Page 27 of Bratva King's Secret Twins

His teacher, Mr. Henderson, a man with pale skin and dark brown eyes, approaches me with a worried look. “Ms. Sharp, is everything okay?”

“Yes, yes,” I frantically nod, walking towards Gio’s backpack and putting away any materials I find that are his. I pause, my mind racing ahead of me, and I look at him cautiously. “Um…by any chance, did a man named Mason come here and try to pick up Gio?”

Mr. Henderson tilts his head to the side, furrowing his brows. “No, not today, at least.”

“Okay, good,” I nod. I was right. He doesn’t know about Gio, only Mia. “Can you put him on the do-not-pick-up list?”

“Certainly,” Mr. Henderson agrees, following me to Gio’s cubby. I grab his jacket and smile at Gio, handing it to him. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

I put on my most convincing smile as I reach my hand out to Gio. “Come on, Gio,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “We have to go. Now.”

He grabs my hand, and I quickly lead him out of the building. “Mommy?” he questions, almost falling over his feet as he runs to keep up with me.

I bend down and hoist him onto my hip as I rip my phone out of my pocket.

“Gio, Mommy needs you to listen very carefully.” I open the Uber app and put Kelsey’s, my best friend since birth, as the first stop and then my address as the second.

“We are going to get in this Uber, and you are going to Auntie Kelsey’s and stay with her tonight, okay?”

“Mommy, everything is not okay.”

“Mommy will never lie to you,” I say carefully. “But I will make sure everything is okay. Trust and believe that I will always protect you and your sister. Okay?”

He nods. “I trust you, Mommy.”

The Uber pulls up to us, and I slide both of us inside. “Twenty extra dollars if you step on it.”

The driver nods, and I don’t even look at him as I call Kelsey. Her voice rings joyfully through the phone, “Hey, girly pop!”

“I need you to take Gio for the night and maybe even longer,” I say in one breath. I look out the window as the car speeds down the highway.

Her voice gets serious as she speaks, “Gwen, what’s wrong?”

I whisper harshly into the phone, hoping Gio isn’t listening too closely, “Mason has Mia.”

“Shit. Do you know where?” she questions, and a ball of salt builds in the back of my throat.

“No, I don’t,” I say. “We’ll be there in two minutes. Be downstairs.”

I hang up, trying to keep myself from crying or vomiting. Gio reaches over to my lap and places his small hand in mine. I look at his big, bright blue eyes, and the image of Mia flashes into my mind. I keep telling myself Mason won’t hurt a child, but the more I say it, the less I believe it. What if I never see her again? My chest tightens, and for a second, I think of Nik. A wave of nausea makes my skin tingle. What if he never meets his daughter? He’ll never forgive me.

The car pulls up to Kelsey’s apartment complex on the outskirts of DC, where she moved after I moved to be closer to me and not make me go back to Mason’s territory for no other reason than payment. I look over at Gio. “Be good.”

He nods, and Kelsey opens up the door with a fake smile on her face.

“Hey, buddy,” she exclaims, but worry infects her eyes when they meet mine, and I look away.

“Keep Gio safe,” I whisper, looking straight ahead.

“With my life,” she nods, closing the car door.

I look at the driver in the rearview mirror, my eyes like steel. “Drive.”

As the car accelerates, my thoughts spiral into a whirlwind of panic and fear now that I know Gio will be safe. Mason has Mia. How did this happen? What does he want with her?

I close my eyes, trying to steady myself but seeing only Nik’s face. What if when I tell him about our daughter, I have to tell him that our little girl is gone? I swallow hard, forcing back the tears.

The car weaves through traffic, the city lights blurring into streaks of color as we speed toward my house. I rip out my wallet, throwing the twenty-dollar bill onto the passenger seat.

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