Mending the Rift (4 page)

Greg’s gaze sharpened, and for a moment Luca’s heart raced, his father’s gaze was so intent. It took him a moment to realize what caught Greg’s interest. He’d zeroed in on Luca and Marcus’s laced hands. For a split-second, Luca considered letting go of Marcus’s hand, but Marcus’s fingers squeezed, and that was it. No matter that he was pregnant, going to be married to a man he didn’t know, his heart already belonged to someone else, and Marcus wasn’t indifferent to his feelings.

“Father?” Luca inquired. Something was going on in his father’s mind, and Luca had a damn right to know what Greg was thinking.

Greg gestured from Luca to Marcus and asked, “How long?”

“How long
what
?” Luca replied.

“Luca, don’t play dumb now. How long have you been in love with Marcus?”

MARCUS’S HAND
jerked in Luca’s grip, almost causing him to let go. A light tremor became palpable. Swallowing, Luca shrugged. “For a while now.”

“I’d’ve assumed you’d be resigning if you fell in love with my youngest child, Gray,” Greg said, his voice barely above a hiss.

Marcus slipped out of Luca’s grip before he rose to his feet. Luca wrapped his arms around his knees, shaking all over. He shouldn’t feel so cold, what with all the hot water surrounding him, but chills ran up and down his spine nonetheless.

Nicholas rolled his eyes. “Marcus, park your ass back on the tub. Luca is just short of bursting into tears because you’ve let go of him. You see, physical contact with a loved one helps control the pain a great deal. Trust me, I know.”

Startled, Marcus did as Nicholas suggested. Luca scooted forward in the tub until he could lean his head against Marcus’s hip. His voice sounded very small when he said, “Since you’re not denying the falling-in-love part, can I assume you have some feelings for me?”

Marcus barked a laugh. “Of course I do. Was there any doubt about it?”

“You want me to marry Smith!”

“I don’t
want
you to marry Smith. It just doesn’t matter what you or I want. You’re promised to Smith, you signed the documents, and… why make things more difficult than they are anyway?” The resignation in Marcus’s voice sliced deep into Luca’s heart.

“If you’d come to me earlier, we might’ve found a way for you to be together,” Greg said. “Smith might’ve allowed you to keep Marcus as your lover.”

Luca frowned at his father while Nicholas snorted. Marcus shook his head. “No offense, sir, but I don’t share. If there’s one man on Earth who should understand this, I thought it would be you.”

Greg winced as Nicholas slapped his shoulder, laughing. “He’s got you pegged, huh? Can you imagine anyone having said the same nonsense to you about thirty-five years ago?”

“Said someone would’ve gotten himself a broken nose at the very least. You’re much more restrained than I would ever be, Marcus.” Greg gave Marcus’s arm a pat before he slung one arm around Nicholas’s waist, pulling him in close. From the sudden alarmed look on his dad’s face, that grip wasn’t completely comfortable.

“Tell me, Nicholas, what do you think happened for Luca to be pregnant?” Greg asked with a sharp edge to his voice.

Luca cursed as another wave of pain and nausea washed through him. Still gasping for air when the spasms subsided, he asked, “How long is it likely to go on?”

“It depends on when the process started, but from the look of it, I’d assume you have another twenty hours ahead of you,” Nicholas answered, compassion audible in his voice.

“Twenty hours?” Luca whispered. He glanced from his parents to Marcus, dread pooling in his stomach. A sob tore from his mouth. “I can’t do this, I really can’t. I don’t do well with pain, and besides, I don’t want to be pregnant. Smith could’ve just waited for a few more days.”

As soon as he’d finished his rant, another surge of spasms took possession of his body, leaving him no other choice than to shove a fist into his mouth and bite down hard. The wail he tried to keep inside still erupted from his mouth and echoed in the bathroom.

“We need to get him out of the bath, or else he’s going to slam his head on something when the pain gets too bad. Nicky, go prepare his bed and lay out whatever you need to make him comfortable.” When his dad didn’t move, Greg took his shoulders and steered him toward the bathroom door. “We’ll get him out of the bath in one piece, promise.”

Nicholas nodded, grabbed the bag with medical equipment, and rushed out the door. Greg snatched a large towel from the rack and held it out. “Wait until this wave has completely passed, or else he’ll just curl up and you’ll have no chance to lift him out.”

“Is this how it’s going to be every time? With the pain, I mean?” Luca asked, still breathless.

Marcus steadied him when Luca awkwardly clambered to his feet. “Easy there,” Marcus murmured.

“I’m going to get you all wet.”

Marcus rubbed his cheek against Luca’s, keeping his tight hold on him. “I’ll live.”

“At least that makes one of us. I know I sound like a drama queen, but I’m not sure I’m made for this.”

“Our family has only strong breeders, you won’t be any different,” Greg said before he handed the towel to Marcus. “I’ll leave you two to it for a moment. Please bring him into his room as soon as possible. The securest position for him is to be lying down till the nidation process is finished.”

“Father? When… when do I know if it’s successful?”

“Another six to eight hours, Luca.”

“I really don’t want to have Smith’s baby.” A second later, Luca doubled over and dry-heaved. He was dimly aware of Marcus wrapping the towel tightly around his shaking shoulders and murmuring soothing words. Hot tears ran down his face. He didn’t want to carry Smith’s child, absolutely not.

Somehow, Marcus managed to dry him off and get him into warm pajamas. Luca shivered despite the warm material covering almost every inch of his skin. For the next couple of hours, he lay in his bed, curled around Marcus, crying most of the time. His parents were around, checking on his temperature. A rising temperature was normal, but not higher than 102. Everything above that translated into his body rejecting the pregnancy. If the breeder’s body rejected the embryo, it needed to be removed within a short time frame. If the removal didn’t happen within that time span, the breeder’s body was prone to sepsis, which could end in the breeder’s death.

Luca grabbed the fabric of Marcus’s fatigue even tighter. Maybe… if he lost the embryo, Smith would reconsider their marriage? If a breeder’s body rejected a pregnancy once, then it could happen again, especially if the sperm donor was the same.

A bleep at his right ear pulled him out of his slight doze some time later. Marcus inhaled sharply. “His body is fighting the pregnancy, isn’t it?”

Luca opened his bleary eyes to catch sight of his dad. Nicholas twirled the thermometer in his hands, a lost expression on his face. Greg sat in the corner of Luca’s room, his face a stony mask. Nicholas set the thermometer on the nightstand and wiped his hands on his pants. He looked at Luca and reached out to brush a strand of hair from his forehead.

“You’re fighting it, aren’t you?” Nicholas asked.

“We’ve done studies with males during the nidation process. It was one of those studies that never made it into public knowledge.” Nicholas grimaced before he ventured on. “Those that welcomed the pregnancies usually didn’t have a problem, but those that didn’t want to be pregnant, or didn’t want to be pregnant by a particular person, had a much harder time. Some of them could psych themselves up so that the nidation process was unsuccessful. Since that particular study, the government is even more adamant on finding a good partner for every breeder. If the future couple likes each other, the pregnancies usually go well.”

“Luca wouldn’t do that,” Greg intervened.

“That’s what I would’ve done if it had been anyone but you,” Nicholas said softly. For a moment his dad seemed to hover over a decision. Then he pulled a small slip of paper from his pants. He pushed it into Luca’s trembling hands.

“That’s… that’s the protocol for the stimulation process, and there’s the order for the fertilization too!” Luca’s gaze caught on the name that had ordered the fertilization. “
You
gave that order? Dad?”

Greg jumped from the sofa and crossed the distance when Nicholas muttered, “Read the rest.”

Luca couldn’t avert his eyes. Absolutely no chance. This was
his dad
. His dad who’d betrayed him in a way that cut deeper than Luca ever thought possible.

Marcus’s awed voice drew him out of his inner turmoil. “He used my sperm. You’re carrying
my
baby, Luca.”

“WHAT?”

“Here.” Marcus pointed at something on the slip of paper. “We—you and me—are the parents of this baby.”

Luca raked his gaze over the paper, found the passage, and stared at it for a long time. His taut muscles unclenched, and even his lungs seemed to unfold more properly. New tears stung his eyes, but for a different reason.

“I’ve changed my mind. I really, really want this baby,” Luca said.

“Try to relax and accept the way your body chemistry is changing. You’re a strong young man and you shouldn’t have any problem going through with the nidation process,” Nicholas said in a choked voice.

“You set me up.” Luca struggled into an upright position with Marcus’s arm around his shoulders. “I’m not sure whether I should be hurt by your arrogant decision, or if I should hug the crap out of you for giving me Marcus’s baby.”

Nicholas cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for going behind your back, I really am. It was…. I couldn’t think of anything else. You were so unhappy, but when Marcus came along, things changed, and then Smith was supposed to come, and I could see how devastated you were. I… I was hoping for the hug.”

Luca tugged at Nicholas’s hands until they could embrace. His dad’s heart thundered in his rib cage, and his whole body was quaking. “Dad?” Luca pushed him at arm’s length. “What you did… it… this is a criminal offense.”

Nicholas winced when Greg fastened his hands on his neck. Luca’s father was pale, but his eyes showed a fury that scared him. A second later Greg yanked Nicholas to his feet and slid his hands into Nicholas’s dark hair. Marcus pulled Luca between his legs when his parents just stood there, facing each other in silence.

Rage boiled off Greg’s body, and he clenched and unclenched his hands in Nicholas’s hair, causing his dad to wince a couple of times. When Greg’s voice broke the silence, he asked, “Is there any evidence of you being responsible for the fertilization?”

“No, that paper is the only evidence.”

Greg stepped away from Nicholas and held out a hand for the small slip. Luca surrendered the piece, then immediately clutched Marcus’s arms around him. “Father, please don’t be mad with him. He—”

“Quiet.”

“But—”

“
Quiet, I said
!” Greg roared.

Luca flinched while his dad jumped violently. When he gazed at Nicholas, his dad’s lower lip quivered and a wet sheen covered his eyes. He looked much younger than his fifty-three years. Luca hated the way Nicholas tracked every tiny move of his father, the way fear seemed to engulf him.

Marcus shifted slightly on the bed, tugging Luca even closer when Greg put the paper in a ceramic bowl and lit it. They all stared at the small fire until only ashes remained. His father carried the remains into the bathroom, and no one said a word until he came back with the clean bowl.

“Greg,” Nicholas said softly.

“If you’re smart, and I know you are, you better keep your mouth shut.”

“Father, that’s enough! If anyone has a right to be pissed off, it should be me.”

“Luca, leave them be,” Marcus murmured in his ear.

Luca shook his head. “No. They’re fighting because of me. Dad actually did me a favor—a huge favor. If I have to be pregnant, I want it to be your child, and he gave that to me—to us.” A sudden thought occurred to him and he shuddered. “Will I be allowed to keep the baby?”

Marcus snatched him around the waist and drew him against his chest, fencing Luca in again. “I don’t know.”

“If Marcus claims the baby as his, and Smith doesn’t demand an abortion until week nine, when all inner organs have developed, then you’re allowed to keep the baby. The life of a fetus is sacred, you know that,” Nicholas said.

“But Smith will be here tomorrow!” Luca’s voice hitched at the end.

Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. “Ah, no, he won’t. There has been an epidemic of measles across the Atlantic, and the government is convinced they need someone with experience there. There have been riots because of insufficient vaccines, and Smith’s good at restoring peace. That’ll keep him for a few weeks, and after that… I’m sure there’s some other sort of catastrophe he can attend to.”

Luca gaped at his dad. “You’re responsible for the government sending him and no one else, aren’t you?”

“I’ve got nothing to do with government decisions.” Nicholas blinked at him innocently.

Greg strode toward Nicholas, thundering his name. Luca squeezed his eyes shut when Greg grabbed Nicholas’s upper arm. A moment later, Nicholas yelped. Clothes rustled, and Luca realized his parents were talking to each other, but their voices were too low for him to understand anything.

Marcus rubbed a hand over Luca’s taut back. “You can open your eyes again.”

Luca pried one eye open, expecting his father to glower at Nicholas, but instead he was greeted with the two of them sitting on the sofa, with Nicholas sprawled on Greg’s lap. Nicholas’s face was hidden in Greg’s chest, and from the snuffling noises, Luca deduced he was crying. Greg hugged him close, his mouth close to Nicholas’s ear, muttering something fierce.

“Will you be okay?” Luca asked, not sure if he’d receive an answer or not.

Greg nodded. “Yes, we will. Even though your dad did something so stupidly dangerous I want to strangle him, I love him too much to go through with it.”

“We have to make sure no one knows anything,” Marcus said. “If anyone finds out, the baby’s in danger, and Nicholas too. Not even your connections would be able to prevent him from going to prison, or worse.”