CHAPTER SIX

Chloe’s hands trembled as she further tightened the seat belt around her lap, ignoring the pain as the nylon material dug into the soft flesh of her thighs through the light material of her silk dress. She hated flying to be sure but it was more than just the fear of being on Jared’s private jet that had her so shaky.

Furtively, she glanced in Dylan’s direction as he sat down in the oversized leather seat directly across from her and, once again, he stubbornly avoided making eye contact with her. Chloe’s heart sunk at the obvious way that he was ignoring her. She would have liked to have blamed the cold shoulder treatment he was giving her on Brad’s hulking presence as he took the seat next to Dylan but he had been treating her that way all morning, even during the brief moments that they had been alone. When she had come back into her bedroom the night before and found him gone without so much as a word, she had feared that something was wrong. Now she was certain of it. Something had changed between last night and this morning.

Of course something has changed, you idiot, she silently scolded herself. You had sex with him.

Chloe could feel her body flush with sudden heat as the memory of making love with Dylan rushed back. As ill advised and downright dangerous as it was, what had happened between them had been more wonderful than she could ever have imagined. But apparently she was the only one who felt that way. Or perhaps now that Dylan had gotten what he wanted he had simply lost interest. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened. Chloe had been certain that the connection they had made the night before had been way more than just physical for both of them but apparently she had been wrong. Also not a first, she reminded herself ruefully as the plane began to taxi down the run way. Digging her fingers tightly into the leather armrests on either side of her, she fought off a wave of nausea as a combination of fear and disappointment churned violently within her stomach as the plane took off.

“Gee, you don’t look so hot, Mrs. Halifax,” Brad said with an oily grin once they had reached cruising altitude, clearly finding her obvious discomfort amusing.

“I’m fine,” Chloe replied curtly before tightly pressing her lips together as the airplane hit a pocket of rough air.

Dylan, who had been peering quietly out the window in his ongoing quest to avoid looking at Chloe suddenly shifted his gaze to her and didn’t like what he saw. Her face was pale and clammy and thin tendrils of blonde hair clung to the light layer of perspiration that had formed there as she continued to grip her armrests in a death clutch. Her already wide eyes somehow managed to widen even further as the plane violently bounced once again. Dylan’s anger towards her instantly softened in the wake of her obvious terror.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Dylan asked as he leaned forward in his seat.

“I said, I’m fine!” Chloe snapped irritably at the pitying look on his face.

As Dylan continued to watch her with obvious concern, she silently wished that he would go back to ignoring her. Having to endure this interminable flight was already bad enough without having to withstand having Dylan see her like this.

“I need to hit the head,” Brad announced crudely before rising to his feet and lumbering towards the lavatory at the back of the plane.

“I know you said you were fine but Brad is right, you don’t look so hot,” Dylan said after Brad disappeared behind the lavatory door.

“I said I’m fine!” Chloe snapped again. This time her voice was louder and higher pitched. “How many times do I have to say it?”

“Calm down….”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Chloe yelled as her body began to shake uncontrollably. In that moment, all of the events of the past twenty four hours felt like they were suddenly catching up with her at once. The attack on the limo and her role in it, making love to Dylan, the fact that she was still trapped by Jared and was now in an even more dangerous situation than she had been in before…the overall disaster that was her life…all of it seemed to be crashing in on her at once. The very walls of the plane felt like they were closing in on her. Chloe attempted to suck in a much needed breath of air but, finding that she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen in, began hyperventilating.

In an instance, Dylan was at her side. Crouching in front of her seat, he quickly unbuckled her seat belt and pulled her into his arms. “You’re having a panic attack,” he explained in a low, soothing tone. “Just relax. You’re safe.”

Dylan’s words, softly whispered against Chloe’s ear, had the same calming effect as the hand that he ran along the tense muscles of her back, gently coaxing them to relax beneath his touch. In that moment, once again in the sheltering embrace of his arms, she felt safe, even as the plane continued to rock and shake around them. Only when he felt the beating of her heart slow down to match the slow steady, rhythm of his own as it pounded against his chest did Dylan break the embrace.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked as he brushed a lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

Chloe contemplated him in silence for several seconds before speaking and when she did her voice was small and tentative. “Why did you leave last night without saying anything?”

The sound of the door to the lavatory opening kept Dylan from answering her question as he quickly rose to his feet.

“What’s going on?” Brad asked as he retook his seat.

“Mrs. Halifax started having a panic attack,” Dylan explained as he re-buckled his seat belt. “I was just trying to calm her down.”

Brad’s beady eyes darted to Chloe. “It appears you did a bang up job. Clearly you are a man of many talents.”

Once again Dylan didn’t like the insinuation he thought he detected in Brad’s tone.

“We are about to hit another rough patch,” The voice of the pilot announced over the loud speaker. “Everybody buckle up.”

***

Dylan stole a peak at Chloe over his shoulder as he brought the black SUV to a stop in front of the main house on the Halifax compound. She hadn’t said a word during the trip from the airport and now, sitting serenely in the back seat, there was no sign of the panic that marred her face on the plane earlier. Gritting his teeth as he watched her, he wondered if that too had been an act. Before Dylan even had a chance to remove the key from the ignition, Chloe had hopped out of the car and was quickly heading towards the house. She had barely reached the door when it suddenly flung open and a small child, a girl of no more than seven years of age, barreled out, flinging herself into Chloe’s arms.

“Chloe!” The child screamed in excitement as she hurled herself into Chloe’s arms. Wrapping her own arms tightly around Chloe’s neck, her tiny legs dangled in the air as Chloe lifted her off her feet, clinging to the child just as tightly. “You’re back!”

“I told you I would be when I talked to you on the phone last night,” Chloe beamed as she pulled her head back to look at the child, fastidiously brushing long, chestnut colored strands of hair from the girls face. “Were you able to get back to sleep after your nightmare?”

The girl nodded emphatically as Chloe lowered her to her feet. Dylan watched as Chloe crouched down in front of the child, her face lighting up with the first whole-hearted smile he had ever seen from her as she looked down at the little girl. It was clear that this child meant the world to Chloe, but who the hell was she? Before he’d had a chance to ask, the girl was impatiently tugging at Chloe’s hand, pulling her into the house.

“Daddy bought me a new doll,” she said as she firmly guided Chloe towards the staircase leading up to the bedrooms. “Come and see.”

Chloe smiled indulgently as she and the child climbed the staircase, hand-in-hand.

“Daddy?” Dylan directed his incredulous query towards Murdoch, who stood next to him in the foyer.

“Yeah. That’s Emma Halifax. Jared’s kid.”

***

Dylan sat at a table by the pool, in a state of disbelief as Chloe emerged from the house with Emma Halifax later that day.

Jared has another kid? I have a little sister?

How the hell had Donovan’s intel on Jared missed this?

Rising to his feet, Dylan’s eyes moved from Emma to Chloe. Like Emma, Chloe was dressed in a swimsuit, this one far more modest then the one she had worn the day she had treated him to that little peep show by the pool. With her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail as she held a large inflatable dinosaur in one hand and Emma’s hand in the other, she looked downright wholesome as she guided Chloe towards him with a bright smile on her face.

“Emma, this is Dylan,” Chloe announced.

Emma immediately wrapped her arms around Chloe’s waist and peeked shyly up at Dylan from behind her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emma,” Dylan said gently as he crouched down to look the girl in her eyes, extending a hand to her.

“It’s alright, sweetheart,” Chloe said as she gently nudged Chloe from her pseudo hiding place.

Assured by Chloe’s coaxing, Emma shook Dylan’s hand tentatively. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

Dylan searched Emma’s face for any physical similarity to him and his brothers, still struggling to process the fact that he was looking into the face of his own flesh and blood. Emma flashed Dylan a shy smile that revealed a missing front tooth before looking up at Chloe.

“Can I go into the pool now?”

“Of course you can,” Chloe replied as she handed the inflatable dinosaur to Emma. “Just make sure you stay on the shallow end. I’ll join you in a minute.”

“Ok,” Emma said before happily racing towards the shallow end of the pool, inflatable dinosaur in tow.

“I didn’t know you and Jared had a child together,” Dylan said once Emma was out of earshot, eyeing her curiously.

“We don’t.” Jared’s voice came unexpectedly from behind Dylan and Chloe, causing Chloe to nearly jump out of her skin. “Emma is mine.”

Chloe visibly flinched as Jared placed his hands possessively on her shoulders.

“I see you found my surprise for you,” Jared said as he nodded towards Emma.

“It was quite a surprise when Emma called me last night and told me that she was here. You told me that Emma would be staying abroad during her vacation from boarding school. What changed your mind?” Chloe asked, the wariness in her voice unmistakable.

“I know how fond you are of her.”

Chloe shuddered beneath the oppressive weight of Jared’s hands on her shoulders. “I am. I’m just wondering if it is safe for her to be here in light of what happened yesterday.”

“Are you questioning my judgment?’

Dylan watched as Jared’s fingers tightened their grip on Chloe’s shoulders, resisting the urge to pry them off of her body and break them one by one.

“No…no. Of course not,” Chloe stammered.

“Good,” Jared said, releasing his physical hold on Chloe. “Because, I promise you that I will find out who was responsible for what happened yesterday and deal with them accordingly.”

Dylan saw the same fear that had darkened Chloe’s face when he had been questioning her about the attempted hit the night before suddenly cloud her face once again and hoped that Jared hadn't seen it as well.

“You make sure to take care of both of my girls,” Jared instructed Dylan offhandedly before leaving, giving no indication of whether or not he harbored the same suspicions about Chloe as Dylan did.

“We need to talk about what happened last night,” Chloe announced to Dylan once they were alone.

“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry about skipping out on you like that.”

“Don’t apologize. You did the right thing,” Chloe said evenly, keeping her eyes fixed protectively on Emma a she splashed happily in the pool. Dylan sensed that it was more than just the potential for drowning that had her worried. “What happened between us was a mistake and can’t ever happen again. I have way too much to lose.”

Without waiting for a response from Dylan, Chloe made her way over to the pool. Lowering herself into the water next to Emma, she planted a kiss on top of the girl's head before holding her tightly in her arms, as if she were afraid that she would disappear at any moment. Dylan watched them together carefully. The depth of their bond was obvious to anyone who looked at them together. Even to someone as devoid of human emotion as Jared. And in that instance he knew that whatever trap that Jared had sprung on Chloe began and ended with Emma.