Biological Dilemma

EMERALD

I was physically shaking. Never in a million years would I have expected this.

Taken and rescued in the span of twelve hours and by the least likely of people I would have guessed. I couldn’t even write this shit; it was that far out there.

Did I trust my captor? Once upon a time, I did. Clearly, that was the wrong choice.

Did I trust my would-be rescuer? Absolutely not, but I knew he would get me the hell out of here, and that was one step closer to Tate.

“Once this is over, we’re moving to an island, far, far away from people because I’ve had it with all of their shit,” I whispered to my belly under the thick duvet on the bed.

I had to be careful. My host was watching. It would be very bad if he found out I was pregnant.

Something told me that he wasn’t a big fan of Tate King between the ranting and the cursing the ground he walked on when he came to greet me after I woke up. Caution was the way to go.

I just had to wait. Wait for the last person I ever thought I would be waiting for to come get me out of this hell. I just needed to get back home to Tate.

I had no idea what time it was. I assumed it was the middle of the night since dinner had been delivered in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich, and it wouldn’t be long now before the unlikely savior showed up.

I was still trying to get my head around it.

“Get up,” came the sharp whisper, and I stood up quickly and waited.

A few tinks, a whispered curse, some muttering, and the door opened almost silently.

“You should have eaten. It wasn’t drugged or anything,” he whispered, motioning me to follow him.

“Like I was going to take that chance.” I hurried down the concrete hall after him.

We turned a corner, then went up a short flight of stairs. I was a little shocked to find a warehouse floor, but it was one that was obviously not in use.

Men were sleeping in chairs and leaning against walls, and I had to wonder how that happened since the leader of this party was acting like he was certain they wouldn’t wake up easily.

“Do I want to know?” I asked, rushing across the mostly empty floor.

“They’ll wake up soon and never know they went to sleep in the first place,” he answered. “Chemistry is kind of my thing, Emma.”

“How the fuck would I know that?” I snapped.

“How did you know who I was?” he countered.

“My parents hired an investigator when I was nine. They had photos,” I said. “That and I look almost just like you.”

Bennett Lowell, my biological father, opened the van door and motioned me to get in. The bratty, angry unwanted child wanted to act out, but I had other priorities and forced it down as I got in and buckled up.

“You have a bit of my features, but you look like your mother,” he said when he got behind the steering wheel and turned the key.

“You mean before she blitzed out on meth and died?” I snapped. “What are you even doing here? And how are you involved in this mess?”

“I’d think my involvement was a good thing.” He shook his head.

“You expect gratitude? Fine. Thanks for getting me out of there, now answers,” I demanded.

“I’m undercover, okay?” He sighed heavily. “I work for a highly classified sector of public protection. ~Not~ a cop, but kind of a cop.”

“Yippee for you.” I crossed my arms.

“I didn’t know that psycho was going after you until it was already happening. I would have tried to warn you,” he said.

“Shall we put that on the public market and see how much it’s worth?”

“Look, I was sixteen, Emerald. I wasn’t ready to be a parent. I tried, but it wasn’t enough, and I knew that,” he said, taking us onto a highway.

“I convinced Rachael that giving you up was for the best, and she never forgave me for it.”

“It was for the best, so I have to give you that,” I admitted.

“You had a good life, Emma. You had a stable childhood and a family that loved you. As much as Rachael wanted the perfect family, it wouldn’t have happened.

“I didn’t love her. She didn’t love me. I don’t even think she knew how to love you,” he said, a slight bite to his words. “There was no way we could have raised a baby, together or otherwise.”

“Considering how things turned out, I’d say that was obvious.” I laughed bitterly.

“I know it’s worth piss to you, but I did love being a father. For the few weeks I had the privilege, it was the most fulfilled I have ever felt in my life,” he said after a quiet moment.

“I didn’t ~want~ to give you up. If there had been a way to keep you that made sense at the time, I would have done it.

“But I was still a child, Emerald, playing at being a man. As much as it hurt and as much as it still stings, I made the right choice ~for you~.”

“Well, we can agree on that, at least.” I crossed my arms. “Where are you taking me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He smirked at me, and I finally paid attention to what I was seeing as we drove.

“I’m not stepping one fucking toe in that place again.” I scowled.

“Fine. The police station, then. That’ll be hell to explain, but if that’s what you want.” He nodded and put on his blinker, taking me away from the penthouse. “He loves you. A lot.”

“I know.” I smiled gently. “I kind of love him, too.”

“You have a great life, Emma, filled with people that would do anything for you,” he said, stopping in front of the police station after several quiet minutes of driving.

“You’re happy and cared for and that’s all I ever wanted for you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do that for you.”

“You did.” I sighed. “I guess I haven’t let it go as much as I thought I had. You did give me this, Bennett.

“Under different circumstances, maybe it would have happened the way you wanted, but giving me up for adoption was how I got to where I am. Well, minus the psycho kidnapping and all, but still.”

“Yeah, not what I had in mind for a reunion, by the way.” He grimaced and opened the door to the van. “God, I have a shitstorm of paperwork to do now.”

“Could be worse.” I shrugged, sliding out of the passenger side. “Pretty sure Tate would wring your neck if he got his hands on you.”

“He’d do more than that.” Bennett laughed. “He’d kill me first, then ask questions. And that lawyer friend of his? Ruthless man in a court. He’d get him off with nothing but a firm finger shaking.”

“Easily.” I nodded. “God, this is… How am I going to tell them?”

“You can start by using words,” he suggested. “I find that’s usually the best place to begin.”

“Fucking smart ass,” I muttered.

“Oh, by the way, you don’t have to worry. The effects of the drug they used to take you are short-lived and your baby will be just fine,” he said, and I froze and stared at him.

“What? You think I didn’t notice that you were about to puke when you saw the sandwich? Rachael couldn’t stand cheese either when she was pregnant with you.”

“And you just…came up with that from an aversion to cheese?” I asked as he held open the door to the precinct.

“When I saw you in the news with that King kid, I did a bit of digging,” he admitted.

“If you weren’t biologically related to me, that would be creepy as fuck,” I said. “It’s still creepy, though.”

“I’ve checked in on you from time to time, Emerald. I’m sorry about Mark. And June’s diagnosis,” he said.

“Unbelievable. We’re going to have another discussion, old man, as soon as I get made right again.” I pointed at him with narrowed eyes before turning to the clerk at the desk.

“My name is Emerald Wells, and I was kidnapped earlier today. Can I use that phone?”

TATE

I couldn’t be in our bedroom. I couldn’t lay in our bed, knowing she wasn’t going to be joining me.

I couldn’t sit in the kitchen where she would make our meals or bake something amazing with that self-satisfied smile on her face.

I didn’t want to sit on the couch where she refused to sit because it was like sitting on a brick, as she put it. Instead, she’d lie on me. As if she ever needed an excuse.

I needed to convince myself that everything was fine but sitting around in the place she hated so much because there was no life or warmth in it made me feel useless and anxious and so fucking terrified.

That’s how I ended up sitting at the foot of the bed, waking Vince up so I wouldn’t be left alone with my thoughts that were quickly driving me to insanity.

“That didn’t take long,” he mumbled as he sat up and flicked on the lamp by the bed.

“I can’t be here, but I can’t leave.” I put my head in my hands. “I’m losing my mind, Vince.”

“It’s only been what? Twelve, thirteen hours?”

“Fifteen,” I corrected.

“Knowing where she was and the exact time she was taken helped. The cameras in the lobby helped. Yuri’s nearly photographic memory helped,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“You probably haven’t even thought about it, but you being a King is helping. The entire police force in the city is looking for her, man.

“It’s a big city, and it’s going to take some time, especially if they do it right, which they will because of you being who you are.”

“I was born a King. That doesn’t make me who I am, Vince,” I snapped and groaned, running my hands over my face, thinking Emerald would make some kind of remark about me not shaving.

“Leo is right. Mom had an affair. Dad had an accident involving booze and a golf club. He’s sterile. Has been since just before Leo was born. Devon and I aren’t Kings.”

“That’s…well, that fucking blows,” he said.

“Henry Logan.” I shook my head. “He’s the leak. The only one that knew, aside from Mom and Dad. I don’t know if he knows who my real father is, but it doesn’t matter. Logan has the proof, and he’s given it to Leo.”

“You can refuse to take the DNA test,” Vince offered.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t fucking want any of this shit anymore. I want Emerald back. I want my life back.” I choked as the dam started to break.

I don’t even remember the last time I cried. Shortly after arriving at boarding school, maybe. There may have been a few tears for Gandy, but not like this.

This was like I was looking into an endless abyss of cold and empty despair. One step was all it would take to enter oblivion. I just had to give up and let go, embracing the fall.

There was so much pulling me forward, and I seriously wanted to, but there was something holding me back. Something that I didn’t want to let go of but holding on to it was tearing me apart.

Vince’s phone ringing is what took me away from the edge. Being a lawyer, he couldn’t just ignore it, even at three in the morning.

I took the opportunity to get a grip on myself again as his eyes bulged out of his head as he stared at me.

“Hold on,” he said and held his phone out to me. “You’re going to want to take this.”

I gave him a look, and he rolled his eyes and shoved it at me, giving me no choice but to take it while he found his shoes and grabbed his keys.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, Treeman. Can you bring me a Twinkie? I’m starving.”