Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (75 page)

There were a couple of
places in California I wanted to look at, as well as a college where I could
finish my degree. Unfortunately, I didn’t work fast enough. Before I could move
on with my life, father dragged me back in, this time unconsciously. "I needed
a healthy warm body" he had said to me in the limo.

My good behavior paid
off at six and a half months pregnant. I was allowed to walk around the grounds
of the house. I didn’t push it at first. I may no longer be my father’s willing
puppet, but he had taught me well. I observed and devised my plan.

Seven months pregnant,
I suggested being allowed to go shopping for the baby. My father was reluctant,
but allowed it, as long as Karl and Rashand were nearby. Given the fact my
father rarely thought of the opposite sex, unless he needed a young girl to
fuck him for a night or he needed to use someone like me, I assumed a dressing
room would be my best opportunity.

While we were out, I
purchased multiple baby items with my father’s money. I purchased an entire
baby suite of furniture; crib, dresser, armoire, changing table, rocking chair,
etc. Then I picked out bedding, blankets, sheets, stuffed animals, etc.

Then I walked into a
maternity boutique and picked out some clothes. Karl tried to follow, but the attendant
quickly stopped him.

"Sir, you can’t go
back there." She put her hand on his chest.

I felt Karl eye me
intently as I headed into the changing room, but I didn’t look back. I was sure
he wouldn't physically restrain me in public.

Having grabbed about
twenty different items, I hung them all on the hook behind the door. However,
the only clothes that mattered were the two pairs of maternity jeans and the
maternity cotton pants, along with the three cotton shirts. I slid the one pair
of jeans on and one of the shirts; grabbing the other four items and stuffing
them into my oversized purse.

Once I dressed, it took
a few moments for me to clear my head and get the courage to do what came next.
After a couple of deep breaths, as I held my stomach and clutched my purse, I
squared my shoulders and peeked out from behind the curtain. Karl stood with
his back to the dressing room, so I moved quickly to the other side, where I
wouldn’t be visible. Then I saw what I hoped was there, the emergency exit. I
ran through the door and never looked back.

Reaching my apartment,
the doorman gave me the spare key after feeding him a story about losing my
purse. I knew I was shaking, and he was eyeing me strangely. Grabbing the key
quickly, I rushed the elevator and into my apartment.

Knowing there wasn’t
much time, I grabbed a backpack and one large luggage bag. I threw clothes
including the new ones, fake identification credentials (being Gideon’s
daughter had some perks), and other items into my bag. Then grabbing my laptop,
I put it in my back pack. Lastly, I grabbed the seventy five thousand dollars I
had slowly accumulated in cash. Luckily, I still had my father’s credit cards
in my purse as well. With one quick call to two different Taxi services, I took
a deep breath and a quick look around my apartment before making my escape.

I knew this would be
dangerous, but I also knew the elevator and stairs were possibly being watched
at this very moment, my father moved fast. Climbing through the window at the
end of my hallway, I climbed down the fire escape to the street. When my feet
hit the ground, passer-byers stared at me curiously. But these strangers were
the least of my worries.

The one taxi listened
and parked in the alley to wait for me. I slid in quickly, telling him to take
me to the airport. When we pulled up, I threw three hundred dollars into the
front seat and rushed through the glass doors of the airport.

Inside the airport, I
went to a ticket machine, skipping the customer service people. Purchasing four
tickets on my father’s credit card, one to Paris, one to Italy, one to England,
and another to Canada, I threw them in the garbage next to me. Finally, I
purchased one ticket to Spain in cash at the service desk using my fake
credentials. It was the only flight leaving in thirty minutes, so that was the
flight I was taking. From Spain, I would catch a flight to my final
destination.

Getting through
security was simple. It seemed they didn’t want to hassle the pregnant woman
too much. I didn’t start to settle until the plane lifted off of the ground.
After I lay back and slept.

Once in Spain, I made
transportation arrangements to travel by boat to Italy. From Italy I was flying
to Germany. The whole thing was going perfect, better than I hoped. That was
true until I reached Italy. Quickly, I realized the mistake when I saw my Uncle
Calvin and his men in the airport. Internally cursing myself, I maneuvered as
best as I could.

Finding a restroom, I
hid in there for thirty minutes while I dug for a new set of credentials. Once
I was all set, I pulled on a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. I knew it wasn’t
the best disguise, but it was all I had and I had gotten too far to just give
up.

I made it to the
service desk and got my ticket to Germany. The biggest issue was that I had two
hours before the flight, so I had to hide and avoid. Quickly I retreated to the
same bathroom that I had already been in. My nerves were on edge with every
person that I heard enter the restroom.

Eventually I had to
move, so I left the bathroom. I almost came face to face with one of my uncle’s
associates
so I wrapped my arm in a strange man’s and began smiling up
at him with a small quiet laugh. Hoping that seeing me as a part of a couple
would cause them to skip passed me. It worked and I let go of the strange man
that looked at me as if I were crazy. Two women’s restrooms and one men’s room
became my hideouts for an hour.

When I got back through
security I knew I would have fewer options for hiding, but I settled on an
airport bar. Sitting in the far back, behind a group of business men I was able
to keep hidden. I quickly ordered a sandwich and chips because I was starting
to feel sick. Finishing only half of my food, they called my flight. At first I
hesitated and then at the last minute I rushed to board the flight. The moment
we were in the air I felt more at ease. I relaxed enough to sleep the flight.

In Germany, I knew who
I was looking for, but I didn’t know where. Pulling out my laptop in a small
airport coffee shop, I connected. After searching around on the internet I
found a couple of people who fit, so I would have to go around and try to
figure out which was the correct person.

Walking up the second
cobble stone pathway, toward a large stone house, my nerves almost made me
throw up on the spot. I got to the door and knocked. Unable to stop fidgeting,
I tried calming deep breaths. The door opened and I looked into a vaguely
familiar face.

"Oh my!" The
elderly woman exclaimed and put her hand on her heart. "L-Loreley?"

I nodded. Tears filled
her eyes and she reached for me, pulling me into a large hug. I knew that I was
stiff in her arms, but I still wasn’t sure who she was and even though I
searched them out I was a nervous wreck.

"You know who I
am?" I barely whispered.

"Of course I do.
You are the spitting image of your mother, my sister." She smiled warmly
at me and pulled me into the house. "Are you well?" She studied me
intently and her eyes shifting to my round stomach.

I broke down into sobs.
She cradled me into her arms and walked me to a large sofa in front of a large
fire. I cried until I fell asleep in her arms. After waking, I told her
everything.

She was crying freely.
"I knew that cold bastard was the reason she did it."

"Y-you knew that
she killed herself?" I looked at her confused.

"Yes, dear."
She sighed. "We all knew, and we were sure that your father had something
to do with it, but we could never prove that he drove her to it." She
pulled me into another hug. "I am so sorry that he has manipulated you for
so long."

"I chose to live
that life." I shrugged and sniffed.

"No, dear." I
looked up to her. "You were raised and brainwashed into that life. He did
it to your mother and when she couldn’t take it anymore he drove her to kill
herself." She went on to tell me of my mother. How independent she had
been until my father got his claws in her.

At first he was sweet
and kind, but after they married he forced her to do things that she wouldn’t
tell anyone about. Except one night, when she was pregnant she arrived at my
Aunt Beth’s house. He wanted her to seduce a man for him, whatever it took. She
was appalled that he wanted his pregnant wife to sleep with another man.

When he finally
convinced my mother to return to him, he hit her and emotionally attacked her,
she lost the baby. Eventually, she became pregnant again, with me, but his
attacks and requests never deterred. She complied out of fear, until she
couldn’t take any more. That’s when she tried to leave him. She tried to take
me, but he prevented it. My mother got away, but he followed her, never giving
up. Eventually she realized the only way that she would be free was death. So
she killed herself.

I cried myself to sleep
that night, thinking over everything that my aunt had told me.

Luckily there was a
midwife in the small village and I was able to give birth in my aunt’s home,
without going anywhere near a hospital. I had also been lucky that there were
no complications with me or with my son. He was beautiful and my heart broke at
the thought of my father finding me with him. I knew that he would take him
from me and manipulate him as he had done with me. So my tears were of joy, but
also fear, fear for my son, Cole.

Once he was three
months old, I knew that I needed to move on. My father would still be looking
for us. I was surer now, after my aunt’s story of my mother. At three months
old my son had auburn hair, which I was sure was an Iverson trait, and my blue
eyes. His hair was not the exact color of Lilli’s children, but I could see the
Iverson features appearing on his face as he grew. However, my features
remained quite dominant themselves, my nose and face shape.

We traveled to
Switzerland and Norway, spending a month in each place. Then we moved on to
Japan. In such a mass population in Japan, I knew that I could probably hide
really well. We lived here for two months.

It was at the end of
this time that I decided that I would write to Lilli. I needed her to know
everything and to understand what happened, even if she hated me for it, she
would know that Aidan was not to blame. So, I wrote the letter. Telling her
about how I had fallen into my father’s lifestyle and how I had originally gone
along with my father’s plan. Then I wanted her to know how much she meant to me
and how she helped me to see that I could be a better person, m than my father
ever allowed me to think.

I wanted her to know
everything, about my father, my mother, and about my son. After apologizing
profusely for all of the pain and heartache that I had brought to her, I
promised to never bother her again. In the end, only Lilli knew me better than
anyone ever had. To keep from being tracked, I mailed the sealed letter to my
aunt and asked her to forward the letter from Germany for me as I traveled to a
new location.

I also decided to
arrange for some things to be sent out to Liam and to their family lawyer, to
make sure my father couldn’t get his hands on their family company. My future
goal was to collect criminal evidence against my father and expose him. I knew
that it was a long shot, especially with me running every month. However, I
wanted for him to be locked away for the rest of his life. Though, deep down, I
knew that Cole and I would still not be safe.

Before leaving Japan I
cut my hair extremely short and died it red this time. I purchased some green
contact lenses and had fake nails put on. This time we were moving on to
Morocco. It was the layover that changed our route to Iceland.

W once again ran into
my father's accomplices. I caught sight of Marcus instructing three men and one
woman. I froze and held Cole to me tightly. Standing back and getting lost in a
crowd of college students I watched as they examined women with children. I
noticed that they were paying closer attention to female travelers with babies.

Quickly I moved into
the closest restroom and put Cole into the baby sling that I had, pulling an
oversized sweatshirt over my head and over him. Thankfully he was sleeping
right now and the sling usually helped him to sleep when he wasn't. I slipped
on a baseball cap and walked out of the men's room.

I was almost sprinting
to the service desk where I quickly made new travel arrangements to Iceland,
under a different name. Iceland was getting ready to board, so I knew that if I
could get on the plane I was good to go. Once I had my ticket in my hand I
could feel Cole stir.

"Shit" I
groaned quietly and started to walk with mounting speed toward my gate.

"Loreley!" I
heard a man scream my name, but I held strong and didn’t even flinch. I was not
Loreley. I was Caroline Hayes. However, I did increase my pace. "LORELEY
STOP!" The voice was closer and I grabbed Cole tightly to my chest,
sprinting to security.