Page 119 of Possess Me
“What was wrong with my sister?”
Fallon’s question was out of the blue. We’d been taken to a basic warehouse that had a bathroom. At least the place was secure, Carlos keeping it surrounded. Almost ten hours had passed since I’d made another call to Mikhail.
Thankfully we hadn’t experienced any issues in getting to the location, although Carlos had gotten word a group of about twenty had landed, all claiming to be tourists. Plus, they’d had connections, receiving a warm welcome.
That had pissed Carlos off as much as it had me.
I stopped pacing, turning to face her. She sat on a steel chair with Bella draped across her lap. She was absently stroking the dog, but her eyes were pinned on me.
It was the one part of the story I’d left out mostly because of the level of pain I knew admitting the truth would cause. But I’d promised her I wouldn’t lie and I was a man of my word.
“She wasn’t sick,” I started.
Fallon narrowed her eyes. “What then?” I didn’t need to say the words. Her entire expression changed mere seconds later and she slowly allowed her hand to drift to her mouth. “No.”
I heard the whisper. “She’d just found out she was pregnant.”
“But I remember my mother saying that a doctor had told her because of her endometriosis that she would never be able to have children.” She was fighting her emotions.
So was I.
“I know. We were shocked. Hell, I didn’t believe the Jamaican doctor and didn’t want Megan to get her hopes up, but I gotta tell you, the thought of being a father was amazing.” I allowed my mind to drift to the memory even though it ate at me just as I thought it would.
Fallon said nothing for a full minute. Then she slowly eased Bella onto the cold concrete floor, approaching me as if I was suddenly the fragile one.
“I’m so sorry, Vissarian. You’d make an amazing father.”
“Like hell I would. Too controlling. Too arrogant. Too self-centered. Your words.”
“I was wrong. So very wrong. The way you’ve been with Bella shows me how amazing you would be.”
“Then here’s the truth. It’s too dangerous to bring a child into my world, even though I told you that it’s safe.”
“I guess in life nothing is truly safe. Someone once reminded me that you could be enjoying a day, just crossing the street and some idiot comes out of the blue. Or a drunk driver who…” She shrank back, folding her arms. “Who destroys your happiness in the blink of an eye.”
“Your father sounds like he was a great guy.”
“He was. He was my everything, my hero. And he loved my mother so much. That’s why I couldn’t understand when she allowed Luis to lock away her memories.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but my guess is that your mother was given no other choice. In order for her daughters to have a better life, she agreed to being kept on a tight chain.”
“That’s horrible,” she muttered. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“To keep you safe. It’s something I would do.” I’d heard what she’d said only hours before. I’d felt the budding love in the way she’d held me, in the light brushes of her hand. A part of me had felt such deep need for her while the other had wanted to convince her to return to barely tolerating me.
However, we’d gone through too much and both had excessive baggage. There was no chance at returning to what had been.
Plus, I’d told her she belonged to me.
Forever.
And I’d meant what I’d said.
“Don’t you dare. I can protect myself. Just give me one of those guns.” She held out her hand as if I was going to supply her with a weapon.
Over my dead body.
“Not going to happen.”
