Chapter 8 - HARPER’S FATHER
Harper did not understand.
Not fully.
She understood enough to know every adult had suddenly become quiet.
“What’s a father?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Mia knelt despite her cracked ribs.
“A father is someone who helps make a little girl.”
Harper frowned.
“Like baking?”
Vincent turned away to hide an unexpected smile.
Mia almost laughed through her tears.
“Something like that.”
“Is Mr. Cross my father?”
Mia looked at Dominic.
Then back at her daughter.
“Yes.”
Harper’s face tightened.
“But he was mean to you.”
Mia pulled her close.
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t want him.”
Dominic looked away.
Those five words hurt more than any threat Nathan had ever made.
Mia stood slowly.
“I met Nathan five years ago.”
Dominic listened.
“He told me he was divorced.”
“He never married,” Dominic said.
“I learned that later.”
Mia continued.
“When I got pregnant, he told me to end it.”
Her voice hardened.
“I refused.”
Nathan offered money.
Threatened her.
Then disappeared.
Mia changed cities twice.
Eventually she took a housekeeping job at Dominic’s estate under her mother’s surname.
“You came into my house knowing Nathan was here?”
“I didn’t know.”
She looked ashamed.
“I had only met him under another name.”
“What name?”
“David Cross.”
Dominic shook his head.
Nathan had always enjoyed hiding in plain sight.
“He saw me my first week here.”
“What happened?”
“He cornered me in the laundry room.”
Mia looked toward Harper.
“He told me if I stayed quiet about Harper, he’d leave us alone.”
Dominic’s anger returned.
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t know what kind of man you were.”
“That was three years ago.”
“I learned.”
Her eyes softened briefly.
“But by then Nathan had made it clear what would happen if I talked.”
“What would happen?”
“He showed me pictures of Harper’s preschool.”
Dominic cursed under his breath.
Daniel approached.
“We located the chapel.”
Everyone turned.
“St. Matthew’s. Abandoned twenty years ago. About twelve miles north.”
Claire grabbed her coat.
“I’m coming.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“That’s my sister.”
“And Nathan expects you.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic stared at her.
She had betrayed him.
Manipulated him.
Planned to marry him under a false name.
But she was also the best bait they had.
“Fine.”
Mia stepped forward.
“I’m coming too.”
“No.”
“Nathan wants me.”
“That’s why you’re staying.”
“He has my daughter’s birth records. He knows she’s his.”
Dominic looked toward Harper.
“And I’m not bringing Harper into a war.”
Mia met his gaze.
“Neither am I.”
An hour later, Dominic’s convoy approached the abandoned chapel.
Fog covered the cemetery.
No lights.
No vehicles.
Too quiet.
Daniel raised his fist.
They spread out.
Dominic entered through the side.
The chapel smelled of mold and old incense.
A woman sat tied to a chair beneath the broken altar.
Claire gasped.
“Emily!”
She ran forward.
“Wait!”
Dominic saw the wire.
Pressure trigger.
Claire stopped inches from it.
Emily lifted her bruised face.
“Claire…”
Then she looked at Dominic.
“Run.”
A red light began blinking beneath the chair.
Ten seconds.
May you like
Nine.
Eight.
