Page 35 of Fierce Hearts

I was pregnant. This was insane.

There was a life growing inside me. A tiny collection of cells that would become a person. Half me, half Grayson.

Grayson. What would he say? Would he even want to know? We'd agreed to no strings attached, and this was the mother of all strings.

No. He didn't need to know. I couldn't keep it, not with this mess that was my life now. Birthing a child from him if I got married to Juan? Yeah, I'd be in the ground as soon as I started to show.

I touched my stomach, Rose's terrified eyes flashing in my mind as my stomach knotted.

Why was the thought of aborting distressing me so much? I'd never thought I'd have kids. Never allowed myself to have the hope I could after I left my family.

But having a little version of me, someone who was true family, who I'd do my best to protect from the world…

I closed my eyes, sucking in a breath. Of course this was happening.

I made it through the rest of my shift in a daze, going through the motions while my mind swam. Options. I needed to consider my options.

Abortion was the most logical choice. Clean, simple, no one would ever know. I could deal with Ernesto's marriage demands separately, find some way out of that mess without the addition of a pregnancy.

But every time I thought it, something inside me recoiled. I wasn't against abortion, but for me, right now... The image of my mother floated into my mind. Her gentle hands, her soft voice, the way she'd tried to shield me from the worst of my father's world.

She'd loved me fiercely, even knowing what family I was born into. Even though I was not the child she would have wanted, not to my father. She'd not been loved by him, just a trophy, but she'd loved me anyway.

I'd been her light as she'd always said, even after my father had started to mold me, to make me dish out his punishments.

Could this child be my light in a suddenly bleak world? Would they even survive if I kept them?

By the time my shift ended, I was exhausted, my mind and emotions raw. I walked to my car in a fog, fumbling with my keys as I reached the driver's side.

Once inside, I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, sucking in deep, shuddering breaths. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not like this. Why right now?

I'd never planned on having children, never had any hope of it. Not with the blood that ran through my veins, the violence I'd seen, the darkness I'd been part of. What kind of mother could I possibly be? What kind of life could I offer a child?

And Grayson—God, Grayson. The man I'd spent one night with and couldn't stop thinking about, especially since the marriage demand. He had been swimming in my mind, the what ifs floating in the chaos.

A sharp knock on my window made me jump so violently I hit my knee on the steering wheel. When I turned to look, my blood froze in my veins.

Uncle Ernesto stood outside my car, his familiar face creased in a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He'd gone fully bald since I'd last seen him, and his salt and pepper stubble gave away his years. But he still looked in shape, still looked like he could serve out punishment.

Still looked like he could hurt me.

He gestured for me to roll down the window.

With mechanical movements, I pressed the button, lowering the glass just enough to hear him.

"Sofia, cara mia," he said, his accent more pronounced for some reason right now. "I thought we should talk in person. You need to understand how important this is."

I swallowed hard, compartmentalizing like I'd learned to do as a teenager. Lock away the fear, the anger, the shock of the pregnancy test. Focus only on the threat in front of me.

"Get out of the car," he said, not unkindly, but my stomach still churned. "Let me look at my niece properly after all these years."

I stepped out, keeping my movements fluid and controlled despite the turmoil inside. Ernesto immediately embraced me, kissing each of my cheeks in the traditional greeting.

"It is good to see you again," he said, holding me at arm's length to study my face. "You look so much like your mother."

"Thanks." I nodded. Being compared to my mother was usually a compliment, but from him, it felt like a threat.

"You've built a nice life here," he continued, gesturing vaguely at the hospital behind us. "Away from the family business. I respect that, Sofia. But now we need you."

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