"My mother might be alive, Luis. My mother might be alive."

"I know, Sheridan." Luis squeezed her and tucked his chin into the crook of her shoulder. "I really want that for you."

Sheridan sobbed in his arms. "All of these years, I could have been with her . . ."

"I wish I could make this better for you—" Luis said, "—erase all of the horrible things that your father has done to you. The way he treats you is atrocious enough without keeping your mother from you."

"How could he have done this, Luis?" Sheridan trembled in Luis's arms. "How could he have done this to her? How could he have stolen Eve and Julian's baby from them? How does he live with himself?"

"I don't know, Sheridan." Luis rubbed her back. "I don't know how your father does any of the things he does."

"He doesn't have a heart, Luis. He ripped an innocent child from his mother." Sheridan's shaking intensified. "He let Julian and me believe that our mother was dead. He let me grow up without her."

Luis frowned as he looked up at Julian and Eve. "There has to be something we can do, Sheridan. There has to be a way we can stop him."

"We've got to find my mother, Luis," Sheridan cried. "And Eve and Julian's son."

Luis pulled her in closer and kissed her shoulder. "We will, Sheridan. We will."


"Our son might be alive, Julian!" Eve cried. "Our son might be alive!"

"I know." Julian tightened his embrace around her and cupped the back of her head. "My mother might be, too."

"Do you really think she can help us find our son?"

"Why else would my father have imprisoned her?" Julian ran his hand down his face. "Anytime he detects a threat to his empire, he squashes it like a bug."

"Just like our son," Eve sobbed. "Our innocent baby boy."

Julian closed his eyes and inhaled. "I never should have abandoned you."

"What if he's been out there all this time by himself, Julian?" Eve choked. "What if he's been hurt?"

Julian clutched her tighter. "We have to believe that he's okay, Eve—that someone took care of him."

"We can't just assume that, Julian!" Eve jerked out of his arms. "Your father certainly threw him out like trash. Who's to say that our son hasn't been subjected to racism for his entire life?"

Julian hung his head and swallowed hard. "I'm only now realizing just how atrocious I was to you and our son when I didn't stand up for you."

"You can't take it back, Julian." Eve blinked back tears. "You can't take any of it back."

"No, I can't." Julian fixed his eyes on hers. "But I swear to you, Eve—if it's the last thing I do—I won't rest until I get our son back."