Marcus absorbed that in silence as they crossed the final stretch toward the estate entrance. The Mercedes waited, black and gleaming under the morning sun, a guard already holding the rear door open. Kade slid inside. Marcus followed. The door shut with a solid, expensive click, and the car rolled forward as the security vehicle behind them fell into escort formation.
For several moments only the muted hum of the engine filled the cabin, the city beginning to slide past the tinted windows in bands of steel and morning glare.
Then Marcus asked the question that mattered. "What if she chooses to take the child away?"
Kade looked out the window, profile sharp against the passing skyline. "It's all right," he said at last. "She can take her."
Marcus stared. The ease of it sounded almost impossible—no hesitation, no visible attachment, no possessive resistance. As though the child at the center of everything could be surrendered just like that.
