Unmatched Love

by Mary Nixon

  At the hospital, I decided not to see or

  tell the old man what had happened with Reinaldo. I would handle this myself. After some time, the doctor in charge allowed me to see him. He was wide awake and he gazed at me as I walked in.

  "Reinaldo," I called his name. "What the bloody hell were you thinking?"

  "I was hoping I would be dead by now. Why did you have to save me?"

  "You said you wanted to talk so I came over. Besides that, what BS were you feeding my girlfriend this morning?"

  I knew that I should not have been more understanding and compassionate but I was pissed. After Bianca and I had made love, she had agreed to stop the breaking up madness. Reinaldo had however showed up after I had gone for a morning run and convinced Bianca I was cheating with on her with Brianne.

  "You should have let me go Tony."

  "Your my brother above everything else." I assured him.

  "Jacob is your brother. He has taken my place leaving me out of the picture. You look up to him more than you do me. I just wished you treated me like you do him. "

  It was true. I would pick Jacob over Rei on any day. He took care of me when I had no one else. He took me in when I was kicked out. I looked up to the man more than anyone else.

  Should I be blamed for preferring Jacob over my own biological brother who never even showed up at the hospital after I was shot?

  Hardly. After being disowned by my own family, Jacob

  and his mom were all I had.

  "Jacob was there for me when you weren't. Don't drag him into this. This is about you running away from taking responsibility for your actions."

  "You don't know why I did this."

  "Because you don't want to go to jail?"

  "That is part of it and because father named you his heir. I read his will. Just you Tony, nobody else. If I go to jail, I won't even have a penny if I ever get out. My life is over."

  "It's not. I am not interested in Bellingerre Consolidate or father's estate. You can keep it all. All I want is some peace of mind."

  I placed my hand on his own.

  "I'm leaving for good this time. I wanted to let you know that I'm not competing for any of Wayne's property. You are his sole heir. About the money you embezzled, I will make it disappear. No one will trace it back to you. That way, De Latour has no evidence."

  "Thank you Tony. But how will you do it?"

  "I know a guy. Get well soon. Goodbye."

  I left before Reinaldo could get sentimental. He was weak. I loved him no doubt but my loyalty is with Jacob. Reinaldo and Jacob hate each other and if I had to choose between them, I would choose Jacob.

  As I was on my way out, my phone buzzed.

  Bruce: I have the information you needed. You were right about the dossier on Bianca. It was thin. I found

  out more.

  Me: What did you find out?

  Bruce: We should meet up. You'll need to sit down for what I'm about to tell you. Your place?

  Me: That's cool.

  Bianca was acting strange.

  Besides that, I had to find out more about her. She was closed up not letting me in. Since Bruce ran a security company, I had asked him to look into her.

  In the meantime, I had set my plan to trap Bianca in motion. It was only a matter of days before she would be pregnant with my child. Maybe then she would realize there was no other way but my way.

  I got to my penthouse a little later and found Bruce digging into a piece of chocolate cake.

  "Your chef is awesome." He said as he finished up the cake.

  "I know. Can't you see how much weight I've put on?" I asked him.

  "You don't look as chubby as I expected you'd be after being pampered all day and all night." He teased. "I like the stubble, it suits you."

  Sitting down on the bar stool facing the kitchen, I was also presented with a cake.

  "Talk to me."

  "Her real name is Beatrice Brooke. She's originally from Canada. She grew up as an orphan."

  "Anything more?" I asked fearing the look Bruce gave me only meant there was much

  more.

  "Yes. She has a juvy record."

  "My Bianca has a juvy record?"

  "Yes but as Beatrice Brooke not Bea Bianca Buchanan."

  "What did she do?"

  "Petty theft, breaking and entering, drug possession and she was busted once for assault."

  I raised my eyebrow.

  "What?"

  "She knows the inside of a prison cell better than a mall. She was locked in for two years. She went in when she was fourteen and once she was out, she got a new name and started over here in London."

  I was speechless.

  Bianca has always seemed feisty but an ex con? No. It didn't suit her. What pained me was that she was only fourteen when she went to juvy.

  If Erma Bale had not taken me in when she did, I probably would have descended down a bad path. I didn't blame Bianca. She had no one to guide her.

  "Here, more information is inside. I have to go." Bruce announced as he received a cake to go from my chef.

  "By the way, about the parking lot incident, I should have been there." He told me.

  Jacob had mentioned that Bruce had been beating himself up over it.

  "I'm glad you weren't. It would have been a bloody mess."

  "Not really. I'm a sniper, don't forget that. I need to go."

  "Later buddy."

  "Sure."

  I spent the afternoon reading through the dossier page by page word by word until I literally had Bianca's past memorized.

  I started to understand her. She was a runner. She feared commitment. She was used to everything around her being so temporary that permanence unnerved her. Her being alone for so long also explained his insistence for personal space.

  After the lies Rei fed her she had left for Milan. I had hustled information put of her manager and had found out that she was doing a lingerie shoot.

  My sexy girl in lingerie for the whole world to see? It pissed me off.

  Checking my phone, she hadn't contacted me. Irritation surged through my veins.

  What if I flew to Milan and took her forcefully? I had bought a mansion in Monaco. I wanted to get away from my old man and all his lies and trickery. I didn't want Rei to view me as competition. I didn't want to be the reason he fell apart.

  I had bought the mansion for Bianca and my soon to be unborn child if I was indeed a straight shooter.

  I intended to see my old man before leaving. I didn't want him to think I was running.

  Later that evening when I didn't find him at the office, I went to the manor.

  I was walking along the hallway to his bedroom after the housekeeper directed me there looking at the portraits on the wall.

  All portraits of Bellingerre men and women. The last portrait was my father's. It said a lot about how he felt about his children. None of us graced the wall of fame.

  Rei was probably a disappointment for being so weak and indecisive.

  I was a disappointment for constantly rebelling against the old man.

  Cheryl, my sister was probably a disappointment for turning down a marriage proposal that would have made my father one of

  the richest men alive.

  I still remembered that summer afternoon when Jacob had been busted in between my sister's legs. Cheryl had always been my father's favorite child. The fact that he thought her a virgin while she was actually sleeping around with Jacob, destroyed him.

  He had demanded that Jacob marries her and Erma had been greatly opposed to the union.

  When Jacob proposed a month later, Wayne Bellingerre watched his dreams to sink his claws into the Berlotelli fortune fade as his daughter turned Jacob down.

  Honestly, I had been relieved.

  A union between Jacob and Cheryl would have been a blood bath. The only thing they agreed on was sex, sex and note sex. Outside the bedroom they fought like two alphas.

  I heard the sou
nd of high heeled shoes meeting the wood floor. The only other person within the Bellingerre household who wore heels was Cheryl and she had been gone for the last few years.

  Raising my eyes, I was shocked Ti see Erma Bale coming out of my father's bedroom. She was equally surprised to see me but knowing Erma, she recovered quickly.

  "Lyons," she literally sang out

  my name and kissed my cheek.

  "What are you doing here?" I asked.

  My answer lay in the misbuttoned blouse she had on. She followed my eyes and slowly buttoned up. I looked away.

  "Don't be shy." She teased.

  I had seen Erma in a tantalizing bikini. She had the body of a twenty year old despite her being slightly over double that age.

  "Are you sleeping with my father?" I asked bluntly.

  Her smile faded.

  "Yes." She admitted it.

  Hurt sunk in deep inside me.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Why do you have sex with Bianca?" She countered my question.

  While raising Jacob and I, this is how Erma always managed us. She always asked a question in response to a question we had raised but today, I had every intention to pry.

  "To demonstrate my love for her and to satisfy my hunger. You?".

  "To satisfy my urges." She spoke openly. "Don't worry, I'm not marrying him."

  "But you're sleeping with him. That's my problem."

  "You don't approve of me James Lyons?"

  "No, I dong approve him for you. He's the enemy. Besides that, aren't you still married to Jacob's dad?"

  A wave of sadness swept through her beautiful face.

  "I haven't seen Nathan Bale for the last twenty three years I'm sure he moved on just like I have. Let me make this clear, my sex life is none of your business. Ti amo figlio."

  She kissed my cheek and left.

  The next set of eyes were saw were a silver set.

  "Stop it." I warned him.

  "Stop what?" He asked.

  "Sleeping with Jacob's mom. It's not right."

  He laughed sarcastically.

  "Who the hell do you think you are to tell me who to bed?"

  "Someone who cares about her. I know you still want in on the Berlotelli fortune and since you couldn't get in through Jacob you're now using his mother?"

  "Don't you want us to be a big happy family?" He asked.

  "You spread despair and pain everywhere you go. The Berlotellis don't need you in their lives."

  "I know one thing, Jacob would be a better son. Do you know he manages to multi billion companies?"

  That was like Wayne Bellingerre to stoop so low and compare me to Jacob. He knew it pissed me off but I honestly had outgrown it.

  "I do. He's good at what he does. I'm not here to meddle in your private affairs but if you don't stop bedding Erma I will tell your dream son about you having your hand up her dress. I don't think he'll approve of a piece of scum like you."

  My father and I had no respect for each other.

  "Do as you please, I don't care."

  He didn't even know where Rei was. Cheryl had been gone for years now and he didn't bother. I was about to leave as well and I'm sure he wouldn't even bat an eye.

  "You'll die alone old man. All your children are leaving you."

  "You're still here."

  "I'm leaving for Monaco tomorrow. I'll be stating there permanently. All the best Wayne."

  A flash of disappointment was evident on his face.

  "Take care Lyons." He said in a serious and solemn tone.

  =================

  Chapter thirteen: Baby on the way

  Bianca's POV

  I had a long night. I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was Tony and our unborn child. I was not ready to become a mother let alone give birth to a child.

  I was only twenty one. I had a lot to do with my life before I even thought of parenting.

  I closed my eyes and rolled off the bed. I still wondered how it was possible. Tony had been withdrawing...

  Blasted hell! Except for the night before I left for Milan. He hadn't withdrawn. We had been so consumed by passion I barely paid attention and neither did he.

  Did he do it on purpose? He did mention he wanted a baby with me.

  I was pregnant.

  I was pregnant.

  I was pregnant.

  I couldn't believe it.

  How could I when it was the last thing I ever wanted?

  I stared at the city below and as far as my eyes could see, it was snowing heavily. I had grown up in Canada. It was constantly cold there.

  I never missed it, not even once. My past was something Ben kept holding over my head. I had taken out a million dollars as a loan and handed it to him. He promised to leave me alone but I knew it would

  only be a matter of time before he comes knocking again.

  In the meantime I had bigger problems. Arra had given me a phone number for a doctor who would make sure my pregnancy never saw the end of my first trimester.

  Why bring a child I couldn't raise into the world? Giving the child up for adoption was an option but wouldn't he or she wonder who their real parents are? Why would I subject the child to that? Why not end it all before it begins?

  I wondered how Tony would feel about it but again, what he doesn't know don't hurt him.

  I didn't want a baby and I didn't want a relationship with Tony. I was okay on my own and I didn't want any commitments to hold me back from my full potential.

  After tossing and turning for most of the night, morning came. I quickly got dressed and made an appointment with the doctor who would separate me from the pregnancy.

  The drive there was not

  long.

  I parked my car a little further and pulled my hoodie down my head so that I couldn't be recognized.

  The clinic was a dingy place with not much going on. It was under the guise of a store.

  When I walked in, there was a woman by a counter filing her nails. I kept my head low and my hoodie on.

  "Doctor Francis," I began. "I have an appointment."

  "Have a seat, he's with another patient."

  "Thank you."

  I took a seat but sat on the edge. I was uneasy. What I was about to do was cruelty at its best but I didn't want a baby. I never ever wanted one.

  I tried to block out the thought of what I was about to do but it kept weighing me down to the point I felt I couldn't breath.

  I started fanning myself as I imagined the baby growing inside me begging me not to do it. I imagined how I had been abandoned and I felt immense guilt eating me inside out.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw the woman at the reception watching me. Maybe she was quietly accusing me of murder.

  "If you're not sure, don't do it." She told me.

  "Bianca?" A woman's voice called.

  She was a nurse.

  My eyes darted between her and the receptionist who was probably wondering if was okay.

  "You're next." The nurse insisted.

  Grabbing my purse I stood up. I gazed at the door and then at the nurse.

  Two options.

  Walk out still pregnant or walk out without the baby.

  Without hesitation after thinking of how my career would end, I walked towards

  the nurse. The receptionist gave me a sad look before she went back to filing her nails.

  The inside was bright. White fluorescent lighting lit up the place.

  "Read these and sign for your consent."

  I barely read it and signed it.

  "Let's just get this over with." I spoke.

  She handed me a hospital gown. I changed into it and walked into the room where an old man was.

  He barely smiled as I got on the surgical table.

  "Spread your legs."

  I nodded and did so.

  As he examined me, I stared at all the sharp pointy things clumsy lying all over the place. My heart started pounding.

 
What the hell was I doing?

  James Lyons's POV

  I had a private investigator following Bianca is nice she left for Milan. It had been a month now and she was not talking to me.

  She was currently in another city and I had flown in to talk to her. As I cleared my luggage, my phone started ringing.

  "Hello?"

  "Sir it's me. I've followed her to a strange looking store."

  "What store?"

  "I have asked around and the residents here say it's an abortion clinic."

  My throat ran dry.

  "She went in half an hour ago, should I get her out sir?"

  I was still dumb. If she had gone there it meant she was pregnant.

  She was going to kill my child!

  Dropping my bag, I ran out like the hounds of hell were after

  me. I hailed a cab and handed the cab driver a lot of money to drive quickly.

  We hit some traffic and frustration surged through me.

  "How far is it from here?" I asked after the cab had not moved for five minutes.

  "Ten blocks away. If you walk really fast you'll be there in ten minutes."

  Without wasting a second later, I got out and ran the entire way. I had to get to her before she killed my baby. I bumped into people, almost got run over twice but the only thing I wanted to do was stop Bianca for making the biggest mistake of her life.

  I was almost close to passing out when I reached the address and stormed into the clinic.

  "Where is she?" I demanded. "A blonde with green eyes, where is she? Her name is Bianca."

  The woman caught my rapid speech and pointed at a red door.

  I pushed the door open and saw six more rooms. After budging into each room, I finally found Bianca on a surgery table, her legs spread and a doctor holding a syringe.

  "Get away from her!" I yelled as soon as I saw her.

  She looked terrified.

  I yanked her off the table and stared at her teary eyes. They were void and cold like nothing I had ever seen before. Shaking her repeatedly, I was determined to find out.

  "Did you do it?" I asked. "Did you go through with it?"

  =================

  Chapter fourteen: Prisoner

  "Did you do it?" I asked her. "Did you go through with it?"

  She started crying and managed to shake her head.

  Feeling relieved, I pulled her into my arms. She cried softly and I soothed her by rubbing circles around her back.