CHAPTER 4
1269 Words
Chapter 4
Elara's Point of View
Dante's hand squeezes mine so tight it hurts. His face looks like he's seen a ghost. The woman who came to my work - Abigail - stands by the elevator with three big men. She's smiling, but her eyes look mean.
"Let go of me," I whisper to Dante.
"No." His voice is hard. "Stay behind me."
"Well, well," Abigail says, walking closer. "Isn't this sweet? My little brother is playing protector."
"What do you want, Abigail?" Dante moves in front of me.
"I want what's mine." She looks at my belly. "That baby belongs to our family."
"The baby belongs to Elara."
Abigail laughs. It sounds like broken glass. "Oh, Dante. You still don't understand, do you? That baby was always meant for us. I made sure of it."
"You're sick."
"I'm smart." She walks around us like a cat playing with mice. "Do you want to tell her, or should I?"
Dante doesn't answer. His whole body is tight like a spring.
"Tell me what?" I ask.
Abigail claps her hands together. "Oh, this is fun! Elara, dear, do you remember that night at the bar? When did you meet that handsome man who bought you drinks?"
My stomach feels sick. "What about it?"
"That man works for me. I paid him to get you drunk. I paid him to take you home. And I gave him something very special to make sure you got pregnant."
The room starts spinning. "What are you talking about?"
"Your baby, sweet girl, was made with my brother's sperm. Sperm I took from him while he was sleeping."
I can't breathe. The words don't make sense. "That's impossible."
"Is it?" She pulls out her phone and shows me a video. It's dark and hard to see, but I can make out a man in a white coat doing something to a sleeping person. "I had a doctor friend help me. Dante never knew."
Dante makes a sound like a hurt animal. "You drugged me."
"Just a little sleep medicine. You were so tired from work anyway." Abigail puts her phone away. "The hard part was finding the right girl. Someone young and poor and desperate. Someone who wouldn't ask too many questions."
"You're lying," I whisper.
"Am I? Tell me, Elara - do you really remember that man's face? Do you remember anything about that night except waking up sore and confused?"
I want to say yes. I want to remember. But the truth is, everything about that night is fuzzy and wrong. Like looking through dirty water.
"You drugged her too," Dante says.
"Of course I did. Can't have her remembering the truth, can we?" Abigail sounds proud of herself. "The plan was perfect. Get her pregnant, wait for the baby to be born, then have Dante step in as the caring father figure. He'd fall in love with the child, maybe even with her. Everyone gets what they want."
"What I want is for you to leave us alone," Dante says.
"But that's not going to happen." One of the big men moves closer. "You see, things have gotten messy. Elara knows too much now. And frankly, she's not the kind of woman I want raising a Sinclair child."
Fear shoots through me like lightning. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you're a problem that needs to be solved."
Dante steps forward. "Touch her and I'll kill you."
"With what army?" Abigail nods to her men. "You're outnumbered, brother dear."
"I don't need an army to handle you."
"Maybe not. But what about her?" Abigail points at me. "Can you protect her and fight us at the same time?"
I look around Dante's office. There's nowhere to run. The elevator is blocked. The windows are too high to jump from. We're trapped.
"What do you want?" I ask.
"Smart girl. I want you to disappear. Tonight. Forever."
"And if I don't?"
"Then accidents happen. People get hurt. Babies get lost."
My hand goes to my belly. "You wouldn't hurt your own brother's child."
"It's not his child yet. Right now, it's just your problem." Her voice gets cold. "But it could become our solution."
Dante turns to look at me. His eyes are full of pain and anger. "Elara, listen to me. Whatever happens, don't let them separate us."
"How touching," Abigail says. "But I'm afraid that's exactly what's going to happen."
She nods to her men. They start walking toward us.
Dante pushes me behind his desk. "Stay down."
The first man reaches for Dante. Dante grabs a heavy glass paperweight and hits him in the face. The man falls down hard, blood coming from his nose.
The second man is bigger. He grabs Dante around the neck. They fight, knocking over chairs and papers.
I crawl under the desk, trying to stay small. My baby kicks hard, like it knows we're in danger.
"Stop this!" Abigail shouts. "Just grab the girl!"
The third man comes around the desk. He reaches for me with big hands. I try to crawl away, but there's nowhere to go.
"No!" Dante sees what's happening. He breaks free from the big man and jumps over the desk.
But he's too late. The man grabs my arm and pulls me up. His grip hurts.
"Let her go!" Dante yells.
"Not until you calm down," Abigail says. "Sit in that chair and put your hands where I can see them."
Dante looks at me. The man holding me squeezes tighter. I make a small sound of pain.
Dante sits down. His hands shake with anger, but he puts them on the desk.
"Good boy," Abigail says. "Now, here's what's going to happen. Elara is coming with us. We're going to take very good care of her until the baby is born. Then she's going to sign some papers and disappear."
"I won't sign anything," I said.
"Oh, you will. Trust me." Abigail's smile is evil. "You'll sign whatever I tell you to sign."
"Where are you taking her?" Dante asks.
"Somewhere safe. Somewhere you'll never find her."
"I'll find her. I'll find you both."
"No, you won't. Because if you try, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you do anything except wait for my call, she dies." Abigail walks to the elevator. "The only way she stays alive is if you do exactly what I say."
The man starts dragging me toward the elevator. I try to fight, but he's too strong.
"Dante!" I reach out my hand toward him.
He starts to get up, but one of the other men points something at him. A gun.
"Don't," Abigail says. "This can end with everyone alive, or it can end badly. Your choice."
Dante sits back down. His eyes meet mine across the room. "I'll find you," he says. "I promise."
"Promises, promises," Abigail laughs. "Just like the promise you made to her father. Look how well that worked out."
The elevator doors start to close. The last thing I see is Dante's face, full of pain and rage and something else. Something that looks like love.
Then the doors shut, and I'm alone with people who want to hurt me.
As we go down, Abigail turns to me. "Don't worry, dear. This will all be over soon. One way or another."
I close my eyes and hold my belly tight. "Please be okay, little one," I whisper. "Mommy's going to find a way out of this."
But as the elevator reaches the bottom floor, I wonder if that's a promise I can keep.
- Writer
