Heart of Ice

by Jalissa Pastorius

  “Why?”

  “I want the children to be surrounded by people who loved them.”

  “Have you all set a wedding date?”

  “Not yet. There was some stipulations Matt had to fulfill.”

  “Like what? That’s if you don’t mind me asking.”

  Christina wasn’t sure whether or not she should tell the woman the truth, but she needed to know the truth.

  “He’s seeing a psychiatrist twice a week now. I hate to say it but he need some mental therapy. You seriously did a number on him.” she said looking at the woman. She watched as Liz looked away from her in shame. Her husband patted her on the hand.

  “Perhaps we should go as a family Elizabeth. I want this all to be fix before the children get here. You know what they say; children can sense things that adults cannot.”

  “Okay.” Liz conceded. It was then that Liz whipped out an album.

  “What’s that?” Christina asked grinning.

  “Baby pictures,” Liz said with a smirking.

  Tom rolled his eyes at the women giggles and antics. It was good to see Elizabeth smile again. She’d been so bitter. It was partially his fault. He was always working and never at home. His marriage was on the rocks and he hadn’t realized all the abuse Matt was experiencing until it was too late. His son had ran off at the age of fifteen and never returned. He’d never stepped a foot inside their home since. Tom didn’t know what to do. He remained passive for way too long. It was why he retired from the company so early and signed everything over to Matt. It was his way of apologizing to his son. He was proud when his son took the company and made it into a billion dollar industry.

  ***

  It was this scene that Matt walked into. He froze in the doorway. His mother and father were smiling and giggling with Christina. He walked cautiously into the house. It was then his mother eyes locked on his. Matt waited for the cold glare, and sneering that usually followed. He was completely bewildered at the tears that filled her eyes as she rushed toward him crying into his neck. He stood there stunned. This was the moment that he had always wanted. He wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed her back, looking up as his father who smiled and nodded at him and Christina who was wiping her eyes. He really did treasure this woman. She gave him his family back.

  “It’s okay, mom.”

  “It’s not okay. Baby I’m so sorry,” she wept.

  “Shh,” he said using his thumbs to wipe the corner of her eyes.

  “You’re going to smear your make up. What were you guys looking at?” Matt sat down and he gasped as he saw the photo album. There were pictures of him as he grew up. When did she? He never noticed any cameras.

  “I am your mother.” She said fixing her makeup and taking a seat.

  “I love you so much,” Matt whispered before placing a chaste kiss on Christina’s lips.

  “I love you too.”

  ***

  Christina waddled through the building. She wondered if there was a big event or something going on. There were a lot of reporters outside today. She checked in with security.

  “Ms. Moore, what are you doing here? Does Mr. Dallas know you’re here?”

  Christina frowned, why would he be asking her such a question?

  “I’m actually here to see Charles. How do you know about my relationship with Matt?” she huffed out.

  “You haven’t seen the paper this morning?”

  “No.” She snatched the paper from him. It made the front page. At least a clear shot of her face wasn’t in the paper.

  “You mind if I keep this?”

  “No, not at all. I’ll phone Mr. Dallas and let him know you’re here.”

  “Tell him, that I’m meeting with Charlie in the finance department.”

  Christina read the paper as she walked through the building. How did this information get out? There wasn’t many people who knew about her relationship with Matt. They weren’t exactly trying to hide it, but they weren’t advertising it either.

  She barged into his office.

  “Charlie!”

  “There’s my girl,” he said smiling at her.

  “They’re not working you too hard Charlie? You know I can work from home.”

  “Lucky for me, I know a genius, who completed my work for an entire year. What’s that you got.”

  “The paper, someone leaked information about Matt and I relationship. I’m starting to think it was the realtor who sold us that house.”

  “What? Give me the paper.” Christina looked at Charlie in surprise, she never seen a look like that on his face before. It was scarier than the one that Matt had when he was angry.

  “Charlie?”

  “I’m sorry dear. Did I scare you?”

  “No,” she lied. They both knew it was lie but they ignored it.

  “Charlie,”

  “Hmm,” he watched as she became nervous and a blushed swept her face. Now he was curious. What did she have in mind that could illicit such a response?

  “I…I was wondering if, I could introduce you to Matt’s parents as my own.” She mumbled. If it wasn’t for his acute training through all his years as a mercenary, he wouldn’t have heard her.

  “Of course dear, Martha will be ecstatic.” He said pulling her into a hug. He kissed her belly.

  “The twins are due in a moment,” she said smiling.

  “Their papa and nana wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Thanks Charlie…umm dad,” she said trying to the word out. It was then that Charles knew he would obliterate anyone who opposed her.

  “I like the sound of that.” He said.

  “You be good, Martha and I would be by for dinner.” He said wishing her well as she left out the office. His phone rang.

  “Talk.”

  “I found someone that match your description. A Carlos Santos is a new employee at Tech incorporated.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “You know the company that is owned by Billionaire Matt Dallas. He was a new hire approximately five months ago. He’s a great employee, keeps to himself.”

  “No!” Charles said hanging up the phone. Lexington was here in the building. He got on the phone and called Collum, and Matt.

  ***

  Christina was feeling exhausted. She really shouldn’t be moving so much in this stage of the pregnancy. She was just so happy. The new house was ready. It only took two weeks. The nursery was ready for the twins. She and Matt had the names picked out. She was going to surprise everyone with them.

  “Ma’am do you need any assistance?”

  “No, I’m fine.” She said smiling at the security guard. She became extremely nervous when he approached her. Grabbing her arm roughly, he pulled her to his side.

  “Why don’t you let me help you? If you scream I wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you.” He threaten. Christina was scared, she thought about screaming anyway.

  “I’ll kill the babies.” He said sensing her thoughts.

  Her blood went cold, as she looked up into the face of her potential cold blood killer. She knew happiness was only a fleeting moment.

  Chapter 28

  Matt had just finished up a meeting when his personal cell phone rang.

  “Charles,”

  “The hare is in the trap,” Charles said without greeting him. Matt didn’t know whether or not he heard the code right. Collum showed up.

  “Let’s move. I’ve given the order to secure the building,” Charles said. Only the security team was aware of the pandemonium that was unfolding. Yet, they did their job by remaining calm while developing a strategic plan to stop the assailant. Charles rushed through the building. He hadn’t felt this type of fear since the accident. His body shook with repressed rage and fear. His eyes scanned each and every room that they entered. It was Matt’s strangled gasped that had Charlie petrified.

  “He has her,” Matt whispered. Charlie placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder.

  “Calm down, we plann
ed for this. Collum would never let you down.”

  For the first time in history, there was someone that made Charles blood run cold; that person stood in front of him devoid of all emotion.

  “I’ll kill you all, if anything happens to her.” Matt said.

  “Is that a threat boy?”

  “No, it’s a promise.”

  ***

  Christina was beyond terrified. She couldn’t possibly explain the sheer terror that raced through her veins. The twins were dancing around in her belly, her feet were swollen and she was feeling nauseated. Maybe the nauseated feeling had something to do with the sharp blade that was pressed on her side. Christina knew that if they made it outside that building and into the car, that she would never see Matt again. It would destroy him. Perspiration formed on her brow. She couldn’t understand how all these people didn’t noticed the wild look or fear in her eyes as she walked side by side with the security guard. She wondered how much of an idiot this guy really was. Did he see the morning paper? They couldn’t just walk out of the place.

  “You’ve done so well for yourself little bird. I’m so excited about the baby. We can breed you and hope they have your genes,” he whispered kissing her on her temple. Christina swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.

  “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”

  “I’m sure you’ve figured it out. You’ve cost me millions little bird.”

  “You can’t have my babies,” she said getting hysterical.

  “Babies? So there’s two. Nice. We can always breed them to produce more genius or even sell them to the highest bidder,” he said with glee in his eyes. Her heart raced in her chest. There was no way she was going to make it. He couldn’t have her babies. She couldn’t condemn them to that kind of life. Should she fight today and wait another day to fight. What could she do? What should she do? Where was Matt? Where was Charlie? He promised her. In a momentary lapse of sanity she screamed.

  “You promise!” she screamed crying.

  “You little bitch!” he roared.

  “No, no, no,” Christina sobbed. It was already too late she felt the blood running down her side. He held onto her tightly. Dragging her out of the building. The media was outside. There were cameras and microphones shoved into her face as she made her way out the building. Her steps were becoming sluggish and there was now a pain in her lower back that brought her to her knees. She gripped her side where he stabbed her. There were so many hands grabbing at her. The assailant still never lost his hold on her. He shoved her into the car. Christina took a moment to look back before her fate was sealed. All she saw was the look of terror on Matt’s face as she was shoved into the vehicle.

  Once they were in the vehicle he gave the order for the driver to move. The car began to move, she could no longer see Matt. In fact with a startling realization she noticed the spots that danced in front of her eyes. Was she dying?

  “Hey, I know you hear me talking to you!” her assailant shouted at her. Christina didn’t understand. Hadn’t he realize he was the one that stabbed her?

  “You stupid woman!” he roared. He leant over to shake her. It was then he noticed how limp her body was.

  “Fuck, the stupid woman is going to die on us. Maybe we should just cut the babies out and make a run for it.”

  “Dude, do you even realize how messy that shit is. You need to think through your plans,” Javier their driver said.

  “I’m the King here,” Lexington said angrily. Javier looked at the man through the rearview mirror. He knew this was a terrible plan, but Richard insisted on sending him on this baby sitting mission. Javier honestly didn’t give a fuck about Mr. Lexington. His olive skin, sin black hair and black eyes glared at the man in the back seat. Javier didn’t know all the details, but he suspected this mission was somewhat of a test. He didn’t know who was being tested here. He thought it was Mr. Lexington.

  Javier noticed that they’d been driving for a while and there were no vehicles tailing them. It made him nervous. They were in a very suburbia part of New York almost to the country.

  “Damn!”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “We’re in trouble,” Javier could only keep his eyes off the road for so long. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Richard.

  Abort mission.

  Breaking the cellphone in half he threw it out the window.

  “Well, Mr. Lexington, it was nice working with you.” He said before he leaped from the car. Christina’s assailant watched as his so called crony jumped from the car. At least they were on road. Once the car came to a complete stop he got out. Looking at the girl, he knew it was a lost cause. If she died the babies were probably dead too. He still needed to get rid of the body. He opened the door and dragged her out. It was too bad. She was such a pretty girl. He told them he wasn’t good with pets. They somehow always ended up dead. He leaped into the vehicle and took off.

  ***

  Christina couldn’t believe it actually worked. She had been fading in and out of the consciousness. It was strange, she thought it would be the pain from the stabbing causing her excruciating pain; however it was another in her lower back that forced her to cry out. Luckily the men were arguing back and forth when she did cry out otherwise she probably wouldn’t have made it out the car. She never been so happy to be discarded like trash. She wondered how much she blood she had lost. The pain was back and sharper than before; it was then that Christina noticed that her dress was completely soaked. Her water had already broken—that meant the babies were coming. Christina wanted to break down and cry. Her hands shook there wasn’t much time; she didn’t have anything other than the dress she was wearing. Christina never imagine that she would be birthing her twins in the middle of nowhere on a country road. She debated about whether or not she should move away from the road. Her body was bruised on its side. It was a large black patch covering her skin with the wound at his center. The pain shot through her again, she screamed. Christina began to move further away from the road. Matt couldn’t lose them all in one day. He wouldn’t survive it.

  Taking off her dress spread it on the grassy area. She then removed her drawers and laid down. She never felt so vulnerable in her life. The only piece of clothing she had on was her bra. Christina couldn’t help the hot tears that spilled down her face. She felt another contraction. She no longer had any choice. She must push.

  Chapter 29

  They were wasting time. They needed to get to Christina. Matt heart raced in his chest as he tried to remain cold with a blank stare. He could hear his blood roaring in his ears, the fear eating at his stomach as he thought about Christina. He couldn’t lose her if he…he wouldn’t go there. He heard her cry out.

  Their little grouped moved. He couldn’t fathom the scene in front of him. He finally got a chance to see the face of the man he was going to kill. He felt Charlie freeze beside him. It was then that Matt set his sights on Christina, she held her side.

  “She’s hurt,” he muttered. His body began to tremble; it was the repressed rage building. He snapped.

  “Grab him!” Charles yelled.

  “He’s going to expose us all. Then we’ll all be nuked. Collum you handle this,” Charles said never taking his eyes off the man. He realized that the man was no ordinary thug even if he was a kingpin. Most people would never walk out into a crowd full of people with a hostage, but he was smart enough to use the guise of a security guard to hide his true intentions. Charlie quickly hurried after the people.

  “Matt? Matt?” Collum called his name, but there was no recognition in his eyes. Collum sighed, this just got perilous.

  “Follow me. We’ll get her back.” They met Charles in the back of the building in an unmark vehicle. Climbing into the vehicle Matt moved with robotic movements. Both Charles and Collum exchanged worried looks before giving the signal to leave to Raven. Everyone was anxious as they raced to catch up with the kidnappers. Charles couldn’t help but t
hink that this was a much more elaborate plan. He wanted to know how a person of Lexington’s caliber could hide under their noses this entire time. Collum was the head of security and good at his job. There was someone with more influence working behind the scenes. Charles didn’t know who they were, but he was going to find them and eliminate them. Charles rolled the back windows down and had Collum pass him a pair of binoculars. He leaned out of the window. They were on a country road. Charles watched as Christina was dumped out of the vehicle. He wanted to rush to her, but he needed to get a hold of the person behind the wheel.

  “Matt out. Christina needs you. Go!” he said, once the vehicle stopped. Matt looked at Charles. Some sanity started to leak back into his eyes.

  “Christina?” he said in a monotone voice. Charles nodded slowly at him. This was why he decided to cut their losses. Matt was becoming a monster. He was able to flick a switch and kill. Charles still remembered catching the young boy torturing a man to death. He fought the bile that rose in his throat.

  They watched Matt climb out of the vehicle, and they pursued the assailant. Matt followed the blood trail. He spotted a broken cellphone along the path and pocketed it. When he heard the scream he ran towards her. She was in labor.

  He looked down into her pain filled eyes.

  “Baby it’s going to be okay. I’m here now.”

  “Matt, I’m wounded. He stabbed me. The babies they’re coming. I don’t know how long I can hold on.” She said in short breaths.