Mia’s POV
The armored transport rumbled through the mountain tunnels, the new portable pod secured between us. Our daughter — tiny, fragile, and biologically mine — slept under the soft glow of medical monitors. Theo and Elias flanked her, three innocent lives caught in a storm of bloodlines and betrayal. Damien sat rigid beside me, one arm locked around my shoulders, the other resting possessively on the pods. His body heat pressed into me in the confined space, a constant reminder of the man who refused to let go.
The forced proximity of the transport left no room for distance. His fingers traced slow circles on my arm, grounding and claiming all at once. But tension crackled between us like live wire. He had seen me slip away to Sophia. He knew I’d acted alone.
“You should have told
