“No, well Lynn did, but not in the beginning. I don’t know all the details. I never liked him at all. I actually never met him face to face. I know they married right away after meeting each other. He didn’t come home a lot. She got tired of being alone. When he did come home, he wasn’t here more than a week. Maybe not even more than a week a year… Wait a minute, are you telling me you didn’t know any of this when you met me? Or is this how I got the job in your gallery? Did you fucking come in my home, meet my kids, and fuck me to gather this information?” As he spoke, anger built inside him, his voice began to increase with each word.
“No, Trent! No, I was just as surprised and angry as you are right now when I saw the photo in Em’s room. I wondered those same things about you, drawing me in,” Gage said, holding his hands up, trying to calm the situation.
“Daddy, you’re yelling,” Hunter said. Em stood behind him in the entrance to the living room from the hall. Trent could see his precious children looking sleepy-eyed and disheveled from bed. They radiated uncertainty and didn’t come any farther into the living room, staying in the safety of the hallway. They’d never shown fear of him, ever, but the raised voices clearly had them concerned.
“I’m sorry, guys. Go lay back down, it’s okay. I’ll be quieter,” Trent said. He didn’t get up, and Gage sat there with him, between him and his children, and the gravity of the situation fell hard on his shoulders. How would he protect them from all this? What would this mean to his family? And if he left Gage here in the kitchen alone would he be here when Trent returned? He needed all of the information the guy had before he walked out of their lives forever.
“I’m scared,” Hunter said.
“Me too,” Em agreed.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Trent said and finally rose. He couldn’t take the fear on their faces any longer.
“I’ve got them, Trent,” Rhonny said, coming up the stairs. “Come on, guys, let Daddy talk to Gage. I’ll stay with you.”
“But, Rhonny, I had an accident,” Em said.
“You did? It’s okay. I’ll take care of it in the morning. Let’s get you clean pajamas. You can both come sleep with me,” Rhonny said, pulling the pajamas up and over Em’s head. She shooed them into the bathroom down the hall, looking over at Trent with worried eyes.
Trent watched the whole scene unfold in front of him, and for the first time ever, he didn’t get involved. He was so unsure what to do. His instinct told him he should keep an eye on the person bringing all this crap down on his family until he had all the information. That gut feeling had him returning to his seat, Gage close by. At this point, Gage classified as the aggressor, and he understood killing the messenger wasn’t necessary, but he didn’t want Gage or any of this mess anywhere near his children.
Trent rose from his chair and paced the small area in front of the table, coming to stand in the entryway to the kitchen between Gage and the rest of the house. Aggression ate at his soul, and he focused in on Gage. He waited to hear Rhonny’s bedroom door close before he stalked back to Gage. He braced one hand on the back of Gage’s chair, the other on the table where his picture flashed every so often as a screen saver.
“Goddammit, Gage, you better tell me the fuckin’ truth. Did you know he was the kid’s father before the grand opening?” Trent growled the last words. If Gage had destroyed his life for this report… Damn it, he needed to hit something and if that something were Gage, so be it.
“No! On my soul, no,” Gage said and didn’t attempt to back away from him.
“So this is some giant coincidence?” Trent stayed there, leaning down in Gage’s face.
“It’s the conclusion I came to this afternoon,” Gage said, nodding.
“How did you come to it?” Trent asked.
“My gut,” Gage said, compassion in his eyes. Trent didn’t expect compassion, and pity would have pissed him off.
“Why?” He stepped back a couple of feet from Gage, needing space.
“Because you’re a good man, Trent. You have honor and integrity, and I’ve seen too much in my life. I know it can’t be faked. You take care of these children, you give them everything you can, and feel blessed for the opportunity to provide for them.” Gage’s words took some of the steam out of the anger he held and it turned back to desolation inside his heart.
“I don’t want them to ever know about this,” he said, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to keep himself together.
“Trent, I can’t see how you can keep it from them.” Trent stared at Gage, neither speaking again.
“If their father is still alive, it might threaten my adoption… What about their safety?” Trent said after a few minutes.
“I don’t know. I’ll provide an attorney for you. My guess, they’ll want you all to go in the witness protection program. Trent, he’s that bad of a guy. Another option’s to let me keep you all safe, but I’m sure I’ll be marked for exposing everything. I’ve never been in this situation. My reports were solely based on me before. My parents have personal security. I haven’t had anyone I personally cared for before you. This list of Abdulla’s buyers isn’t pretty. They aren’t going to wanna be exposed. But I can set you up somewhere remote. Keep you secure,” Gage said. He rose to stand in front of Trent.
“Fuck, Gage,” Trent said and lifted his hand to his chin, covering his mouth. Every possible outcome he could think of in this situation ended badly for his children.
“I know. I was thinking Sophia might be able to fill some of the holes in,” Gage said. It took Trent several long minutes of staring at the computer screen, seeing his image smiling back at him, to finally respond by palming his phone and dialing Sophia. He put her on speaker so Gage could hear.