Chapter 13 - THE TRUTH ABOUT MY BLOOD
I stopped reacting normally to revelations around that point.
There were simply too many.
Victor Vale.
My biological father.
The man who hunted Evelyn.
The man who killed Caroline.
The man whose empire Adrian inherited.
I sat beside Marcus’s hospital bed while he slept after surgery.
Evelyn stood by the window.
“You told me Marcus was my father.”
“I believed he was.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“So neither of you knew?”
“No.”
I looked at Adrian.
He stood near the door.
Victor had been his adoptive father.
My biological father.
No blood relation.
Still complicated enough to require a chart.
I rubbed my face.
“What happened?”
Evelyn sat.
“I was sixteen. Victor controlled every part of my life.”
Her voice changed.
I understood without details.
I did not ask for them.
“Marcus and I were together later,” she continued. “When I became pregnant, we assumed…”
I nodded.
“And Victor knew?”
“Apparently.”
I felt sick.
“That’s why he wanted me hidden.”
“Yes.”
“Caroline saved me.”
“Yes.”
My eyes filled.
A librarian who wasn’t my mother.
A woman who chose me anyway.
That mattered more than DNA.
Adrian spoke quietly.
“Blood doesn’t decide who raised you.”
I looked at him.
He knew that better than anyone.
Evelyn took my hand.
“I don’t expect you to call me Mom.”
“Good.”
She smiled sadly.
“I don’t expect forgiveness either.”
“That’s also good.”
“But I would like time.”
I looked at her.
“Maybe.”
It was the best I could offer.
She nodded.
Later, Adrian found me on the hospital balcony.
Chicago stretched below us.
Cold.
Bright.
Alive.
“You always appear when I’m trying to think.”
“I own the hospital.”
“That’s obnoxious.”
“I know.”
I smiled.
He stood beside me.
Not touching.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“We release the evidence.”
“And destroy your empire?”
“The criminal part.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
That answer surprised me.
He continued.
“But I’m more afraid of becoming Victor.”
My chest tightened.
“You’re not him.”
“You don’t know everything I’ve done.”
“No.”
“Some of it is bad.”
“I assumed.”
He looked at me.
“You still came out here.”
“I like balconies.”
He almost smiled.
Then his expression softened.
“Lila.”
“Yes?”
“May I kiss you?”
My heartbeat exploded.
Three years.
No woman.
No desire.
No connection.
And he was asking.
Not taking.
Asking.
“Yes.”
The kiss was slow.
Careful.
Nothing like the dangerous man everyone feared.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine.
“I felt that.”
I laughed softly.
“Good.”
He smiled.
A real smile.
Then Roman burst through the balcony door.
“Boss.”
Adrian sighed.
“You have terrible timing.”
“Keene took Damian.”
The warmth disappeared.
“What?”
“He intercepted the ambulance transfer.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
Adrian’s phone buzzed.
A video.
Damian tied to a chair.
Keene behind him.
May you like
And one message:
BRING LILA TO ME OR YOUR BROTHER DIES.
