Invidious Betrayal (48 page)

“I’m fine, beautiful.” Ian assured her as he folded her in his arms while she sobbed.

“Is it finally over?” she sniffed.

Richard went to speak to another group of soldiers, giving them privacy.

Is it over
? Vincent was still alive, but would he ultimately survive what had happened in his office? And if he died, would this insanity of illegal research die with him? It was something Ian decided that he would need to deal with later.

“Let’s get you to the hospital.” Ian laid his hand over her stomach. “I want to make sure you and our baby are doing fine.”

December 29
th
, 2012

I
T HAD BEEN FIVE AND
a half agonizing hours since Aria had been admitted. Ian glanced over at Mr. Cole, who sat rigid in one of the lobby chairs across from him. Aria’s father was as worried as he was, if the number of times the man moved from one chair to the next was any indication.

And as if on cue, Mr. Cole stood, stretched, walked over to the waiting room entry arch to peek up the hall, then sat in another chair. It had been one of eight the man had occupied already.

“This waiting is hell,” Mr. Cole groaned.

Ian tried not to panic. So he focused on how close Aria and her parents were and hoped that one day he would be just as close with his children. Over the past few months, he’d paid close attention to the Coles, the Morels, and even his father and brother. Each of the families had their strengths. The Coles loved, accepted, and supported without condition. The Morels embraced tradition, celebrated and respected their differences, and found strength in their closeness.

Then there were the Howls. If he had to sum up his family a year ago, he wouldn’t have even mentioned them in the same category as the others. Hell, he didn’t even see them as a family at all then.
Now we are
, Ian thought as he looked over at his father sleeping in the uncomfortable chair that was truly not what a man of his wealth and status was used to. Richard sat beside their father, reading an outdated
Sports Illustrated
magazine.

Ian had come to understand that in a true family things weren’t always perfect, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t loved. And that you were going to make mistakes but one should never allow the opportunity to forgive pass them by. It was true that if he wasn’t related to his family, he would probably not have chosen them as friends. But something had brought them together, connected them for a lifetime. A lifetime he wouldn’t squander.

Ian often shut down his enhanced hearing and he had done so now because even though he would like to hear what was going on with Aria, using it in a hospital was hell. So he relied on natural senses, though it was hard.

His gaze moved around the room. His Uncle François and his wife Roxanne were talking by the water cooler. Tanner was seated near them, holding a sleeping Mandy close in his arms. Uncle Michael had gone to the cafeteria with Selene, while Aunt Alexis was seated between Poppa Morel and Grams as she tried to show them how to navigate the latest tech product. Ian wanted to laugh when Grams Morel’s eyes lit up over the simplest things modern electronic toys were capable of.

Mr. Cole scrubbed his hand over his face and Ian wondered how he had managed to not remove any skin from all the times he’d rubbed it. “You’d think she would have given us an update or something.”

“I’ll go check again,” Richard offered and stood. He disappeared behind one of the walls.

Ian lowered his face in his hands and closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. The weight of a firm hand gripped his shoulder, bringing his head up. He looked over to find his father sitting next to him. Concern, love, and understanding glowed in Victor’s eyes.

In his father’s eyes, Ian saw all the words that were unsaid.

“Thanks for being here,” Ian said, laying his hand over Victor’s.

A smile, something rarely seen when not in front of cameras, stretched across Victor’s face. “For you, son, I would do anything.”

And he had.

HowlTech Aftermath

Ian
knew they would be coming for him but… “I’m not leaving-”

“No one’s asking you to leave Aria or the hospital,” Richard had interrupted as he ushered Ian down the hall. “Father wants to know what happened, so he knows how to handle this
situation
.”

I’m sure he wants to know what happened.

Ian had been deep in thought as they went through a set of double doors, down a long hallway, and made a right. Richard motioned to a door that sign read, Conference Room Three
.
He was bloody, his clothing torn, and had no idea how to explain what just happened at HowlTech.

Ian turned the knob, but the door was locked. Richard shrugged then knocked on it. A few seconds later, the door opened and Ian was face to face with the man he’d called his father since the day he was able to speak the word. Only the face he was looking at didn’t have that refreshed, just-from-the-spa look it always had.

His father’s hair wasn’t perfect like it usually was either. The usual silvery gray now looked faded, giving off an almost yellow hue. He must have rubbed his hands through it several times, because the style he wore now was homeless alcoholic versus his usual pampered politician look.

A rolling television cart with a DVD player sat near a black/white board on the wall. Several discs were scattered at the end of the long conference table where a chair had been pulled out to face the television screen. Ian was sure these were the security tapes from HowlTech. Two questions went through Ian’s mind: how much had his father seen on the tapes, and what did he plan to do with that information?

Senator Victor Howl had a stellar record. He was known for his honesty, integrity, and no-nonsense views on crime. He was so clean that several high-profile journalists, talk show hosts, and opposing political figures had previously offered compensation for damaging information on him that could be proven. Needless to say, no one was able to find anything on his father other than a speeding ticket that he’d gotten when he was twenty years old.

So…what was his squeaky-clean father going to do to with what he’d found out?

Ian took a deep breath, but tried not to let on how nervous he truly was. Besides, he really didn’t know how much his father knew. Then he noticed that his father avoided eye contact with him. Hell, he hadn’t looked him in the face when he’d opened the door either.
Guilt
, Ian had decided. His father was feeling guilty. That meant his father must have watched the disk where Vincent told Ian who was his biological father.

“How is Aria doing?” Victor asked.

Ian didn’t respond until his father looked up and their eyes met. “She’ll be fine.”

Victor nodded as he ran his hand through his hair again. Ian had never seen his father so nervous.

“Good. Good, that’s good, Ian.” Victor nodded. “Leave us Richard.” Victor waited for his eldest son to leave before he sat down. He shifted in the chair. “Good,” he mumbled again.

Ian looked over his shoulder to watch his brother leave.

“I… I don’t,” Victor began, but stopped. “I… I didn’t know. I mean to say that what Vincent, your mother, and I, well we—” Victor rubbed his face.

Save him from this. It didn’t mean anything,
Ian told himself while his father/uncle tried to find the right words. Being told who his biological father is hadn’t changed anything, so why make the people he loved suffer? And that’s when it hit him. He loved this man in front of him regardless of his distance throughout the years, his strict rules, and expectations.

“Dad, Aria’s pregnant,” Ian interrupted. “The baby is mine.”

Victor raised his head, mouth gaping open, eyes glaring at Ian with confusion. Then, as he realized the significance of all of Ian’s words, Victor straightened. A silent sense of understanding passed between them. There would be no talk of who his biological father was. Things would be as they had always been.

Well, hopefully not
exactly
as they’d always been.

“Do you care for her?” Victor asked, sounding almost like his normal self again.

Ian had to smile. What he felt for Aria was way beyond caring, way beyond love, but there was no way to explain it, so he opted for a simple, “Yes, I love her more than I ever thought possible.” Ian sighed and continued. “That’s why I’m asking that you care for my child when I’m sent away.” Ian didn’t feel a need to ask whose custody he would be handed over to; it would be either the prison system or the medical labs. They were really the same, if he thought about it.

“Sent away?” Victor asked. He actually looked confused.

“I figured since you’ve seen the surveillance videos that I would be—”

“I did see them. All of them,” Victor said solemnly, looking at Ian as if he didn’t quite see him. Then his eyes focused. “But unfortunately those discs seemed to have gotten damaged.” Victor piled the discs on top of each other, then slid them toward Ian, as far as his arm would allow. He raised a brow and waited.

Ian lifted his hand and beckoned the discs to him, understanding his father more clearly in this moment than he ever had in his life. The DVD’s soared in the air before settling into Ian’s hand. His father gasped, his mouth staying slightly open, but Ian didn’t look up. Instead, he clenched and rubbed his fingers over the small stack of discs until they were like sand in his hand.

“Does it hurt?”

Ian looked at his father, not understanding the question he’d just asked.

“What Vincent has done to you, does it hurt?”

Ian was floored by the display of sympathy he’d never seen before from his father. Unable to answer for fear of revealing too much emotion in his words, he shook his head.

“Good.” Victor nodded. The silence between them grew uncomfortable. It lasted for what felt like forever, but in reality it had only been seconds. Then Victor spoke. “Your uncle, uh Vincent, is in a coma. It seems that he and Jasper had a disagreement. Vincent didn’t want you or Aria hurt or separated. I don’t know exactly what happened while I was away. Vincent was determined to get what he wanted no matter who he harmed, but I can say for certain that he would never have hurt you. In the end, my brother fought for you, Aria, and the baby.”

“It sounds like you’ve forgiven him,” Ian said, making sure he kept the emotions he felt out of his words.

A shadow seemed to cross his father’s face. “My brother may not go about getting what he wants the proper way, but he is loyal to a fault. He has always been there when I needed him.”

Ian considered what his father said, comparing it to what he knew about Vincent, but didn’t speak.

“I just want to say that I know being my son hasn’t been easy…but—”

“Dad, you don’t have to—”

Victor shook his head. “I want you to know that I have always loved you Ian. I’ve blamed myself for what happened to your mother, and you were the one that suffered. I am sorry for that. You are like her in so many ways that…” His voice broke but he managed to continue, “I will do better. I swear it.”

Ian sucked in a shaky breath. He rubbed the wetness from his eyes as the weight of being a burden lifted off his shoulders.

Present