Chapter 5 The Edge Of Everything

Lucien's POV

The moment Isla walked out of my office, I saw red.

Not rage.

Something colder. Sharper. The kind of fury that doesn't scream or throw fists-but plans.

It had taken me years to find her. Years of false leads, encrypted files, and dead ends. She'd been a ghost. No digital footprint, no social media. Like she never existed. I thought maybe I imagined her-that Tuscany, those nights, the way she said my name in the dark-that it was all some dream I chased into madness.

Then I saw the photo.

It was buried in a client database I was scanning for security breaches. A new hire. Isla Monroe. Paralegal. Lower Manhattan. And beside her?

A child.

A four-year-old boy with dark curls, sharp cheekbones, and the same storm-grey eyes that stared back at me in the mirror every morning.

I didn't sleep that night. I barely breathed.

The next morning, I called my investigator and said four words I never thought I'd say.

"Find my son. Now."

And now here I was.

Standing on the edge of a decision that would change my life-and his-forever.

Leo Monroe.

He didn't even have my name.

I should've been furious. Should've demanded custody. Should've called every lawyer in my contact list.

But all I could think about was that boy's face. How small his shoulders looked in that daycare photo. How he clutched a toy dinosaur in one hand and looked dead into the camera like he was daring the world to come closer.

He had no idea who I was.

He didn't know his father had spent four years chasing shadows.

That I'd burned through relationships, dollars, and sleepless nights trying to fill the ache that only made sense the moment I saw him.

He was mine.

And Isla had kept him from me.

I didn't go to work the next morning. I didn't need to. The company could run itself for a day. I owned half of New York's skyline and had controlling shares in seven global tech firms. But none of it mattered.

Today, I had one goal.

Meet my son.

I waited across the street from the daycare, sunglasses on, hands clenched into fists in the pockets of my coat. It felt wrong. Creepy. Like I was stalking them.

But I couldn't show up without warning. Not yet. Not until I saw them together.

At 8:02 a.m., Isla appeared.

She held his hand tightly, laughing as he told her something animated. I couldn't hear them from this far, but I didn't need to. Her eyes crinkled the same way they used to in Tuscany. That soft, unguarded joy I thought I'd never see again.

Then I looked at him-Leo-and everything tilted.

He was wearing a red hoodie and light-up sneakers. His curls bounced with every step. He looked up at Isla like she was the entire world.

And I wasn't in it.

It was a punch to the gut I hadn't expected.

When they disappeared into the building, I leaned back against a lamppost and closed my eyes. For a long time, I didn't move. Didn't think. Didn't breathe.

Then I called her.

She picked up on the second ring, her voice sharp.

"You said we weren't done," she said.

"We're not," I replied. "I want to see him."

Her silence was a blade.

"Lucien," she finally said, voice tight, "you don't just show up at a daycare. You don't know what he likes. What he's scared of. You don't even know if he-"

"He's mine," I cut in. "And I will not spend another day watching my son from across a damn street."

"You think you can just... show up and demand to be in his life?"

"Yes."

"Why? Because you're a billionaire? Because you're used to getting what you want?"

"No," I said coldly. "Because I lost my father when I was seven. Because no one showed up for me. And I swore if I ever had a child, I'd be the kind of man who did."

The silence that followed felt different this time. Heavier.

"I need time," she whispered.

I softened. Just a little.

"Take the day. Let's meet tonight. Just us. We'll talk."

She sighed. "Where?"

"My penthouse. Top floor. Wolfe Tower."

"Of course it's a damn tower," she muttered.

I cracked a smile. "Seven o'clock?"

"Fine," she said, then paused. "Don't watch us again. It's not fair to him."

I nodded, though she couldn't see it. "I won't."

When the call ended, I exhaled and stared up at the skyline I owned.

I had all the power in the world. But for the first time in my life, it felt like I was standing on the edge of something I couldn't buy or control.

A chance.

To be a father.

And maybe-just maybe-to have her back.

At 6:55 p.m., I stood in my penthouse, trying to remember how to breathe.

I'd faced corporate takeovers, Senate inquiries, and three assassination attempts from rivals overseas.

But none of it compared to this.

I wasn't prepared to see her again like this.

Not with four years of silence and a son between us.

At exactly seven, the elevator dinged.

I opened the door myself.

She stood there in jeans, a coat, and that same fire in her eyes I remembered from Tuscany. But there was more now. Strength. Guilt. Grit.

She walked in like the place didn't impress her. That irritated me more than it should've.

"You look the same," I said.

"You don't," she replied.

I offered her a drink. She refused.

Straight to business.

"I'm not going to fight you, Lucien," she said, standing in front of the window overlooking the city. "If you want to meet him, you can. But it has to be slow. It has to be on his terms."

"That's fine."

She turned. "No lawyers. No court orders. No press."

"I don't want a media circus either."

"I mean it," she said, fierce now. "You so much as leak his name and-"

"Isla." I stepped closer. "I would never hurt him. Or you."

She looked at me for a long time. Like she was trying to decide if that was still true.

Then she reached into her purse and handed me something.

A photograph.

Leo, covered in paint, grinning with missing baby teeth.

"I thought you should have this."

My throat closed.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

She moved toward the elevator. "I'll tell him about you. If you still want this."

I looked at her, that photograph burning into my palm.

"I've wanted this since the day I realized he existed."

She nodded once. "I'll call you."

And then she was gone.

The door clicked shut, and I stood there with the city at my feet... and my future finally within reach.