his expression. The silence between his words said enough.And I knew him now. Not just the man who held me gently or spoke to our son like he already existed in his arms, but the man who carried danger in his shadow.When he turned back to me, he tried to bury it. I saw the effort in the way his expression softened, in the way his hand returned to my face like nothing had happened. But I had already seen it. And I had heard just enough.Fifty million. The number echoed in my head long after he spoke again, long after he promised me everything would be fine. My fingers tightened slightly against his shirt as he leaned into me, his forehead resting against mine li
* Lorenzo *I had faced men who begged for their lives, watched other clans collapse under my decisions, and stood in rooms where a single word from me decided who walked out breathing. But none stirred my feelings the most.A boy. Our baby is a boy. The doctor's voice still echoed in my head long after we left. A son. For a moment, standing there in that quiet house with Miranda in my arms, everything else, my father, the hunt, the constant calculation, fell away like it had never existed.My son. My hand moved almost unconsciously, settling over her stomach again, slower this time. More deliberate. As if I needed to confirm it was real."He's strong," I said quietly, my voice lower than usual. Not guarded or controlled. Just, certain. The shift beneath my palm came again, firmer this time. I felt it fully.And something inside me broke open. A sharp inhale left me before I could stop it. My jaw tightened, but it wasn't restraint this time. It was everything I wasn't used to feeling.
* Lorenzo *"Fuck," I hissed, bracing both hands against the tiled wall as the shock bit into my skin. Cold water coming from the shower slammed over my head like punishment. The cold curled uselessly around me, useless because nothing could take away the image of her, her mouth that parted beneath
* Miranda *I noticed the bag that looked small in Salvatore's hand, almost harmless. Cream-colored paper, the logo pressed in gold, something refined, and expensive. My fingers curled tighter around the fabric of my dress as he held it out to me like an offering.I smiled because that was what was
* Lorenzo *I paced the length of my room like a caged animal, the marble floor cold beneath my bare feet, the walls closing in no matter how wide the space was. Every step circled back to the same thought, my father and her. Husband and wife. Words that scraped my nerves raw.I dragged a hand thro
* Miranda *I felt it, and its eating me from the inside. It became something which is out of my control, like my own body moves without my permission.The pull like a magnet. The heat that is igniting from deep inside of me. The way the air between us thickened every time his eyes lingered too lon







