more money than they knew what to do with, though they never parted with it unless
they got something in return. In the Sheppard family, charity rhymes with “what’s
in it fo r me?”
But a daughter coming home pregnant … this would be worse than having a son who was
a troublemaker and a drug addict. Of course, my mother had gotten pregnant with me
after she’d had an affair with my then-married father. But this was different. Cameron
could not bring my father’s company a highly sought-after international merger as
my mother’s well-to-do family had. The ultimate shame for the Sheppard family wasn’t
getting pregnant; it was getting pregnant for no reason , without any financial gain to the family. The child growing inside me was worthless
to them.
The thought of anyone thinking, let alone saying, my child to be worthless made me
immediately stop crying. I clenched my fists and eventually flipped onto my back,
lacing my hands behind my head and watching the stars on my ceiling a gain.
Victor and Spider would come, eventually. Before dropping me off at home, Spider had
put forward that they couldn’t touch me because of who I was—because sooner or later,
someone would notice that the heir to the Sheppard empire was missing, and this would
be big news, something the underworld would avoid at all cost. But this didn’t change
the fact that I would always be a threat to them. I knew too much; I had seen too
much. I was a loose end, and loose ends did not exist in the underworld. Victor and
Spider were just waiting for an opportunity. Timing was everything with these people.
Like my parents, they were only out for themse lves.
My child belonged nowhere. Not in my parents’ world and certainly not in the underworld.
But there was still my world, wherever that was. I brought my hands to my belly and
whispered, “I love you.” Because I did, more than anyone, anything, and everything
else in the w orld.
Cameron’s voice suddenly echoed in my head. “Sometimes the person you love is killed
just because you love them.” I shot up as though a tarantula had crept onto my pi llow.
My child, Cameron’s child, might not have had any value in my parents’ world, but
in the underworld, this child was priceless. If they wanted to shut me up—quietly—my
child would be their leverage. If they couldn’t come for me, they would come for the
former drug lord’s child. Of this, I was cer tain.
Everyone in my life would sooner or later leave me. Even Cameron had given up. I would
do what Cameron didn’t. What he woul dn’t.
I would stay and f ight.
All the money in the world could not have made my own mother love me or even give
me a second thought. I had no idea how to be a mother, but I would try; I would do
everything in my power to be a good one. Like the mother fish, I would fight for both
of our survival, until my last br eath.
I went from counting stars to counting fingers. According to my calculation, I was
about two months pregnant. Killing Spider and Victor was still an absolute. But I had to kill them before they figured out my little secret. Time
was running wild.
I fell asleep with one hand on my belly and the other on my chest. My index finger
was entwined in the chain that Bill had given me before he died.
****
I was awoken in the afternoon by my cell phone ringing. The caller ID warned me who
was cal ling.
“Jeremy?” I answered, half asleep, half incredu lous.
“You owe me big-time,” Jeremy said. “I found you a job in the admissions office. You
have a meet and greet with the admissions director on Monday. It’s not in one of the
departments, but at least it’ll look good on your re sume.”
If Jeremy had been in front of me, I would have kissed him.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t get too excited. You’re mostly going to be stuffing envelopes and carting mail
back and forth. And the pay sucks.
they got something in return. In the Sheppard family, charity rhymes with “what’s
in it fo r me?”
But a daughter coming home pregnant … this would be worse than having a son who was
a troublemaker and a drug addict. Of course, my mother had gotten pregnant with me
after she’d had an affair with my then-married father. But this was different. Cameron
could not bring my father’s company a highly sought-after international merger as
my mother’s well-to-do family had. The ultimate shame for the Sheppard family wasn’t
getting pregnant; it was getting pregnant for no reason , without any financial gain to the family. The child growing inside me was worthless
to them.
The thought of anyone thinking, let alone saying, my child to be worthless made me
immediately stop crying. I clenched my fists and eventually flipped onto my back,
lacing my hands behind my head and watching the stars on my ceiling a gain.
Victor and Spider would come, eventually. Before dropping me off at home, Spider had
put forward that they couldn’t touch me because of who I was—because sooner or later,
someone would notice that the heir to the Sheppard empire was missing, and this would
be big news, something the underworld would avoid at all cost. But this didn’t change
the fact that I would always be a threat to them. I knew too much; I had seen too
much. I was a loose end, and loose ends did not exist in the underworld. Victor and
Spider were just waiting for an opportunity. Timing was everything with these people.
Like my parents, they were only out for themse lves.
My child belonged nowhere. Not in my parents’ world and certainly not in the underworld.
But there was still my world, wherever that was. I brought my hands to my belly and
whispered, “I love you.” Because I did, more than anyone, anything, and everything
else in the w orld.
Cameron’s voice suddenly echoed in my head. “Sometimes the person you love is killed
just because you love them.” I shot up as though a tarantula had crept onto my pi llow.
My child, Cameron’s child, might not have had any value in my parents’ world, but
in the underworld, this child was priceless. If they wanted to shut me up—quietly—my
child would be their leverage. If they couldn’t come for me, they would come for the
former drug lord’s child. Of this, I was cer tain.
Everyone in my life would sooner or later leave me. Even Cameron had given up. I would
do what Cameron didn’t. What he woul dn’t.
I would stay and f ight.
All the money in the world could not have made my own mother love me or even give
me a second thought. I had no idea how to be a mother, but I would try; I would do
everything in my power to be a good one. Like the mother fish, I would fight for both
of our survival, until my last br eath.
I went from counting stars to counting fingers. According to my calculation, I was
about two months pregnant. Killing Spider and Victor was still an absolute. But I had to kill them before they figured out my little secret. Time
was running wild.
I fell asleep with one hand on my belly and the other on my chest. My index finger
was entwined in the chain that Bill had given me before he died.
****
I was awoken in the afternoon by my cell phone ringing. The caller ID warned me who
was cal ling.
“Jeremy?” I answered, half asleep, half incredu lous.
“You owe me big-time,” Jeremy said. “I found you a job in the admissions office. You
have a meet and greet with the admissions director on Monday. It’s not in one of the
departments, but at least it’ll look good on your re sume.”
If Jeremy had been in front of me, I would have kissed him.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t get too excited. You’re mostly going to be stuffing envelopes and carting mail
back and forth. And the pay sucks.
Similar Books
