by Wolfe, H. M.
"I see," Rayne said, partially relieved. "So that excludes pregnancy," he muttered to himself. "Now, what did you want to ask me?"
"I was wondering...could you get a blood sample from Elliott? I better get dressed since we need to go to his place," Tarquin said, heading for the staircase.
"Why would you need that?" Rayne's surprise at the blond's unusual request was apparent.
"To run a DNA test on it, because I have strong reasons to believe he's my twin brother," the blond answered, running up the stairs.
Tarquin's words didn't surprise the doctor so much this time. He'd already suspected something. The resemblance between the two men wasn't that obvious, but then again, it didn't have to be, especially if they were fraternal twins. Rayne wondered why only one of the brothers was raised by his biological parents, while the other was given up for adoption.
The whole story made him to partially reconsider his aunt's version about the circumstances of his conception and birth. After all, the woman didn't surround him with motherly affection. On the contrary, she didn't make a secret of how much she despised and hated the living proof of her sister's sin.
"Hey, doc, are you ready to go?" Rayne flinched at Daniel's hand patting his shoulder. Lost in his thoughts as he was, the doctor hadn't noticed when the other man went upstairs and got dressed.
"Sure, sorry for not answering sooner. I was thinking about a lot of things," he said, giving the raven-haired man a half-apologetic, half-sad look.
"Don't worry. Everything will be all right. I have this feeling," Daniel gave Rayne a bear hug, while Tarquin joined them.
"I have to admit I'm a little nervous about today," the raven-haired man spoke some minutes later. They were in the car, on the way to Eugene's house.
"What's so important about today?" the doctor asked, but the next second he gestured with one of his hands to the forehead. "Of course, how could I forget?! Martin Cornelius' big day," he smiled.
"Yeah, and he is terrified that the lady in question will reject his proposal, poor soul!" Tarquin giggled, looking at his husband from the corner of his eye.
Rayne wanted to reply but didn't have time to, as they arrived at their destination. The doctor was surprised. He noticed the significant number of guards around the house, but then he remembered that Luca Moretti, the grandson of an essential associate of the Fenelli family, had come to visit Eugene, his supreme leader.
Rayne knew by now what Eugene's family business was, but he wasn't scared at the thought, especially when Daniel had taken the time and explained everything in detail. On the contrary, he admired Eugene's way of carrying on the traditions, while being on the side of the law at the same time.
However, what surprised him the most was that the men guarding Elliott's house were all members of Bratva, Aristarh's organization. It didn't make any sense to Rayne, but then again, it wasn't his business to question Eugene's decisions.
Instead, he continued to walk to the house, not afraid that the guards would try to stop him. Indeed, instead of acting threateningly, the guards saluted the doctor respectfully, two of them escorting to the front door. Rayne stepped inside, the feeling that something was going on in that house overwhelming him.
He tried to shake it, but in spite of the efforts, the sensation clung to him. Then, while heading to the stairs, the man heard Donna Rosa's warm, maternal voice from the kitchen, talking to another person.
"Mangia, bambino mio! Cosi, brava! Aren't you a good, courageous and brilliant boy? Your papa must be very proud of you," she spoke in her singsong voice.
"When can I see papa, nonna?" a boy asked in a soft voice. Rayne's heart skipped a beat, as he recognized his beloved son's voice. Somehow, he managed to keep the urge to hug Gerrard right at that moment under control. He preferred to listen to their conversation, instead.
"Soon, caro agazzo. Eugene already called my nephew, and he should be bringing your papa here any minute. You will also meet Daniel's husband, Tarquin," the lovely lady smiled.
"Tarquin... is he like Mister Winters?" Gerrard asked, his eyes widening in fear. Seeing his boy like that made Rayne grit his teeth and see red.
"No, dear boy, not at all. He's sweet and loving, always with a smile on his face, very much like our dear Elliott."
"Nonna," the child raised his head from the almost empty plate, "I heard Eugene speaking on the phone with that gentleman who helped us, and he was saying that I would stay with papa forever and ever, that he would take care of it. The gentleman also called Mister Winters bad names," Gerrard giggled.
Rayne couldn't resist staying hidden anymore. He almost ran into the kitchen, stopping in front of the counter, where his son had just finished eating. The boy slowly raised his head, blinking a few times, as if he was trying to convince himself that it wasn't a dream, that his father was there, in that kitchen, standing next to him.
"I missed you, papa! I missed you so, very, incredibly much. I thought I would never see you again. Mister Winters kept saying that over and over again," the child sobbed in Rayne's shirt.
"Shhh, don't cry, papa's here to take care of you, child of my heart. I will never leave you behind. Promise," the doctor caressed the red hair of his son, tears flowing down his cheeks.
"So, it's true what the respectable gentleman said? That I won't go back to live with Mister Winters?" Gerrard swept his tears, still sniffling. "He also said another thing I liked," the boy added with a thoughtful look.
"What did your mysterious old gentleman say?" Rayne asked amused and intrigued at the same time, as he couldn't figure out the identity of his benefactor.
"That he will make Mister Winters crawl at your feet, begging for you to spare him from the misery, and that Mister Winters messed with the wrong man when he made you and me suffer," the boy answered, saying everything in one go. "And he called Mister Winters more bad names."
Rayne looked at his son's amused expression as he spoke, and his heart jumped with joy. Gerrard was the bubbly thirteen-year-old he was supposed to be instead of the quiet, sad, overly-mature little creature the years spent in Conroy's mausoleum, under his cruel thumb, had turned him into.
Raising his head, Rayne thanked the deity embodied in that respectable gentleman, whose reckless language made his child laugh for the first time in over a year when he sensed the presence of another person. Taking Gerrard in his arms, the doctor slowly turned around to the place where he felt the other presence, freezing on the spot.
"If I knew the illustrious young man over there was in the room and that Eugene had put the phone on speaker, I would've controlled my language better than I did," Alastair spoke, smirking.
Gerrard slid from his father's arms, greeting the newcomer. "Well hello, Mister Stark, nice to see you again," he said, shaking the man's hand.
"Hello, young master, I am beyond happy to see your cute face... again," Alastair said ceremoniously, ruffling the boy's hair.
The discovery of his benefactor's identity shook Rayne to the core. It melted down all the aversion he felt until then for the man who'd rejected him and his mother. When he brought Gerrard to him, the man had atoned for all his sins. "Thank you, Mister Stark," Rayne said, offering his hand.
"There were a lot of fathers separated from their sons in this family," Alastair whispered, lowering his head, "I didn't want another one to suffer that fate," he continued, letting out a long sigh.
"How... how did you find out?" Rayne asked, his voice shaking.
"As usual, it wasn't me, because it seems I'm not able to see what's under my nose," the former Supreme Dragon huffed. "It was Tarquin, of course. Oh, gods, that man eats, dreams and breaths the Internet, searches and all kind of computer stuff," he continued, feigning despair.
Rayne looked at the man in front of him, at his gentle smile as he looked at Gerrard and at the adoration shining in the child's eyes when they met those of Alastair's. Even if the doctor still wasn't sure that he wanted the Stark clan patriarch as a father, Gerrard needed him, s
o he decided to let the man stay. For the moment, at least.
"The others will be joining us at the mansion in about two or three hours," Alastair spoke. "There's plenty of time until then for Gerrard to lay down a little. Yesterday was a long day for him."
"Of course, that's an excellent idea," Rayne approved with a smile, then he turned to his son. "I have to run some tests on Elliott, then I'll come to tuck you in, OK?" he said, kissing his son on the forehead.
Gerrard nodded. "All right, but I want you to kiss me anyway, even if I'm asleep. I'll feel it in my dreams." Then, he turned to Alastair. "Until you see us again, Mister Stark."
As a child, the former head of the CIA hadn't believed in Santa Claus and his magic sled, in the Tooth Fairy or any other products of his parents' imagination, designed to convince their offspring to behave or get good grades at school. Little Alastair was always the good boy who didn't get anything because he was Neville's charity case, and not one of their children.
Recently, however, his faith in benevolent deities, so brutally crushed when he was just five or six years old, had been restored. And at that moment, seeing the father carrying his son to bed for a nap, Alastair felt like a child who'd gotten the present he wanted the most but didn't dare to ask for.
"That's it, you were right, he's already sleeping like a log," Rayne said, taking the patriarch of the Stark clan by surprise. "Thank you," he continued after a short pause, "I'm forever indebted to you."
"We'll talk later about who owes what to whom," Alastair replied, with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "For now, Gerrard's well being should be your only concern. You don't need to worry about custody, that battle's won." he continued.
"How...what do you mean?" Rayne was confused and surprised at what he'd just heard. "We haven't even settled a date for the preliminary hearing. Not to mention that, in spite of your intervention, the odds are stacked against me big time."
"Not anymore," Alastair answered in a colder than ice voice. "I intend to expose the bastard as a fraud, to show him to the world as he is. A petty, mediocre individual who took advantage of the work of his brilliant student, whom he married only to keep him under control."
"H...how do you know all these things? Who told you?" Rayne was beyond shocked to hear from Alastair what he'd kept only to himself.
"I didn't find out anything. Tarquin did, after the conversation you had with him, Daniel and Eugene. When you revealed what you knew about the experiments, he broke into every site you could think of, and he managed to gather a lot of evidence to support our claims in court. He found out...other things, too."
Alastair's voice filled with regret, and his look was worried when he said the last few words. Once he found out who Rayne was, the Stark patriarch blamed himself immensely for being a coward and choosing the easy way out, when he rejected the girl whom he left pregnant.
"So, who else haven't I met yet? From the family, I mean," Rayne's voice put a stop to Alastair's trail of thoughts.
"You already met Fabian and Adele, Martin Cornelius' parents, and the whole bunch of cousins, if you want to consider them as such," Alastair spoke, careful not to hurt his son's feelings. "Oh, there are Edgar and Willard, who is Liam's twin, but it's unlikely for the two of them to show up. They've been rather distant lately."
"Liam's twin," Rayne said, his face lightening. "If he's half as nice as his brother, it will be a real pleasure to meet him."
Alastair nodded, but he didn't say anything. Judging by how tense the relationship between the two young men and the rest of the family was, he didn't expect the meeting to be a pleasant one,on the contrary.
The man was right, because, when he and Rayne arrived at the mansion, Willard was already there, Pauline Sazerac, Martin Cornelius' ex-fiancee, on his arm.
CHAPTER 31
"Hello, Mister Stark, nice to see you. It's been such a long time since I have had the pleasure," the young woman said in a voice so sweet, that it made Alastair sick to his stomach.
"How do you do, Pauline," Alastair answered, without adding anything else, trying hard to hide the apparent displeasure seeing her provoked.
"Hello, great-uncle," Willard spoke, taking a step forward. "I’m taking advantage of this happy family reunion to announce my engagement," the young man continued, waiting for the older man to react.
"That's wonderful news, my dear nephew!" Alastair's face lightened, while he looked around the room. "And who's the lucky lady? Or perhaps it's a lucky gentleman?"
"Oh, come on, great-uncle, we Stark boys are not like..." Willard stopped just in time, realizing how big a mistake he was about to make. "She's right here, the girl you hardly noticed," Liam's twin continued, gesturing to Pauline.
"In this case, I wish you to be luckier and happier than your cousin was," Alastair said, walking away from the happy pair to congratulate Martin Cornelius, whom he spotted in the middle of the crowd. He heard Liam's voice dominating all the others and got closer to listen to what he was saying.
"Really, good people, that is the best thing I've heard in years. Great-uncle Alastair is shagging Mallory! Sweet heaven, he must have a bigger pair of balls than I thought! That calls for a celebration, folks! I drink to great-uncle and Mallory! May they break a thousand beds!"
The explosion of enthusiasm that followed warmed Alastair's heart, filling it with joy. His beloved boy was right all this time. Life was so beautiful and uncomplicated, so worthy to live without worrying over every little thing. He didn't expect the boys, especially Liam, to act the way they did, but life proved him wrong yet another time.
Suddenly, Alastair became aware of the silence in the room, but when he turned to the mansion's main entrance, he held his breath like everybody else. Christine, in an elegant black dress, wearing the Bloom pearls, accompanied by Adele and Fabian, stepped inside, walking straight to Martin Cornelius.
According to the plan cleverly designed by Daniel, Tarquin, and Elliott, with the generous participation of the girl's future in-laws, she was going to be kept in the fog until the last second. To justify the necessity of Christine's presence at the party, Adele invented a story about the sister of the groom, who had to be there when he proposes.
Since Armina Bloom was in London and couldn't come, the girl offered to fill in the position. Now, she was next to Martin Cornelius, who couldn't take his eyes off her, lost in adoration as he was. The girl's heart hurt at the thought that that was the last day of their friendship, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop it.
”My darling Martin Cornelius, let me congratulate you for finally proposing to someone,” Pauline said in her high pitched voice, getting between the young man and his fiancee. ”Oh, what a horrible dress,” she scrunched her nose.
"I love it," Christine answered, smiling. "Miss Adele chose it for me, and everyone says she has impeccable taste in fashion."
After a moment of silence, Pauline attacked again. "She is Mrs. Bloom to you little peasant. I don't understand how someone like you could be invited here, among the richest and most powerful," she spat, her French accent even more apparent.
"Miss Adele and Mister Fabian invited me, Martin Cornelius' parents. Who invited you?" Christine calmly asked. "By the way, for some reason, Daniel, our gracious host, has authorized me to kick the ass of anyone who dares to cast a shadow over this day. So, you'd better stay quiet. Otherwise, that round behind of yours will feel the impact of my foot."
All the time she spoke, Christine didn't show any sign that the words of the other woman hurt her or made her feel uncomfortable. A heavy silence threatened to take over the room, but Martin Cornelius seized the opportunity, turning to Christine and getting down on one knee in front of her.
"From the first second I laid my eyes on you, I knew I'd found the one. Intelligent, hard-working, patient, outspoken, feisty, understanding, you are everything I wished for and then some. Christine Malone, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Martin Cornelius looked into the young wo
man's hazel eyes, seeing them widening, his heart began beating frantically, as he waited for the answer. When it didn't come, the young Bloom started to panic, thinking that Christine was going to reject him, that he wasn't good enough for her. If only he weren't that painfully shy if he just knew how to express what he felt...
"Yes, I will. I will love and support you as you deserve. I will follow you to the end of the world. I will bear your children, give birth to them and raise them to be happy and independent, I will build a family with you. Yes, I want to be your wife."
Everybody started to applaud and hug the two fiancees, wishing them the best, except Pauline, who was busy picking her jaw up off the floor, where it had dropped the moment she saw the moonstone at Christine's wrist. Also, Eugene and Elliott were nowhere to be seen, until Rayne spotted them, hugging, on a little couch, Donna Rosa's favorite spot.
The doctor's first impulse was to run to the blond, to check him, because he thought the man was not feeling well. However, taking a closer look at the older man's somewhat odd posture, he changed his mind, discreetly signaling the others to follow him.