by Mary Nixon
"She led that life style for three years until she suddenly went under the radar."
"Bloody hell!"
"That's not all sir. Your sister has a son."
"A son?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I compile a dossier with more information."
He pulled out a folder and handed it to me. I opened Pandora's box and there it was. Cheryl had been to rehab for being an alcoholic and using heroine. She had been a stripper and a prostitute. She had been arrested for shop lifting and had a trail of DUIs trailing her.
Could this day get any worse?
I thanked him and asked him another matter I had asked him to look into.
"What about Cole? What do we know about his whereabout?"
"Nothing Sir. It's
like he vanished off the face of the earth."
"I see. Keep searching. No one disappears into thin air."
"I agree Sir, I'll keep you posted."
"Cheerio!" I bid him goodbye and he left.
All I could think about after that was Cheryl. She had left home when she was only seventeen, determined to make it on her own without my father's billions. Her life had turned put to be a train wreck. While I had been living in luxury she had been scraping for anything she could get.
"Tony?" I raised my head and saw Jacob walking my way. "What are you doing here?"
He asked and sat down. He ordered a drink and I decided to share Pandora's box with him.
"I want to show you something."
"Okay." He answered in a cool voice.
He seemed relaxed.
I placed the dossier in front of him and he went through it slowly, his frown growing bigger as he read through.
I was curious about Cheryl's son. Could he be the father? The child's age was almost the same as the last time he was with my sister.
After shock registered on his face, I knew we were in for a long night. I called a waiter and he brought us strong Russian Vodka. That is what we both needed.
"Are you the father?" I asked him.
He looked unsure for a long moment.
"I always wore protection. The boy can't be mine." He denied it.
"Look man, the kid is the same age as your last encounter with Cheryl. I still remember that ski trip in the Swiss Alps. You were with her more than once. Are you bloody sure the lad is not your son?"
Jacob scoffed and laughed.
"This is a sick joke right?" He asked angrily. "I'm the one who slept with her and I would know if I didn't use protection. Get off my case! The boy is not mine. The only son I'm having is with Keira."
He was raging mad holding on to his glass like he would crush it. In the depth of his eyes I saw anger, frustration in case I was right. How would he explain himself to Keira.
"Shit happens mate. What if the bloody condom broke?"
Jacob downed the whole glass of vodka that was left and just gazed at me long and hard. I downed my vodka as well and poured myself another.
"I will be more than willing to submit myself to a paternity test but I'm sure that David is not my son." He spoke with conviction before he stood up and walked away.
I spent the next hour taking one glass of vodka after another in the hopes of ending my frustration. I was starting to get drunk but I needed to forget what I had heard even if it was for a few hours.
***
I was carried by my bodyguard back to my hotel room after getting wasted. I could barely see and then there was Bianca.
She was mad but to hell with her.
I had bigger things to worry about.
She went on and on about how I was being irresponsible but I didn't care. I needed to sleep and forget about today.
Cheryl was the only thought I took to bed with me.
=================
Chapter twenty nine: She's gone
I woke up to Bianca's constant complaints. I don't know what she was mumbling about. All i could hear were my ears buzzing. I opened my eyes and adjusted to the morning light.
I had a massive migraine and I slowly sat up.
"You are so irresponsible!" She yelled.
My ears buzzed and I held up my hand.
"Bianca it's too early to be yelling. Please shut up!" I told her.
"You drunk yourself half to death yesterday and you got carried back. You couldn't even walk."
"Shut up please."
The more she yelled, the more my head throbbed.
She hurled a pillow at me and I caught it before it hit me.
"Enough Bianca!" I chided.
"We are having a baby Tony, you need to shape up!"
"Hold up!" I said pointing a finger at her. "You are having a baby. Last time I checked, I didn't consent to being your daughter's father."
She looked sad but I didn't care. I went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. After a quick hot shower, I got dressed for my meeting with Pierre and Jacob.
I picked my phone and wallet and when I got outside the bathroom, Bianca was sited on the bed holding something in her hand. I ignored my curiosity and reached for the door only to find it locked.
"Bianca, open the bloody door." I spoke calmly.
"You are not leaving Tony."
"You can't keep me here. I have a meeting with your baby's father. Please open the door Bianca."
"No."
My blood was boiling. I had an epic migraine and the last thing I needed was Bianca making my morning difficult.
"I'm going to count to three. If you don't give me the key,
I will hurt you Bianca. One... "
She started talking all over again endlessly. There is nothing more I wanted than for her to shut that bloody hole on her face.
"Two..."
"Three..." I turned in her direction and grabbed her arm.
I tried to force her hand open but she wouldn't give in. She hurled the key towards the window but her aim was off. I don't know what came over me. I grabbed her by the hair and shoved her onto the bed. I pinned her down with my hand around her neck.
I held her tightly enough to scare her... not to kill her.
"Bianca, I am done playing games with you. I'm going to go and meet Pierre and he and I will resolve this mess about the baby. In the mean time, use your pretty little head to decide between me and this baby because you can't have us both."
I released her and just as I was walking away, to reach out for the key, she jumped on my back and at this point I didn't care that she was pregnant. I moved backwards to the bed and fell back breaking free from her.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" I demanded. "Stop picking a fight with me Bea! I swear if you keep this up, I will hurt you."
"Then hurt me Tony. If I can't have you then I don't want this baby!"
I could see how torn up she was. I didn't want to make her choose but I was not willing to father a baby that wasn't mine.
"Choose the baby Bianca. She's innocent. She should come first." I told her a little more calmly.
"But I love you." She was almost at the brink of tears.
"I know. Bianca, you screwed up and I will not pay for it for the rest of my life. I can't raise Pierre's
daughter without me not remembering you slept with him. I'm done with you."
"You call this loving me?" She suddenly blurted out.
I paused and glanced at my watch. I was half an hour late to the meeting. I had to sort this with her before I left.
"I love you... I always will but you can't keep hurting me like this. I have a broken heart and now you are just killing me. Some kinds of love are just not worth it. You Bianca are not worth the pain I'm going through."
I left her alone and as I walked out I could hear her screaming and breaking things. I was done with her. Two years ago it had hurt so much when she purposefully endangered the twins. Now it was too much.
Now I had just to keep sane through my meeting with Pierre. I have never had a problem with the guy until now. Jacob has always had a problem with him. I got to the restaur
ant facing my construction site.
"You're late." Jacob said sternly as we both eyed Pierre from the entrance.
"You haven't gone in yet?" I asked.
"I was waiting for you. He would have been in a body bag if I went in without you. You know I need you to hold me down." Jacob said as he squeezed my shoulder. "You look like shit. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"I have ended things with Bianca."
Jacob's eyes widened.
"I'm so sorry Tony. What the hell happened to us? We never had to feel so lost because of a woman but look at us now. They ruin our day just by pouting. Are you okay? We can cancel with Pierre."
"I have a lot of money riding on this. I can't cancel. About last night, I'm sorry. I came at you top hard."
"It's okay,
I spoke to Cheryl. She assured me David is not my son."
"Is that so? Brilliant then. We can move on. Now let's get to this bloody meeting. A quarter of my wealth is riding on this."
"I can always reimburse you. You don't have to partner up with him."
Jacob's wealth surpassed my own and he could easily compensate me should Pierre pull out but then I had to keep my word.
"I'll be fine. Let's go dance with the devil."
That's what we did. The business part of the meeting went well. We were all professional apart from a few snug remarks between Jacob and Pierre. I just kept looking at the man who had been inside the woman I loved. The man who had tasted her sweetness, her lips... I wanted to kill him with my bare hands.
After we were done, I was dying to ask him about the baby but I probably shouldn't. It was up to Bianca to decide whether to tell him or not. It was her baby after all... not mine.
"How's Bianca?" He asked.
I clenched my jaw and folded my fists.
"Pierre that's enough." Jacob warned.
He was playing my older brother. That is what I needed right now. Someone to stand up for me because I had lost my will to fight for anything. Bianca had destroyed me.
"Jacobolaus, I wasn't speaking to you."
"If you offend him you offend me. Watch out, you don't want to be on the wrong side of this."
Jacob patted me on the shoulder and that is when Pierre
spoke up again.
"How is Keira doing? When is the baby coming?"
Jacob lost it and grabbed Pierre by the lapels of his coat.
"Stay away from Keira. She doesn't concern you."
"You moved on from my sister a little too quickly. Don't you think?"
Jacob ignored him and walked away. I followed soon after glad to know that we made it through the meeting without any noses being broken.
***
Bianca's POV
I didn't want to choose between Tony and my daughter. I decided that I would leave for now to allow him to cool down. He needed time apart from me and then he would accept us both.
I spotted my suitcase at the top shelf and decided to climb onto a backless chair. I wanted to pack up my clothes and leave before his return. I must have lost my balance because I fell flat on my belly hitting my head hard on the sink.
It hurt so much when I tried to sit up but I did. I stood up with the support of the vanity. Once I was up I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I felt a warm liquid trickling down my thighs. I looked down and I was horrified to see little red drops on the floor.
"No not again! Not again!" I screamed as I slipped my hand in between my thighs to confirm the source of the blood.
"No, please baby girl hold on. I'll look for help."
I tried to walk but I couldn't. The pain was immense. I crouched down and reached out for my phone. I could have told Tony but something told me he didn't care that much and it would only remind him of the twins. I texted
Keira instead. She was two doors away from me.
Me: Are you in your room?
Keira: Yeah. You need something?
Me: Yes. Please come to my room it's urgent.
I hoped she would hurry. I was losing a lot of blood. I cringed in pain but part of me knew that I would lose my daughter. I cried silently and waited for Keira.
She arrived a few minutes later and she paled when she saw the state I was in.
She helped me up and the whole time I answered her questions mechanically. I was losing my baby... I had lost my baby. I could feel it.
I showered to clean myself up as Keira cleaned up the blood.
I was officially numb to any pain.
I asked her to accompany me to see a doctor just to be sure I would be okay. She drove me to the nearest hospital all the while I took notice of her growing belly. For five months it was pretty large. Part of me was jealous about how happy and healthy she seemed.
"Are you having twins?"I asked her.
"No. Just one baby. A boy. I'm so excited but Jacob is the one who is over the moon with excitement." She said.
I was also excited a while ago but not anymore.
She realized her words and apologized for not considering I had lost a baby.
I wish I was her. Why did I have such bad luck with pregnancies? I had lost the boys two years back and now I had lost a daughter. Tears flowed down my cheeks as Keira pulled up at the hospital.
She accompanied me inside but allowed me privacy with the doctor. I was in so much emotional pain I just wanted to
die. Was this going to help Tony and I? Would he take me back now that I was without a child?
Did I want him to take me back?
One thing was still unchanged: I loved him deeply.
It took a while with the doctor but soon after I was clear to leave. I was given medication to help me heal.
Keira drove me back to the hotel not asking any questions. She could be a loyal friend. As soon as we got there however, I opted to go to the sauna. Keira protested but I dismissed her and went.
***
James Lyons's POV
Jacob and I had been searching all over for Keira and Bianca. I hoped they were both okay. Jacob was stressed and I understood why. She was pregnant. Bianca was pregnant too and I was worried for her. I had been too harsh with her.
"Dio where could they be?" Jacob mattered.
The only times Jacob was caught speaking in Italian was when he was extremely angry, worried or extremely happy.
"Maybe if I had been a little kinder to Bianca she would be here and so would Keira."
"Look Tony, your my little brother and I feel it's my responsibility to tell you that you were unfair to Bianca. You shouldn't have treated her like that."
I paused and he stopped walking as well.
"You were not together when she slept with Pierre. You took many women while you were away from her. The only difference was that she is capable of getting pregnant and you can't. What I am trying to say to you is if you screwed up and got another woman pregnant, wouldn't you want her to forgive you and accept your child as her own?"
That was my older brother speaking. Jacob was right, I was being unfair.
"I would."
"Then why can't the same apply to you?"
He made sense. I was being unfair and I would apologize as soon as I saw her. I would try and accept her daughter. Just before I could respond, we saw Keira on her own walking our way. She looked tired and her dress had blood stains.
"Let's go find out what happened." Jacob said.
=================
Chapter thirty: Taking a leap of faith
Bianca's POV
As soon as I got back to London, I went straight to work. My eyes were puffy from all my crying. In one day I had lost the man I love and my unborn child. It hurt like hell. By now I should have grown accustomed to this pain... It felt like deja vu but the pain was real.
I had left my phone in Santorini and so I was not able to tell Tony I was gone.
Would he even care?
I found Cheryl finishing up with a client.
She looked as glorious as usual.
"How was your honeymoon?" She beamed.
Before Tony and I left she insisted we were honeymooning. If she only knew how bad things were between her brother and I.
"Not so good." I managed to say before I broke down and started crying.
"Oh love please stop crying." She said as she enveloped me in a tight hug. "Whatever happened, it will be okay."
I remained in her embrace as she rubbed circles on my back.
"It's okay."
We both turned and saw Tony at the door way. He looked dashing and he seemed unaffected by our split. He walked towards us looking through the shop. He grabbed a long stemmed white rose and handed it to me.
"I come in peace Bea. I just want to talk."
He seemed sincere and Cheryl released me. She left us alone and went to the back.
Tony neared me and wiped away my tears as I accepted the rose.
He sat down on a chair and guided me to sit on his lap. I faced away from him. His hand stroked my thigh tenderly. We remained in silence as he just watched me.
"I met you a little over four
years ago Bianca. I adore you now more than ever for how resilient you can be. I suffer from the same curse. However love, resilience hardens the heart... It does not allow you to feel."
I didn't know what he was getting to until he placed his hand on my stomach.
"I should never have asked you to choose between the baby and I. I should have accepted you both because I love you."
I faced him and his dark eyes exuded sadness. I cupped his face into my hand and leaned in to kiss his lips ever so gently.
"I love you too Tony."
"I know and that is why I am conceding defeat. I am waving a white flag. I am telling you that I have grown so tired of fighting you... of fighting us. I love you and I just want us to be together forever."
"I'm tired of fighting too. What should we do?"
He stood up and held me in place close to him.
"Let's both give in and fall deeper in love than we already are love. No more fighting... no more games... just love me and I will love you like the mad man that I am."
He took my lips and we kissed for the longest time. When we broke apart, he cupped my face.
"I want you to be mine forever. I want to show you that I can be a better man and that I will treat you right. Just tell me you will not turn me down."
"How can I possibly turn you away while you are all I think about. Even when I close my eyes I only see you. I love you James Lyons and I am done with the madness... I want peace... I want sanity...