Chapter Twenty-seven
Utah
They were seated back in the living room. After feeding and taking care of her new friend, Gabby felt more centered. She couldn’t say she was one hundred percent ready to face all that lay before her, but she was further along than she had been. Putting it off wasn’t going to solve anything.
Jonah handed her a brown folder filled with a dozen or more pages. “Justice brought this with him yesterday.”
Her hands shook as she took the folder. So innocuous looking…so boring. But the information in it contained life-changing news.
“Do you want me to tell you what’s in it?”
“No…” She drew in a deep, bracing breath. “I need to do this myself.”
“Most of the pages are Antonia’s records. You’ve probably already read everything. The last page is information we got elsewhere.”
She knew what that meant. Just the thought brought bile surging up her throat. Hiding from the truth would do no good. She had to know everything. Even though she already knew, she had to be sure.
She opened the folder, quickly reviewed the notes she’d already read, and then flipped to the back page. She held her breath as she read the three sentences.
Two guards confirmed your suspicions. Several weeks ago, two of Luis Mendoza’s men came to the prison and retrieved a package from Rudy Bianchi. Without a doubt, he is the sperm donor.
The blunt words stabbed into her with the precision of a steel pipe, causing massive damage. She surged to her feet and slammed the folder with the vulgar, offensive information onto the floor. She gazed around wildly, needing an escape. She had to get out of here. Had to go somewhere…anywhere but where this hideous, outrageously disgusting piece of information resided.
Hands gripped her shoulders and squeezed firmly. “It’s going to be all right, Gabby. Do you hear me? No matter what happens, everything will be all right.”
“I need some air.”
“Of course.” His hands gentle on her shoulders, he steered her toward the door and opened it. Walking out on the porch with her, he looked over his shoulder at the pup wagging his tail hopefully. “Do you want to take him with you?”
She glanced down at her new friend. He looked so trusting, so very sweet. If she took him, he would comfort her, but she knew without a doubt she would scare him. She anticipated some major screaming and crying. He didn’t need to see that. She didn’t want anyone to witness the meltdown that was coming.
“No. I need to be alone.”
“I know you need solitude. But don’t go too far.”
She barely acknowledged his warning with a nod as she strode down the steps. The sky was slightly overcast, and a cool breeze blew in her face. She was dressed in jeans and a sweater, so she was fine for now. She might get cold later, but she couldn’t stand the thought of going back inside for a coat. She had to get away now. She had to think. She needed to breathe.
She walked around the perimeter of the lake. It wasn’t a large body of water but was pretty and peaceful. Her frozen mind didn’t allow for coherent thought quite yet. The wind was blowing, and the tall trees swayed, rustling the leaves. Birds cawed and tweeted above her, while small woodland creatures foraged in the underbrush for food or shelter.
She absorbed the sounds of nature, of innocence. There were no worries, no concern or awareness of evil. Their goals were simplistic, survival in its purest form. But they were wary, too. Danger lurked, and while they focused on their main goals, they were aware of outside forces that could rob them of their lives.
And she, with supposedly higher intelligence, hadn’t been aware enough to prevent the horrendous thing that had been done to her. How had she not seen this coming? Okay, maybe not the actual event—because, who in the world would even consider such a disgusting act? But she should have seen something coming. People, to her grandfather, were lesser beings created to serve him in some capacity.
How dare he? How dare anyone think they had a right to do this to someone? Her mind went to Antonia. They had never been close. Antonia was more than a decade older and had never been overly friendly with her. But she—
No! Gabriella whirled around, shoved her hands through her hair, and yanked hard. No. She would not blame Antonia. She wasn’t the one at fault. Her cousin had been following the directives of an evil, sadistic monster.
If Antonia had not done as directed, she would have been punished, maybe even killed. Her family would likely have been threatened, too. Antonia had two young sons. Like any mother, she would have done anything to protect her children, even something as hideous as this.
Luis Mendoza was responsible for this repulsive act. And Rudolph Bianchi.
What had they hoped to accomplish? A child with both their bloodlines? For what purpose? What reason? She wasn’t royalty. Had no bloodline that needed to be preserved. For what reason would they even want to share a great-grandchild? From what she could remember, they weren’t even friends.
Her hand went to her stomach, and for the first time, she allowed herself to absorb the consequences of this vile act. She might be pregnant. With Rudy Bianchi’s child. She had no knowledge of this kind of procedure, no idea of the success rate with just one treatment. Did it take more than one? She would do research, she would study. She would find out and she would—
A baby. It hit her then. An innocent child who had no control over who conceived it or how it came about might be inside of her, depending on her to keep it safe.
As her mind unfroze and her thoughts became more coherent, one alarming truth became apparent. They would never stop looking for her. If Luis and Rudolph had gone to these lengths, there was no way either of them would ever quit. She had believed, stupidly, that her grandfather would eventually stop looking. That at some point, he would accept that she could not be found and would give up. After all, it wasn’t as if there had been any affection there. But that was before she knew he wanted to use her in this odd, sickening way.
She drew in a breath. All right. She now knew everything. What had been done…what they wanted from her. There was no going back. The real question was, what was she going to do about the future? They might have gotten away with doing this thing, but she’d be damned if they had any more control over her life or her actions.
She took in the beauty of nature, let the peace wash over her, and knew her answer. If she was pregnant, then so be it. She would love this child as her own. The sperm donor did not matter. And she swore, with all the strength within her, that no one on this earth, not Luis Mendoza, not Rudolph Bianchi, or his repulsive grandson Rudy, would ever dare touch her child. She’d kill them all before she let that happen.
His heart heavy, Jonah watched Gabby walk away from the cabin. Her face was like white marble. The only color had been her eyes, which held a deep, wrenching agony. She had been betrayed in the worst possible way by a man who should have protected her. And Jonah had no idea how to help her.
He’d had to let her go. She needed solitude—something he understood all too well. But her safety was still his number-one priority. And while he was confident that no one could trace them here, he would not be blasé.
He waited until he could no longer see her and then turned to the stairway, taking three at a time. The third floor was one of the biggest reasons he’d bought the cabin. One giant room with fourteen windows that gave a bird’s-eye view of the entire area.
Other than a lone chair and a small table, the room wasn’t furnished. After his release from prison, he’d bought this place and had spent hours on end in this room, looking out over the area and coming to terms with everything that had happened…and all that he had lost.
He lifted the high-powered binoculars he kept on the table and spotted Gabby within seconds. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her shoulders slumped, her head downcast. Working through her grief would take time.
He tried to imagine how she might feel and knew there was no way he could. This was too personal and intimate. In a sense, she had been raped. The lack of violence didn’t change that this thing had been forced on her without her consent.
It was all so unbelievable…sterile and revolting at the same time. As much as he had firsthand knowledge of what a wealthy, power-hungry, narcissistic man would do to further his agenda, his mind reeled at the enormity of this.
Just what had the bastards intended? And why? Why the hell would a child be so important that Luis would approve this screwed-up way to create one? Why would a grandchild with Mendoza blood mean anything to Rudolph Bianchi? What were they missing?
And if a child was conceived, what would Mendoza and Bianchi do to get their hands on it?