Starting Our Forever: Her Savior Series

Chapter 6

*Harper's POV*

I was finishing my breakfast at the kitchen table, waiting for Dawson to come grab me for our appointment, when his dad walked into the kitchen. Even though the business was no longer his, he still frequently came over to the main house to help Dawson with things from time to time. I smiled in his direction and greeted him like I normally do.

"Good morning Zeke," I said politely. He gave me an unsettling look before responding. His unwavering stare in my direction left me confused and a little uneasy.

"Morning. It's Mr. Mitchell, if you don't mind." I choked on my orange juice as I was digesting what he had just said. My heart pinged, full of pain. I felt like I was just slapped in the face. He always had me call him Zeke. I was unsure when this changed and if I had done something to upset him, but there was definitely a difference in attitude towards me. He was always business-like before, but nice and welcoming. We had never had any unpleasant confrontations or conversations, until now. I suddenly felt beside myself. Almost like I no longer belonged in the same room with him, breathing the same air. He stuck his nose in the air as if he was above me. What am I kidding, he was above me. He was a very wealthy man who previously owned and managed a thriving business, and I was some abuse victim from a questionable background that his son fell in love with and took in, but now I was part of the family, or so that's what I thought.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Mr. Mitchell." It felt weird coming out of my mouth. Almost too formal, like I wasn't part of this family for the last three plus years. He nodded in approval, but it left me wondering what had happened.

"I'm sorry, but did I do something to upset you?" I hated the thought of having Dawson's dad on my bad side. I thought I had done an excellent job at keeping the peace. I even thought we were starting to develop a bond, until now that is. I know there have been some tense moments lately since our inability to conceive, but I didn't understand how that would change things so drastically between us.

"You mean other than not providing me with a grandchild?" His words hit me like a ton of bricks. His tone was dark and cold, leaving me feeling small in his presence. I know he has had several discussions about this with Dawson, but he has never directly approached me about it. Until now.

"I'm sorry, I really am trying." I choked down my sobs as tears threatened to invade my face. I forced myself to hold them back, refusing to let him see me cry. I knew he saw emotions as a weakness and that was the last thing I wanted-to look weak. I couldn't believe how harsh he was being about this. Doesn't he understand that this all hurts me too? Dawson and I wanted a child just as badly as Zeke wanted it.

"Yes I know. All in vain I see," he said as he sat across from me and grabbed the newspaper, without a care in the world. His words hurt me right to my core. Every time I asked Dawson how his conversations went with his dad about getting pregnant, he never implied his dad reacted that badly, but Zeke's current demeanor told me otherwise. His words were harsh and detached. I realized now that Dawson kept me in the dark for a reason. He wanted to protect me from all of this. He didn't want the truth to hurt me more than the situation already was. Zeke, on the other hand, couldn't care less, it seemed.

"Well, we are actually going to our appointment for round three this morning," I said, trying to get some pleasant reaction from him, but he seemed unmoved. I don't know why I cared so much about what he thought. Other than the fact that he was my father-in-law, I naturally wanted his approval and acceptance.

"Good. Let's hope it works this time, hmm?" He raised an eyebrow as he lowered the newspaper to glance at me for only a moment before he looked back at the printed paper in front of him.

"Yes, I hope so too." I swallowed hard, looking down at my hands placed neatly in my lap. The sudden change in demeanor from him had me feeling a host of emotions. I knew I had to get out of there as soon as possible before I cried in front of him. I pushed my chair back to stand up and deposit my dish in the sink.

"Excuse me, please," I said as I started to walk out of the kitchen, away from him.

"Harper." I turned back around to face him.

"Yes, Mr. Mitchell?" The words came out like vinegar, feeling gross and unwanted on my tongue.

"Keep this conversation between us, yes?" I nodded in agreement, unable to speak. Before I could say another word, we were interrupted when Zeb, Blake, and Tyler walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Harper!" They managed to say all at the same time. It took everything in me to force a smile and hide the pain behind my eyes.

"Hey boys," I said with a polite smile.

"You OK?" Zeb asked, immediately reading my face for signals. He was good at reading people, so I knew I couldn't hide my true emotions from him. The look he was giving me told me he was concerned. I gave him a slight smile along with a slight nod, in an attempt to confirm I was fine. It was only half-working, but luckily, he didn't pressure me any further.

"What's up, Zeke?" Blake managed to say as they all turned their attention towards Dawson's father.

"Hey, boys. How did the training go?" He asked with a bright smile, the first smile I'd seen from him all day. I swallowed the hurt deep in my throat when he didn't correct them and ask them to call him by his last name. I knew I needed to get out of there before I cried in front of all of them.

"Hey, Harper, Dawson said he would meet you out front for your appointment." I immediately nodded and faked a smile, feeling grateful for the escape from all of this.

"Thank you. I'll see you later, boys," I said with a painted smile on my face, choosing not to look in Zeke's direction as I turned and walked down the hallway to the door.

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We were currently waiting in anticipation for our third IVF attempt as I was lying on the hospital bed. I was attached to tubes and cords as Dawson was standing next to me, holding my hand and giving me that adorable smile of his. It made me relax ever-so-slightly. I had a lot on my mind, especially the chilling altercation with his dad earlier, but I tried to put that out of my mind and focus on the here and now.

I've already been poked and prodded with needles and gone through several ultrasounds to prepare my body for the egg retrieval process today. Even though we have done this three times now, it doesn't seem to make the process any easier. It was long, grueling and quite painful, but I knew this is what we needed to do in order to get the possible result that we wanted. A baby of our own. I knew that this would all be worth it one day, and all of these medical appointments and procedures would be a distant memory.

"It's going to work this time, I just know it." Dawson smiled wide, seeming hopeful. I could only hope he was right.

"I really hope so," I said, for more reasons than I could even express to him. I wanted so badly to tell him about the interaction I had with his dad earlier today, but something kept me from telling him. Something beyond Zeke's request. I didn't want to create more of a separation between Dawson and his dad because of me. It just didn't feel right. Plus, I knew Dawson has been going through a lot lately, and I just didn't want to add to all his current stress.

The doctor soon came in with an assistant by his side. He looked over my charts and vitals before going over some general information.

"OK, everything looks good. We are going to place you under general anesthesia, just like last time. Once you awake, you may be in some pain, so we will provide you with some pain medication." I nodded, remembering how painful it was last time after I woke up. I think it made it worse when he told me exactly what they did during the process. I think I would rather not know.

"We will leave your husband here in the room, just like last time, and you will see him as soon as you wake up." I nodded in understanding, remembering all of this from last time.

"Any questions before we wheel you off and begin?" He asked, and I immediately shook my head, only hoping it worked this time.

"OK, it's showtime then," he said with a smile. His encouraging grin helped me relax as my hand suddenly fell from Dawson's, breaking our hold. Dawson remained in the room as a couple of nurses wheeled my bed out of the room and down the hall.

"I love you, babe. I'll see you soon!" I could hear Dawson before he was completely out of sight.

"I love you too, babe," I said before we rounded the corner and I could no longer see him. A single tear left my eyes, yearning for him to be by my side through all of this, but I knew that wasn't possible. I was holding on to the fact that I would see him again very soon.

*Dawson's POV*

"Yeah, what's up?" I spoke into the phone as I impatiently paced the hallway of the hospital.

"How's Harper?" Zeb asked. I brushed my fingers through my hair as I stood outside of her empty room, anxiously waiting for her return.

"She's in the operation room at the moment. The nurse just told me everything was going fine. So, what ya got for me?" I asked, begging to change the subject. I wanted to avoid thinking about Harper under the knife and in any pain. I hated that she had to go through this time and time again. I only hoped this time it worked, so she didn't have to endure all of these tests and procedures again.

"I think I found some stuff about Bianca that you may be interested in." My mind immediately became engrossed in the conversation, distracting myself from Harper's procedure.

"What did you find about her?"

"So, Harper was not wrong. It looks like Bianca has officially moved to New York and transferred to New York University in the law program. She came from the interior design program at The University of California, which is an odd switch." It's as if Zeb read my thoughts. That was a huge switch that could not be ignored. I don't remember her ever being interested in law. She honestly wasn't smart enough for it. She was definitely the stereotypical dumb blonde type, only masked with brunette hair. I had a feeling she did all of this to get closer to Harper, but why? I continued to listen as Zeb went through the information he found.

"It looks like she moved here specifically to follow Harper, so I did some more digging and I found out she is in current contact with the Italian Mafia. To what extent, though, I'm not sure."

F**k. He confirmed my worst fears. I was dreading hearing exactly that. Not only was Bianca becoming a problem, but now I had to worry about the Italian Mafia and their motives.

"She seems to be working for Aldo and giving him information about Harper. I found a lot of pictures of Harper in their computer databases. She seems to be their person of interest."

"D****t!" I slammed my fist into the hospital wall, seething with anger. This was the last thing we needed right now.

I knew this meant I needed to increase Harper's personal protection immediately. I couldn't let anything happen to her, especially if the procedure worked this time. That would mean she would be carrying my child, and she would be a hot commodity to all of our enemies. She would be carrying the next leader of the American Mafia. Who wouldn't want to intervene?

Maybe that's what this was about. Maybe my dad was right. Other leaders are trying to take over my business and going after Harper would be the way to do it. The mere thought pained me deep in my chest, causing me to struggle to breathe. I don't know what I would do without her. All I knew was that they would have to kill me first before anyone got to Harper.

I also had no doubt that Bianca knew about what happened to Cole. I was sure that she knew more than I expected, now that she is in cahoots with the mafia. I had no doubt that they told her about Cole, and now she wanted to get revenge, but the question is, what was Aldo's motive? What was he getting out of this? And why did he find value in Bianca? He had a million men who could easily find the information he needed about Harper. Why use Bianca? There were so many questions running through my mind that I didn't have the answers to.

"Look into Aldo. I want to know exactly what he is up to and let's keep an eye on Bianca. I want to know where she is and where she goes at all times." As soon as that b***h made another move, she was dead.

"You got it, boss."

"And let's just keep this between us for now. I don't want mass hysteria until we know more."

"Always, boss." I cut the line and slammed my hand hard against the wall once more. I don't know exactly what Aldo wanted with Harper, but I was sure as h**l going to find out.