Page 77

REN

Roanoke, Virginia

“ T he bullet pierced her right lung. She lost a lot of blood, but she’s young and healthy.” Dr. Fan was still dressed in surgical scrubs with a blue cap over her salt-and-pepper hair.

“Can I see her?” Ren asked.

“She won’t be conscious, but yes. One person at a time,” she cautioned, looking over Ren’s shoulder at the anxious Bishop Security team behind him.

The doctor gave Ren a probing look. “Are you her husband? Partner?”

“Does it matter?” he asked.

“No, I was just curious if Ms. Keen was in a relationship.”

Ren furrowed his brow at the odd question, but his confusion was shelved by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Senator Peter Branch.

“Dr. Jameson, may I speak with you.”

Stella

S tella was scanning the room for exits when the doctor appeared in the doorway. “You’re a lucky woman, Ms. Keen.”

Stella sat back on the pillows and winced. “Debatable.”

“I’m Doctor Fan.” The efficient woman with kind eyes walked past the first empty bed and stood beside her. “You’ll be back on your feet in a day or two. You’re on a course of IV antibiotics, and we’ll do a scan of that lung tomorrow to make sure it’s healing properly.”

When Stella nodded, the doctor added, “Ms. Keen, are you aware you’re pregnant?”

“What?”

The doctor looked at the tablet in her hand. “I take it that’s a ‘no.’”

“What?”

“Before surgery, we do a routine check of hCG levels in your blood. You’re fairly far along. I can’t be sure without an ultrasound, but I’d say at least ten weeks.”

“That can’t be right. I’ve had my period.”

The doctor replied, “It was probably routine implantation bleeding or some minor spotting.”

Stella traced the timeline. She and Ren had used protection every time they were together. Ten weeks? Who was she ten weeks ago? Then it hit her. Sabrina Kittridge. The hotel room floor. Her unforgettable deflowering.

The doctor continued, “I can give you some information regarding options.”

Stella couldn’t process the information. The only image in her mind was her sperm donor father rejecting her mother and sending her away with a check and a threat.

The doctor’s voice became a distant echo. “I’ve added prenatal vitamins to your medications.”

Fight or flee. Stella remembered her father pushing her away as she tumbled down the front steps of his grand home. The crushing sadness of his rejection broke her. Stella swore she’d never be in that position again.

When her mind returned to the present, Stella was alone in the shared room, holding a pregnancy pamphlet.

An orderly pushed a wheelchair through the door and helped a drowsy, white-haired woman into the adjacent bed. A second attendant followed, placing an overnight bag on the dresser beneath the mounted television.

Stella swiped at the tears on her cheeks, feeling like the angry fourteen-year-old she had once been. She loved Ren; she’d always loved him, but he didn’t feel the same. Beyond his sexual attraction, Ren had never once shared his feelings. It was the story of her childhood.

Her mother’s mistakes were a life lesson.

And Stella would never, ever repeat them.

REN

R en moved to the far corner of the empty office off the waiting room to ensure he was farther than arm’s length from Senator Branch because Ren wanted to snap this asshole’s neck.

His rage must have been apparent because Branch raised both hands in supplication.

“Before we go any further, let me say that Stella’s version of events may not be accurate. ”

“How so?”

Branch closed the door. “Look, my hands are not clean by any stretch of the imagination, but neither were her mother’s.

Uzma was young, maybe twenty, when she worked for us.

She developed a schoolgirl crush that devolved into an obsession.

I won’t deny that I strayed, but Uzma did everything she could to make it easy.

She got pregnant, which I believe was her intention, and demanded I leave my wife and marry her.

I refused but offered her anything else she wanted. ”

“Let me guess, a condo and the ability to quit working,” Ren said.

Branch nodded. “I set her up, and she cut me out of their lives. I had never even seen Stella before she showed up on my doorstep as a teenager.”

“And you threw her down the stairs.” Ren’s voice was even but deadly.

“God, what a mess.” Branch tugged at his graying hair.

“After ten years in the State Legislature, I’d just announced my first U.S.

Senate bid. Stella could not have chosen a worse time to appear.

The house was full of media for a press event.

My wife and kids were home. I panicked. I was just trying to get her out of there and contact her another time.

I turned her too forcefully, and she fell.

” Branch shook his head, swimming in regret.

“If you know about that, you also know Stella lit my house on fire.”

“She said garage,” Ren corrected.

“It’s attached. Anyway, Theo Stritch was an old friend from the military. At that point, Stella was serving time in juvie, and Theo offered her a way out.”

“Very fatherly,” Ren replied.

“It was a no-win situation. I tried to have a relationship—albeit distant—with Stella. I wrote to her when she was a child, although her mother may have destroyed the letters. I kept an eye on her throughout her career.” When Ren scoffed, Branch snapped, “How the hell do you think I discovered Theo was dirty? I was behind Stella every step of the way.” Branch collapsed into the empty guest chair.

“I confessed to my wife. She wants to meet Stella. I know it’s late, but I’d like to try to have a relationship with my daughter. ”

Ren sat on the edge of the desk and crossed his arms. “It’s not my decision to make.”

“I know.”

“I’m going in first,” Ren added.

Branch smirked. “I know that too.”

Ren stood and opened the door. “She may not have had a formal education, but don’t think for a second you can fool her.”

Branch looked at him. “Her I.Q. is higher than yours, by the way.”

Ren said as he walked out the door, “As I suspected.”