The three little girls stopped in front of me like they had been sent by fate, and one of them pointed at the tattoo on my arm. “Hello, sir,” she said softly. “Our mother has a tattoo exactly like yours.” For one frozen second, Central Park disappeared, the coffee in my hand went cold, and the scarred compass on my skin burned like a warning. Because that broken compass belonged to a night I had spent eight years trying to bury.

Marcus’s office was a chaotic labyrinth of old filing cabinets, monitors displaying live camera feeds, and stacks of legal documents. When I walked in, still wearing the damp, ruined tuxedo, he handed me a glass of whiskey.

"You need to see this," Marcus said, pointing to a large white board he had set up. In the center was a photo of Arthur Montgomery, surrounded by red strings connecting him to various banks, shell companies, and political figures.

"Arthur Montgomery is powerful, yes," Marcus said, taking a drag of his cigar. "But his empire is built on a very fragile foundation. For the past five years, he’s been trying to secure a multi-billion-dollar state contract for the redevelopment of the Hudson Yards. To get it, he needs absolute clean press. No scandals. No lawsuits. No family secrets."

"And a secret custody battle with a decorated National Guard veteran and single father would ruin that," I said, taking a sip of the burning liquor.

"Exactly," Marcus smiled. "But we have an even bigger card to play. Do you know who the nanny was? The one you saw in the park?"

"She looked terrified," I recalled. "She said 'Ms. Montgomery is going to be furious.'"

"Her name is Maria De Souza," Marcus said, sliding a document over. "She’s been with the Montgomery family for seven years. She’s the one who practically raised those triplets. And three weeks ago, her nephew was arrested on a minor drug charge in Queens. Arthur Montgomery refused to help her with the legal fees, despite her years of service. She’s angry, Leo. And she’s scared of what Arthur is doing to those girls."

"What is he doing to them?"

"He’s preparing to send them to a boarding school in Switzerland next month," Marcus said grimly. "To keep them away from Camila. He wants to isolate Camila so he can force her into a political marriage with the son of the state governor. The girls are his leverage over her."