Chapter Seven: The Walls Close In

Before she could respond, her phone buzzed.

Jessica calling for the third time today. She’d been avoiding her. Not sure how to explain why she’d moved back to New York. Why she was living in luxury while claiming to be independent.

She let it go to voicemail again.

“Your friend is persistent.”

“She’s worried. I told her I was taking a job opportunity in New York, but she knows something’s wrong.”

“Then tell her the truth.”

“That the father of my child is being hunted by a Mexican cartel and they might use my son as leverage? That’ll definitely put her mind at ease.”

Giovanni turned from the window.

For a moment she saw past the control to something raw underneath. Fear, maybe. Or fury so carefully contained it looked like ice.

“I never wanted this for him. For you. It’s why I kept you away from my real life during our marriage. Why I shut you out instead of letting you in. Because the moment you became part of my world—truly part of it—you became a target.”

“You’re telling me this now?”

“I’m telling you this because you deserve to know what you’re walking into. Moving to Westchester isn’t just changing apartments. It’s accepting that your life is permanently entangled with mine. That Luca will grow up behind walls and security cameras. That normal isn’t an option anymore.”

She looked at their son. Happily chewing on a plastic ring. Oblivious to the danger circling them like sharks sensing blood in water.

She thought about Agent Reed’s card hidden in her wallet. About the choice she’d already made to play both sides of this war.

“When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’ll have everything arranged.”

That night, after Giovanni left, she called Jessica back.

She answered on the first ring.

“Finally. I was about to drive to New York and hunt you down myself.”

“I’m sorry. Things have been complicated.”

“Complicated how? Lauren, you disappeared from Boston, moved to New York, and you’re being weirdly vague about everything. What’s going on?”

She wanted to tell her. Wanted to unload every terrifying detail onto her best friend and let her help figure out what to do.

But the words stuck in her throat. Trapped by the knowledge that the more Jessica knew, the more danger she’d be in.

“Giovanni and I are trying to co-parent. It’s messy and strange, and I’m figuring it out as I go.”

“Are you safe?”

The question hit harder than it should have.

Was she safe? She was living in a gilded cage, surrounded by guards, preparing to move to a fortified estate because drug cartels wanted to hurt the father of her child.

Safe seemed like a concept from another lifetime.

“I’m fine. Luca’s fine. I promise.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Lauren Grant. Always have been.”

“I know. But right now, this is all I can give you.”

Jessica sighed. That particular sound of frustrated acceptance.

“Okay. But I’m here if you need me. Whatever’s happening, whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”

After they hung up, Lauren sat in the dark living room. Watching the city lights blur through tears she hadn’t realized were falling.

Tomorrow, she’d move into Giovanni’s world completely.

Tomorrow, she’d become what she’d fled from fifteen months ago.

But tomorrow, she’d also keep her son safe.

And that was all that mattered.

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