57 Val’s Retreat

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

57: Val’s Retreat

Thirty-eight days later…

Germany…

“How did you sleep?” Pamela asked in German as Val sleepily trudged into the kitchen of the log cabin. It was a beautiful home that sat on a nice sized lake. Val spent most of her time on the back porch staring at that lake, trying to forget. Just forget.

“Okay.” She lied. She had another haunting dream. Of him.

“I think you should take something to help you sleep. You’re losing weight and-“

“Give it time, Pam. Nothing gets better overnight. Remember you told me that.” She took the cup of tea that her friend offered and thanked the woman with a kiss on the cheek. Then she went to her laptop on the kitchen table.

“Where’s Christophe?”

“Went out with Roger early this morning. Fishing again. Tiffany called. Said she got some weird activity with some of the contacts. Questions about you are rising from the families.”

Val groaned. “Domenic again?”

“She says its different but she’ll keep us updated.”

Val nodded and went through her email.

“You know your people can handle things, you don’t have to be involved. Just rest.”

“I need to do something. Need to…” Not think about Matt. “Get Domenic out of my system.”

“You got Domenic out of your system years ago. I know its something else. Why won’t you-“

An alarm sounded in the house. Perimeter alarm! Val pushed a button on her computer and brought up the security cameras to see who was intruding on private property.

A group of SUVs all black. “Shit!” Val jumped to her feet.

“Domenic?” Pam squeaked.

“Probably. Go. Don’t turn back.”

“But-“

“No. Find Christophe and Roger. And go.” Val ordered, taking the electronic tablet from the bookshelf in the living room. She woke the screen and viewed the surveillance on one side of the screen while waking up her roof mounted remotely controlled sniper rifle on the other side.

On screen, she watched the row of vehicles stop meters from the house, behind a line of hedges that separated the front yard from the gravel drive way. The drive was purposely built far from the house so that she could easily pick off any intruders one by one at that distance before they reached the house. She focused the cameras on the cars looking from window to tinted window. No one was moving.

Did they know she was watching and waiting for them?

“Christophe!”

A scream made Val’s heart stop. She entered commands to whirl the cameras toward the lake to see a little boy running from the woods toward the cabin.

Val dropped the tablet on the couch. Then she took off through the house.

“Mommy! Mommy! You can’t leave again! You can’t!”

Val grabbed the boy running through the front door. “Shhhh, baby, its okay, it okay.” She soothed hoping she wasn’t lying. “I’m here.”

Her little wiggler cried as Val held him hoping like hell that wasn’t Domenic.

Pam came running in behind the boy. “I tried-“

“Its fine.” She mouthed eyeing the locked gun rack. Pam nodded going for the guns. Val noticed the cars still sitting there. No one getting out.

She moved closer to the windows, keeping out of the line of sight. Peaking, she saw Roger strut to the first SUV as brave as a man who didn’t care if he died. And he didn’t. With his fishing gear and hat, he looked like he was just giving directions to someone who was lost.

One of the backdoors of the SUV opened. 

And out stepped Matt.

She couldn’t see him well from that distance, but she knew. Her heart hammered at the knowledge he was there. True to his word, he hunted her. And why did she love him for that? She couldn’t love him, not like this. Never like this.

Matt walked with Roger up to the house.

“Roger, that traitor…” She mumbled.

The front door opened and Roger grinned. “Ma’am, I brought a friend for breakfast. Pam, fire up the stove.” The man announced walking into the kitchen. Following him inside was the most handsome sight she’d seen in days. He looked a little tired, but held the same handsome charm she remembered.

Christophe had stopped crying, instead sucking his thumb as he looked at Matt with such curiosity. Val winced, I thought I got you to stop sucking your thumb… “Christophe… I’d like you to meet Matthew Delarosa. Matt, I’d like you to meet my other secret, Dean Christophe Andrews, my son.”

Matt’s eyebrows rose. “I thought…”

“What I wanted you to think… What I wanted everyone, especially Domenic to think.”

Matt nodded smiling down at the guy. “So he survived.”

“Barely.” Roger growled. “She was on bed rest the full term of her pregnancy. It made her rehab hell.”

Pam nodded. “But he’s our miracle,” she said proudly in heavily accented English.

“Are you going to speak Christophe?” Val looked down to find the boy sleep.

Matt chuckled. “Can…can we talk?” He asked shoving his hands in his pockets.

She nodded.

Pam came up to her and grab her son. “Don’t take too long. The pancakes will be done shortly.”

“Thank you, Pam…Oh, um, Pam, this is-“

“No introductions needed.” Pam grinned up at Matt. “Big fan.”

Matt smiled his most charming at her. “Thank you.”

Pam gushed. Roger rolled his eyes.

Val waved him to the back porch. They walked down the steps toward the lake.

“I’ve missed you,” Matt said looking down at her.

“Matt…” She missed him too, but she shouldn’t… they couldn’t…

“I know you’re my sister.”

“Then you understand why… Why we should have never…” She couldn’t even put it into words.

“Did you miss me?” He asked as if she had said nothing.

Yes, yes… “Yes.”

“Then why can’t we?”

She stopped walking and breathing. “What?”

“Why can’t we be what we want to be?”

“It’s wrong!” She nearly shouted.

“Why?” Matt just stared at her.

“Because I’m your sister. And I killed our father.”

“Fuck him. I’m talking about us. Don’t let him ruin us. No one knows the truth.”

“Domenic knows.”

“But its his word. And his word alone. Plus, I’m dying to kill the bastard so if he spills the beans I’ll have a reason.”

“My little boy is the reason I can’t kill Domenic. That’s his father.”

“Yet you haven’t told him.”

Val dropped her head. “How do you tell a bastard like Domenic he has the sweetest little boy? How? Knowing that if you told, he’d demand the child and the mother to live under him. I can’t let my son be raised like… I don’t want him to be like Domenic.”

Matt’s arms came around her and she found herself leaning into him, head on his shoulder. 

She missed him so much. He was like air in her lungs. “Why did you have to be my brother?”

Matt didn’t answer for a long time as he just held her. The he said, “What if I wasn’t?”

“Too late.”

“Then pretend I’m not.”

He made it sound so simple. And she was tempted, so tempted to just pretend. Wish it all away. How many times had she considered over the past days never to say a word and keep the secret to herself just to be with Matt? And yet when she thought of her son she wondered what the truth, should it ever come out, would do to him?

“Cody’s dating Bailey to help protect my family.”

She looked up to see Matt’s grim expression. “Bailey and Cody are friends. Best friends nothing more. And yes she is carrying Bailey’s child. Artificial insemination, because Bailey wants children. And Tyler. He wants Tyler.”

Val frowned not understanding that last part.

“And Tyler wants Bailey. That’s why our father disowned us.” Matt watched her carefully. “And I want you.”

Bailey…and his brother…

Val pulled away from Matt staring at him in shock. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words. Her stomach started churning. Brothers… The brothers and… Oh, shit. And she was… “Is this some…a joke!” She snapped whirling around to run, but she spun too fast and lost her balance falling onto her butt. “This…wh-what?” She blinked back the tears, disbelief, and.. and…why couldn’t she breathe? Before her brain could catch up to control her reaction, darkness took over.

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.