Streamlines
1757 Words
Don’s gaze locked on Katrina the moment he stepped into the lobby. Rain dripped from his hair, darkening the collar of his suit. His breathing was rough, uneven, as though he had run straight through the storm to reach her.
“Where are our sons?” he demanded.
Katrina swallowed hard. “They’re upstairs. Kevin kept them inside.”
Don turned sharply to Kevin. “Are they safe?”
Kevin nodded once. “Yes. They didn’t see anything.”
Don stepped closer. “Anything like what?”
Kevin hesitated. “Emily.”
Katrina stiffened. “What about her?”
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck, voice lowering. “She asked questions, Katrina. Too many questions. About their birth. Their ages. Their features.”
Katrina’s chest tightened painfully. “I knew it.”
Don’s jaw clenched. “Why the hell was she here?”
“She said she came to drop off something,” Kevin answered. “But she kept circling the boys. Watching them.”
Don’s voice sharpened with suspicion. “Watching them how?”
Kevin met his eyes. “Like she was trying to confirm something.”
Katrina pressed a shaking hand to her forehead. “Oh God…”
Don turned to her instantly. “Katrina, look at me. Does Emily know about the twins?”
Katrina shook her head. “I.....I don’t know. I don’t know what she knows anymore.”
Kevin stepped between them gently. “Whatever it is, she’s not the biggest problem right now.”
Don snapped, “And what is?”
Kevin took a breath. “Brock.”
The name struck the room like lightning.
Don’s voice dropped into a dangerous register. “What about him?”
“He’s digging,” Kevin said. “Hard. He has people watching you, Katrina. Looking into your past. Hospital records. Travel records. Companies under your name.”
Katrina’s breath caught. “No. No, he can’t, he doesn’t have the right.”
“He doesn’t care about rights,” Kevin said softly. “He cares about leverage.”
Don clenched his fists. “He wants control of her company.”
“That’s not all he wants,” Kevin replied. “He wants her cornered.”
Katrina whispered, “Why me? Why this?”
Kevin gave her a look that made her stomach twist. “Because you rejected him. And men like Brock….they don’t forgive humiliation.”
Don’s eyes narrowed. “He’s coming after what he thinks he can break.”
“Or take,” Kevin added.
Katrina’s pulse hammered. “We have to go upstairs. I need to see the boys.”
They hurried into the elevator. The silence inside trembled between them like a live wire.
As the doors closed.
Kevin glanced at Don. “You should know….she didn’t tell Emily anything. Not about the twins.”
Don didn’t look at him. “That doesn’t matter. Emily will figure it out.”
Katrina swallowed. “Why would she? Why would she care? She’s my friend.”
Don turned to her, expression flat. “Do you really believe that?”
Katrina blinked. “Of course I.....”
“No,” Don said quietly. “You don’t. Or you wouldn’t be shaking.”
Her breath hitched. She hated that he noticed.
Kevin stepped closer protectively. “Don, back off.”
Don smirked, but it lacked heat. “Relax, model boy. I’m not here to start anything.”
Kevin’s jaw tightened. “You already did.”
“Not today,” Don said.
Before tension could rise further, the elevator pinged.
They stepped into Kevin’s apartment. The storm outside rattled the windows, throwing shadows across the walls.
The twins ran toward their mother.
“Mommy!” Eli cried.
Evan clung to her leg silently, sensing the tension.
Katrina scooped them both into her arms, burying her face in their hair. “I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m right here.”
Don watched them, eyes softening, breaking.
For a moment, he forgot the storm, the danger, the anger.
Just two little boys.
His boys.
“Eli,” Don said quietly.
The child turned his curious gaze toward him.
Don knelt slowly. “Evan.”
The quieter twin hid behind Katrina’s leg, peeking cautiously.
Katrina swallowed hard. “Boys… this is”
But she couldn’t finish the sentence.
Don didn’t push it. He simply smiled, a small, fragile smile that barely lifted one corner of his lips.
“You’re safe,” he said softly. “I promise you that.”
Kevin moved to the kitchen area, giving them space.
Katrina’s throat tightened. “Don…”
His eyes met hers. “We talk now.”
The intensity in his voice left no room for refusal.
She nodded.
Kevin stayed close, not interfering, but present if she needed him.
Don stood. “Katrina. You should have told me. About them.”
“I couldn’t,” she whispered. “Not then.”
“You should have anyway.”
Her eyes flared. “Don’t pretend you would have been a father back then. You were barely a husband.”
He stiffened. “I know.”
She blinked. The admission disarmed her.
Don folded his hands behind his back, pacing slightly. “If Brock thinks he can use our sons against you, he’s wrong.”
“Don’t say that,” she snapped. “He’s dangerous.”
“I know that too.”
“Then stop acting like you can fix this with your pride,” she said.
Don stopped walking. “I’m not using pride. I’m using strategy.”
“And what strategy is that?” she demanded.
He looked at her, voice low. “The one where I protect you.”
She looked away. “I don’t need protection.”
“You do,” he said. “And you hate that it’s me.”
Her silence was answer enough.
Kevin finally approached. “Whatever Brock is planning… he’s accelerating it. My contacts say he’s meeting with someone tonight. Someone who knows Katrina.”
Katrina felt ice crawl up her spine. “Who?”
Before Kevin could answer.....
Before Don could breathe.....
Before Katrina could brace herself
Katrina’s phone rang.
Her heart slammed against her ribs when she saw the caller ID.
Brock.
Don’s eyes narrowed. “Put it on speaker.”
Katrina swallowed. “No. I’ll talk.”
“Katrina” Don warned.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Brock’s voice slithered through the line like oil.
“Katrina,” he purred. “My beautiful runaway bride.”
Don moved closer instantly, fists tight.
Katrina steadied her voice. “What do you want?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Brock said lightly. “Just a little conversation. About your boys.”
Katrina’s blood froze.
Kevin’s eyes widened.
Don’s entire body went still.
Brock laughed slowly. “Ah. So you’re not denying it.”
Katrina whispered, “Leave them out of this.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Brock replied, “you should know by now children are never out of anything.”
Kevin cursed under his breath.
Don growled, “Brock, you bastard”
“Oh,” Brock interrupted with mocking delight, “is that Don? Perfect. Both of you listening? Good.”
The room’s air thickened.
“I have an offer,” Brock continued. “Katrina marries me… and I keep the twins a secret.”
Katrina felt the world tilt.
Don snarled, “Over my dead......”
“I wasn’t finished,” Brock hissed.
Silence.
Katrina’s heart hammered painfully.
“If she refuses,” Brock said, voice tightening, “I make sure the whole world knows. Your shareholders. Your board. Your investors. Everyone who will happily strip a mother of her legacy for lying.”
Don’s face darkened with fury. “Say one more lie about her”
“Oh, it’s not a lie,” Brock said. “And to sweeten the deal”
Katrina closed her eyes, dread curling in her gut.
“.....I will take custody.”
Katrina gasped. “No Brock no ”
He smiled through the phone. “Then marry me.”
The call ended.
Katrina barely realized she had dropped the phone. Her knees buckled, but Don caught her before she fell. His arms wrapped around her instinctively, protectively, fiercely.
Kevin stepped forward. “Katrina breathe. Look at me. Breathe.”
But Katrina couldn’t.
Her babies.
Her secret.
Her life.
Don’s voice cracked as he whispered into her hair, “He’s not touching them. He’s not touching any of you.”
Katrina trembled. “Don….what do I do?”
Don lifted her chin, eyes blazing with anger and devotion.
“You don’t marry him,” he said. “Not now. Not ever.”
“But he’ll expose”
“I don’t care,” Don snapped. “Let him expose it. Let the whole damn world know. I will stand next to you. I will fight for you. I will claim my sons. I will burn his empire to the ground.”
Katrina shook her head. “Don, you don’t understand if this goes public.....”
Don grabbed her trembling hands.
“Katrina,” he whispered, “look at me.”
She looked.
“For the first time in my life, I’m begging.”
His voice broke.
“Choose me. Let me stand with you. Let me be the father I should’ve been.”
Her breath shuddered.
Kevin stepped forward softly. “Kat….he’s right. You can’t face Brock alone.”
Katrina wiped her tears, voice shaking. “Then what do we do?”
Don’s eyes hardened, cold, merciless, strategic.
“We take Brock down,” he said. “Before he can move again.”
“How?” she whispered.
Don turned slowly toward Kevin.
Kevin met his gaze without flinching.
“Katrina doesn’t know my history with Brock,” Kevin said quietly. “But you do.”
Katrina blinked. “Kevin….what history?”
Kevin’s throat tightened. “I’m the reason Brock is this bold. And I’m the reason he’ll fall.”
Don nodded once, jaw tight. “Then we start tonight.”
Kevin looked at Katrina. “If you want the truth… I’ll tell you everything.”
She whispered, “Tell me.”
Kevin exchanged a glance with Don one of uneasy alliance.
Then he sighed.
“It started years ago,” he said. “Before I ever became a model. Before I even knew who I was.”
Katrina’s heart raced.
“Brock,” Kevin continued, voice raw, “used to own me.”
And with that single sentence, everything Katrina thought she knew came crashing down.
- Writer
