Feisty Repartee

TSOTF, Part 6

Jack pulled back the sheet and sat on the edge of the bed. It was nearly three in the morning, and sleep was evading him. Kate stirred next to him, and he waited, perfectly still, not wanting her to wake. Last night he’d lied to her. He had known all along that she was the only loose end in his plan, and that if she doubted his sincerity, it was entirely possible she could make trouble.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care for her. Despite his best efforts, he had developed feelings for her, surprisingly strong feelings, although nothing close to the love he had professed for her as he spilled his seed in her belly. His declaration had been forced, the result of seeing the untouched packages of contraceptives in the drawer of her bedside table earlier as he searched for her diary, hoping she’d written about their affair and he would have that to hold over her head should it come to it.

That she hadn’t taken the birth control pills the last several months as she had promised him had only cemented his belief that she could not be trusted. His manipulations of her were no longer enough, so he resorted to the sorts of lies his father told so easily. He told her that he loved her, that when the dust settled, he wanted to marry her and start a family.

She’d cried, professing her undying love through her tears. He’d hated lying to her like that. While he still believed she shared in the responsibility for his mother’s death, he had come to accept that her role was smaller, that her actions were the result of immaturity and naiveté, perhaps even desperation to leave her squalid living conditions behind. Over time, he had actually come to admire her in a way, for taking advantage of the opportunity presented to her. But he would never love her.

He looked back at her sleeping form, at the way her hip curved, and wondered if she had been successful. Had they indeed created a life during one of their forbidden fornications right under his father‘s nose? He stood and walked to the open door leading to the patio overlooking the gardens. It was a complication he had not foreseen. A child. His child.

Until he knew for certain, he would have to continue this charade with her. While plans would need to be changed to accommodate this unforeseen problem, he reminded himself that the situation could only serve to further humiliate his father.

Checking to see that she was still asleep, he pulled on his pants and made his way through the garden path to the small guest house that had served as his full time residence the last eighteen months. The house had been used as servant’s quarters before it’s transformation several years ago. While it was uncomfortably cramped for the most part, it offered him the privacy he had needed.

He grabbed the phone from its perch on the charger and sat on the plush sofa, tossing to the floor the delicate lace thong Laura must have forgotten from her last visit. Her degree from MIT did nothing to improve her dull personality, but her daddy’s money had bought her a skilled personal trainer and a body that was hard to ignore. A shame, he thought, that he would have to break things off with her so soon after gaining access to what lied beneath her sexy underthings.

As he waited patiently for the phone to be answered by his contact in Rome, his eyes scanned the claustrophobic quarters for the last time, settling on the two bags he had placed near the door. For a few seconds, he was filled with incredible sadness. It wasn’t that he felt guilt for what he was about to do, or regret, rather that the fulfillment of his promise would leave him facing the empty void he had yet to fill with acceptance of his mother’s suicide.

The voice on the other end of the connection pulled him from his thoughts. “Change of plan. Mrs. McKay is no longer expendable. No harm should come to her, is that understood?” After a few moments of silence, he responded, “Of course. The moment the deposit is verified, you are free to do with the formula what you wish, as promised.”

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