Chapter 14 - THE SECOND CHILD
Victoria survived surgery.
Barely.
Arthur vanished.
Again.
Roman sat beside Lily in a federal safe house while Sophia rocked Gabriel across the room.
Lily looked at Roman suspiciously.
“So you’re my dad?”
Roman swallowed.
“Yes.”
“That’s weird.”
He almost laughed.
“Yes.”
“My mom is still my mom.”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re not taking me away from her.”
“No.”
“You promise?”
Roman looked her straight in the eyes.
“I promise.”
Lily studied him.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
That small word nearly broke him.
Across the room, Sophia smiled.
Vincent sat handcuffed at the table.
He had turned himself in.
Roman still hadn’t decided whether he wanted to hug him or kill him.
Samuel entered with hospital records.
“We confirmed it.”
Roman stood.
“Twins?”
“Yes. Two girls.”
Sophia whispered, “Where is the second one?”
Samuel’s face tightened.
“We don’t know.”
Roman stared.
Arthur had one final piece.
One last child.
Vincent spoke quietly.
“I might know.”
Roman turned.
Vincent looked at Sophia before speaking.
“Arthur once told me he kept one insurance policy no one knew about.”
“Where?”
“He said, ‘Close enough to watch Roman grow up.’”
Roman frowned.
Lily spoke from the couch.
“My mom says grown-ups hide obvious things because they think kids are stupid.”
Everyone looked at her.
Lily shrugged.
“What?”
Roman slowly understood.
“Close enough to watch me grow up.”
He thought of the old Callaway estate.
The staff.
Families who had worked there for decades.
Then one name hit him.
Grace Bennett.
His childhood nanny.
Her granddaughter was eight.
Roman had seen the child twice.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
His stomach dropped.
“Emma.”
Samuel was already calling agents.
They reached Grace Bennett’s home in twenty minutes.
Front door open.
Lights on.
Grace unconscious in the kitchen.
No Emma.
On the table sat a phone.
Roman pressed play.
Arthur appeared on screen with an eight-year-old girl sitting beside him.
Emma.
She was crying.
Arthur smiled.
“One daughter was sentimental.”
He stroked Emma’s hair.
“The second is leverage.”
Roman’s face hardened.
Arthur continued.
“Bring Vincent to the old Callaway estate.”
Vincent looked up.
Arthur smiled into the camera.
“And this time, Roman, bring no army.”
The screen went black.
Roman looked at his brother.
Vincent already knew.
“He doesn’t want a trade.”
“No,” Roman said.
“He wants both of us in the same room.”
Sophia’s voice was quiet.
“Why?”
Roman looked toward Gabriel.
Then Lily.
May you like
Then the dark screen.
“Because he wants to finish what he started eleven years ago.”
