Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
I’d do anything for my daughter, even come begging for help from the man who didn't want her to exist.
That his Katie-Bear hated him shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Nor should the fact that she’d ignored his orders and kept their baby.
Yet those words may as well be arrows shooting directly into his heart.
While he’d spent the last decade loving her, missing her, hating himself for what he’d told her to do, she’d spent it raising their child all on her own.
She’d only been nineteen when the baby was born, so young, yet she’d stepped up when he’d let fear rule.
If there was one moment in time Lion had always wished he could take back, it was the hateful words he’d spewed at her that day.
Regret didn't even begin to describe how he felt about what he’d done, what he’d said.
Even as he knew there was every chance that Dr. Gardner would have used Kate and their child as tools to manipulate him, he wished he’d kept the two close, found a way to break away from the program before he realized the depths of the scientist’s insanity and wound up locked inside a cage.
“I have a daughter,” he said, still not quite able to come to terms with that.
Or with the bombshell Kate had just dropped.
“And she’s dying.” That word tasted bitter in his mouth.
Despite what Kate thought, he’d never wanted her to terminate the pregnancy.
He’d been haunted by telling her that for ten years.
At the time, he’d just been terrified that he wouldn’t be able to control the anger prowling inside him and would hurt his girl and their baby.
But in the end, he’d hurt them anyway.
Left Kate to fend for herself. Left his child—one she’d named after him—to suffer because of his absence from her life.
“I have a daughter,” Kate corrected.
While she was quite obviously terrified of him and his teammates, she was refusing to back down, and he was so proud of her for it. Maybe deep down she did know he would never harm a hair on her head and would kill anyone who tried.
“You lost all rights to call Ariella yours when you left us. You created a baby, that’s all, and now I need you to save her. I … can't lose her, Leo,” she said, her voice cracking, and fresh tears welling in her big, blue eyes.
“Of course I’ll get tested, donate bone marrow, whatever it takes, we’ll find a way to save your girl,” he assured her, hesitating briefly before reaching out and trailing his fingers down her arm.
If Eagle had given Kate this address, then his boss knew about Ariella, which meant Eagle had likely already decided he’d spend whatever it took to try to save the little girl’s life.
Kate nodded, although it was clear she didn't quite believe him. If she thought he’d back out from agreeing to get tested, he couldn’t fault her for it.
If she thought he’d do it, but it wouldn't work, he couldn’t fault her for that either.
He had no idea how rough things had been for her as a single, teenage mom, and he would never forgive himself for pushing her into that position.
“Where is she?” he asked, both anxious and terrified to meet his daughter.
Would it ever truly sink in that he had a child?
After they saved Ariella’s life—and he couldn’t accept that Kate would have to lose her little girl—was it possible Kate would allow him to be part of it?
Dr. Gardner was dead now, and if Mrs. Gardner was involved, they’d find and kill her, too.
His anger was better controlled than it had been back then.
Maybe if he explained everything to her, Kate would understand why he’d made the choices he had.
Shifting nervously, Kate’s gaze darted to her car and then back to him again, and he knew the answer.
He wasn't the only one. Blade was, of course, listening in on every word exchanged between him and his girl, and while he naturally felt shame that his teammates now knew his greatest regret, he cared more about getting tested and saving his daughter’s life.
“Ariella is in the car?” he asked.
“I can't leave her with anyone, not with her being so sick. I don’t want to be away from her if the worst happens,” Kate admitted softly, and he couldn’t imagine the hell she’d been through.
He should have been there for her. Supporting both her and their child. Instead, he’d been throwing himself the world’s biggest pity party. He’d thrown away everything he should have been holding close and protecting.
“Can I meet her?” he asked. Whatever happened next had to happen at Kate’s speed and with her permission. Already, they’d messed up by treating her as a threat, although he had no way of guessing she would turn up there, he wasn't going to make another mistake.
Couldn’t afford to.
Not if he wanted a chance at keeping his girls in his life.
After hesitating long enough he was sure she was going to say no, Kate finally nodded.
“Yeah. I’ll go wake her up. She … knows who you are, Leo.
I told her you were in the military, and that’s why you can't be with her. That you love her, but your job prevents you from coming around. But she’s getting older, nine now, and she kind of knows I'm lying to her about that.”
That Kate would lie for him, not present him as the monster he’d been to her, and not reveal the horrible things he’d said about their baby before it was born, or what he’d ordered her to do, was more than he deserved. More than he ever could have hoped for.
“Thank you,” he said, wishing he could convey the weight behind those simple words.
Kate merely nodded, then closed the couple of steps to the car. “Hey, sweetie-pie,” she crooned softly as she opened the back door and leaned inside. A little blonde head was visible, resting on a pillow, and as Kate smoothed a hand down the long hair fanned out on the seat, the child stirred.
“Mom?”
“Right here, sweetie. How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts,” Ariella replied as she sat up.
“I’ll get you some of your medicine. While I do that, there’s someone here who wants to meet you.”
Ariella’s blue gaze shifted, and the mini version of Kate was suddenly looking right at him.
Lion had no idea what to expect. If the child would be angry at him, if she’d yell and scream, or blame him for never being around.
Or if she’d be scared of strangers, especially huge ones dressed all in black and holding weapons.
But the girl did none of that.
A wide smile broke out on her pale face. “Daddy!” she exclaimed, clambering to get past her mother and out of the car.
“Careful,” Kate cautioned as she moved and kept a steadying hand on the girl’s arm as she wobbled precariously.
Ariella was small for her age, thin and pale.
It was obvious that she was sick and had been for a while, and yet the child’s smile never dipped, and happiness and joy seemed to radiate from her.
Once she got her balance, Ariella quickly crossed to him, stopping right before him.
She was still smiling, and in her hands she clutched a teddy bear.
One he remembered, because he’d won it for Kate at the fair when she was seven and he was thirteen.
At the time, he’d been annoyed that he had his little sister and her best friend trailing along after him, but the girls had been well behaved, they’d gone on every ride he wanted and had a great time.
Kate had tried so hard to win that teddy, and when he’d spotted tears welling in her eyes, he’d been filled with a protectiveness he didn't understand and stepped in to get it for her.
When he’d handed it to her, the smile she gave him was brighter than the sun, and she’d thrown her arms around him, hugging him tight.
Now, a mini version of Kate stood before him. Wearing that same smile, that same look in her eyes that said he could do anything.
“Can I give you a hug, Dad?” Ariella asked.
Unable to speak, overwhelmed with emotions and regrets, Lion just nodded, and the next thing he knew, his arms were full of a nine-year-old, her thin arms wrapped around his neck, holding on with strength that belied her small size.
As his gaze moved from Kate, who was watching them with raw pain on her face, to his daughter, who pressed a kiss to his cheek, he was once again filled with a deep protectiveness that almost stole his breath.
He would do anything for these two, literally anything, but the one thing they needed from him, he might not be able to offer.
What if he wasn't a match?
What if he was, but it didn't work, and Ariella died anyway?
What if he’d just gotten his girls back, only to watch his daughter die and Kate leave?
“Don’t worry, Daddy,” Ariella’s soft voice piped up, as though she could read his mind and the fears raging inside it. “Everything is going to be okay.”
March 13th
2:01 P.M.
There was never a time when Kate wasn't in awe of her daughter’s strength, determination, and positivity.
Seeing Ariella in Leo’s arms was bittersweet.
On the one hand, she knew how deeply her child wanted to meet her father, but on the other, it was a reminder of everything Leo had denied all three of them, and the pain of hearing him yell at her to get rid of the baby because he didn't want either of them felt so fresh.
What she’d told Leo was true. If she didn't have to be there to try to save her daughter’s life, she wouldn't be. It was too much, she’d survived the last ten years by completely shutting down her emotions when it came to her ex, but that was so much harder to do when he was standing right before her, looking at the child he’d wished dead like she was the most precious gift he’d ever been given.
It wasn't what she’d expected.