Chapter 7 - THE PROMISE HE BROKE
“Why?”
Luka stood by the window.
“Because Samuel knew what my family would do if they discovered you were connected to me.”
“Yet here you are.”
“I broke the promise when you became pregnant.”
“Why then?”
“Because Daniel contacted Victor.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“When?”
“Eight months before your pregnancy.”
My legs nearly gave out.
The procedure.
The photograph.
The vial.
Everything had started with Daniel.
“Why would my husband contact Victor Moretti?”
“Money.”
Luka handed me financial records.
Daniel had been drowning in debt.
Gambling.
Bad investments.
Loans.
Nearly $900,000.
I had known nothing.
Victor erased every dollar.
Three weeks later, Daniel brought me to a fertility clinic after my miscarriage.
I stared at the numbers.
“He traded me.”
“Yes.”
“For money.”
“Yes.”
I wanted to cry.
Instead, I became furious.
“Then we're going to that laboratory.”
“No.”
“Daniel is there.”
“The man sold you.”
“He still knows things.”
“Price can handle it.”
“Victor specifically asked for me.”
“Which is why you're staying here.”
I stepped closer.
“You don't control me.”
Luka stared down at me.
“No.”
“Then stop acting like you do.”
Something almost like respect crossed his face.
“Your father used to say exactly that.”
“Stop talking about my father like you knew him better than I did.”
Pain flashed across Luka's face.
“I knew him during the years he was trying to keep you alive.”
“What?”
Silence.
I grabbed his jacket.
“What did you say?”
Luka closed his eyes.
“You were sick as a child.”
“No.”
“You don't remember because you were three.”
“My mother said I had pneumonia.”
“You had the same immune disorder I did.”
I released him.
“No.”
“Samuel used a modified version of M-17 on you.”
I backed away.
“That's why the sequence is inside me.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why Victor needed me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't my father tell me?”
“Because he wanted you to have a normal life.”
I laughed through tears.
“How'd that work out?”
Luka had no answer.
The DNA results arrived at 2:06 a.m.
Evelyn opened them.
She read once.
Then again.
“What?” I demanded.
She looked at Luka.
Then at me.
“Daniel is not Emma's biological father.”
I already knew that possibility.
My heart still hurt.
“And Luka?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Luka is a genetic match.”
My knees weakened.
“How strong?”
“99.998 percent.”
Silence.
Luka stared at Emma.
For the first time, the terrifying tattooed man looked completely defenseless.
“She’s mine?”
Evelyn nodded.
“She is your biological daughter.”
I covered my mouth.
Then Evelyn looked back at the report.
“But there's something else.”
“What?”
“Emma carries a genetic marker that neither of you possesses.”
Luka frowned.
“How is that possible?”
May you like
Evelyn's voice dropped.
“It shouldn't be.”
