“Thank God you are okay”, he breathed out relieved. If I wasn't scare enough a few minutes ago, now I was panicking.

“What's going on here Damon?”

“Daniel kidnapped you”, he sighed heavily, and I remembered that Daniel was the last person I saw before I lost consciousness

“How are you able to get to me?”

“Well I kidnapped you back”

I plopped down the bed. “Huh?”

“There's no time to explain everything. Keep that phone close to you, bear in mind that you are safe there”, before I could ask another question, he hanged up, and I was left with my mouth hanging open.

My heart sank deeper into my rib cage when I heard the sound of the door being unlocked again

You are safe there

How I'm I safe when I'm nearly close to having a heart attack each time the door unlocks. My heart pounded heart against my chest, suddenly having a heavy feeling in my stomach. Was it the guy wearing a balaclava again?

The door was pushed open, and I nearly closed my eyes shut, I was afraid but on the other side the suspense was killing me. I needed answers. I wanted to know what the heck was going on.

Troy walked in and closed the door behind him and I had to rub my eyes repeatedly to make sure I wasn't seeing things, only to see his lips spread into a smile as he walked towards me to engulf me in a warm hug

“I'm so glad you are okay. I was so worried about you”, he released me and held me at arms length and a shaky, small smile appeared on my face.

“Are you okay?”, he rose an eyebrow and I gave a short, uncertain nod

“I guess”

“Good, we better get you something to eat-”, he started, but I interrupted him

“Is this what you meant when you said my life was in danger because of Damon?”, my voice was shaky, and he didn't show any emotion to my question

“Damon wasn't the sole reason behind your abduction. Your life was already in grave danger way before you and Damon crossed paths”.

As if I didn't feel bad enough already

“What do you mean?”

“Daniel kidnapped you because he wanted to get back at your father. He wanted him to feel the pain of losing the one person he truly, deeply cares about and you being married to Damon just added gasoline to fire. By keeping you in captivity, he could kill two birds with one stone”.

“Troy, you're not making any sense right now”, I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. I couldn't understand any word he was saying to me. “Why would Daniel want to get revenge on my father?”

I watched him heave a sigh. “Daniel is your brother”

I was thunder stuck and at a loss of words as I sunk back on the bed.

“W-what?”

“He's your half-brother”, I didn't want to believe what he's saying to me as I shook my head. “Lay, I know this is hard to believe but-”

“You're lying”, I protested quietly. “My father would have never done that to my mother”

“It was years before he even met your mother”

I drew a breath. “I don't understand”

“Your father and Daniel's mother met in school where they probably fell in love amongst other things, and she fell pregnant. They were still young at the time and your grandfather could have disowned your father if the news broke out that he would have a child out of wedlock and that the mother of the child was the daughter of a helper”.

“So my Dad abandoned them?”

“He denied the baby and ever having a relationship with Daniel's mother”

“That doesn't sound like my dad, he's not like that”, tears flooded my eyes at the thought of the kind of man my father was. It almost felt like I didn't even know who he was anymore. He was slowly turning into a stranger. I looked at Troy, who was looking worriedly at me when I was slowly coming to terms everything he was telling me.

“We all have troubled pasts Lay, your father was just good at keeping his a secret. Now the chickens have come home to roost”.

“How do you know all of this?”

“Your father told me everything before we took him to a place of safety”, he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze to comfort me, seeing how distraught I looked. “And I'm also a private investigator”

I gave a short nod at him, too dazed to even acknowledge his profession. “So you're telling me, I have a brother who completely hates me and wants me dead”

“Layla....”

“I mean how can he not? I had everything he didn't, including being raised by a man that abandoned him”.

“I think it's pointless to want to avenge himself now after all these years. He's a successful businessman, and he has every thing he could possibly wish for”.

“Maybe knowing that he's hurting my father will make him feel good about himself”

“What good does it do when he ends up dragging innocent people into this?”

“We all have our own ways of dealing with stuff, I guess this is his way”

“What he's doing is wrong Layla. Do you have any idea what he could have done to you?”, he asked, and it dawned on me. Would he hurt his own sister? Could he be that cold-hearted?

My heart started racing, probably from bring a nervous and I gulped heavily. “He couldn't have killed me, could he?”

“He probably would have tortured you but yet again with you dead, he has nothing to lose”

“How did everything get so messed up?”, I groaned while running a hand though my hair. “My life went from perfect to a complete nightmare”

“It's going to be okay”, he wrapped his arm around me and ran his hand up and down my arm

Something still does not add up here

“How are you in cahoots with Damon?”, I turned to look at him. “I thought he was enemy number one”.

“I don't hate him, I just disliked his ways of doing things and we both share a mutual thing”

“Which is?”

“Protecting you”

“Oh”, I smiled a little at him. “Okay”

“He's not the person I thought he was”, he shrugged. “When he heard what Daniel was planning to do, he was the brains behind us working together to protect you and keep you safe”

“Us?”

“Me, Quinton and the police”

“You and Quinton knew each other?”

“Not really. I first knew him when you introduced us at the music store”, he explained, and I gave a short nod again.

“Do you think it's possible that I see my father?”, I asked hopeful, only to watch him slowly shake his head

“Daniel probably has a search party everywhere looking for the both of you, he will probably have everyone close to you followed, so it's not safe”

“What if-”, I froze at the thought of Daniel threatening to kill everyone I care about to lure me out of hiding

“Don't worry, everyone is safe. They all have people looking out for them”.

“As in bodyguards?”

“You can put it like that”

“So I won't even get to see Damon or Dylan?”

“No. Daniel is probably keeping a very close eye on Damon, and he has to be convincing that you were kidnapped. Obviously the news breaking out that the billionaires wife gone missing will definitely make front page news. Dylan is safe right where he is with the Kingsleys”, he reassured and my heart eased a little, knowing they're okay.

“The only contact you and Damon will have is via that burner phone”

“Okay”, my shoulders slumped down in disappointment

“You are probably hungry”

“My stomach is growling”, I expressed, and he laughed before he stood up and pulled me to my feet. When we got to the kitchen, he made me a sandwich and I seemed content, but my mind was racing with questions.

“Are you sure Daniel won't find me here?”

“We're under police protection, meaning it won't be easy for him to trace our location”, he pushed the sandwich towards me

“I still don't get how Quinton is involved with Daniel”

“It's a really long story”

“I have time”

He laughed softly. “I'll tell you later. Right now we have to focus on keeping you safe. You don't have to worry about anything. We're working with the police, and they are keeping a very close eye on Daniel, if everything clears out, you'll be home soon”, he said, and I nodded. I took a bite of my sandwich and I looked to my side to see a familiar figure, the guy that was wearing a balaclava.

“And what about him?”, I motioned at him with my head

“That's Bucks, your bodyguard”

“Bucks?”, I whispered in surprise of his name

“Don't ask”, he laughed, and I smiled instead not to be too obvious we are talking about him

Later on that day, the burner phone in my hands vibrated, and it was Damon and I stood to my feet

“Hey”

“Are you okay?”, he asked, and I nodded like he could see me. “Layla?”

“Yes, I'm okay. Troy is taking very good care of me”.

“That's good. Don't worry I'm going to fix all of this, okay?”

“Okay”, I smiled a little. “Is everyone safe at home?”

“Yes, they're fine. Don't worry about anything. I've got everything covered”, he reassured. “I love you, okay?”

“I love you too. Be careful, please? “

“I will”, with saying that he hanged up. We were only allowed to talk less than 3 minutes on the burner phone.

Days passed, and I didn't hear anything from Damon. Troy was also keeping his distance as he always locked himself up in the study room. I was bored to death and spent most of my time talking with Bucks, whose real name was Robin. Apparently Bucks was just a street name he earned on the street due to his huge muscular physique and I understood why. He was well-built, had that bouncer mess with me, and I'll kick your ass kinda look.

Troy only joined us for dinner and then lock himself in the study again. I only saw him once if not twice a day. I had gotten used to it. Bucks had organized a pile of books and magazines for me to read when he had to be on duty and stay on the lookout for any dangers that may lurk in the dark.

“Is there anything I can do for you Mrs Kingsley?”, he asked, and I threw a glare at him, and he laughed nervously before clearing his throat. “Uhm, I mean Mrs Layla?”

“Just call me Layla, Robin”

“Just Layla, right”, he repeated with a nervous smile on his face, for a tough guy he had the sensitive side to him

“I don't need anything, thank you”, I smiled at him, he nodded before dismissed himself and closed the door behind him. I sighed when I realized how pathetic I was, literally doing nothing with my life whatsoever again. At that moment I was just breathing, not living. But I guess I should be grateful, it could have turned for the worst if I was under Daniel's captivity.

I felt an unswallowable lump in my throat and had this sour taste in my mouth almost like I was going to throw up or something. I went downstairs to drink some water. After gulping down the first glass, I could still feel the lump and when I was halfway with filling the glass with some more water, I could feel the contents of my stomach travelling up my throat. I quickly gulped down the water, swallowing back whatever that worked its way up my throat.

“Thirsty, aren't we?”, Troy asked behind me as he placed an empty mug in the sink

“I just had this lump on my throat”, I placed the glass I was using in the sink and smiled before walking past him

“Are you okay?”, he turned to look at me, and I was halfway through climbing up the stairs to turn to answer him

“Yeah, I'm fin-”, I was interrupted by the urge to throw up again and this time I had no control over it. I ran to the nearest bathroom and literally crawled to the toilet while struggling to hold in my puke any longer. I could hear Troy worriedly calling my name continuously as he followed me upstairs.

He stopped when he saw me emptying my guts out, knelt next to me to hold my hair back and ran his hand up and down my back softly

“I'm fine”, I growled disgusted at looking at my own vomit and not wanting Troy to see me like this

“Is it something you ate?”, he asked when I flushed the toilet and leaned against the wall

“Probably”, I accepted a tissue paper from him to wipe my face, assuming I looked terrible and almost covered in puke

“We should get you a doctor”, he suggested, but I shook my head

“I'll be fine don't worry”, I stood up and wash my hands. I thought he'll drag on the topic but funny enough, he didn't and just nodded his head.

“I'm thinking of sending Bucks to the store to get some few essentials, do you need anything?”

“Some toiletries”, he followed me as I walked back to my room to write out a list

“Okay, what else?”

“Some snacks and ice cream”, I grinned

“Isn't it a bit too cold for ice cream?”, he asked, and I looked at him like he just grew two heads. That was literally like the biggest insult to me as an ice cream lover.

“It's never too cold for ice cream”, I hit him playfully on the arm, he laughed before he shrugged and mouthed a very not convinced okay

“What are you going to need?”, he asked as I picked up a pen and paper to write everything down

“Let me see.... “, I posed to think. “I'm going to need a body cream, soap, face cream and deodorant”, I wrote everything down. I don't know about sanitary towels though, but I don't want to make things awkward for Bucks for making him buy them for me, I'll just use the ones I found neatly packed by the housekeeper who was aware of a female guest coming over. Speaking of those, I haven't actually counted them, they might be little, and I might be running low soon-

Wait...

I was supposed to have had my period about two weeks ago

“Layla?”, Troy shook me gently as I turned to look at him

“Huh?”

“Are you done?”

“With what?”

“Writing your list”

“Erm, yeah”, I walked towards the calendar plugged on the wall

I should have had my period by now

“What's wrong?”, Troy asked as he picked something was wrong

“I think I'm late”

“Late to go where?”, he chuckled but quickly frowned as he saw the sanitary towel package in my hand and his eyes widened. “Wait, you mean on your period?”

“I think so, I was supposed to have had my period by now”, I explained, and he looked blankly at me, causing me to laugh nervously. “This doesn't mean what I think it does right?”

Troy insisted on going to the stores himself and less than two hours later he was back. He handed me a shopping bag with everything I needed, including a pregnancy test. I did the deed and all we had to do was wait for the results. While we waited, he was still reading the tests box, and it was the longest three minutes of my life.

“How accurate is it?”, I had to know what were the chances of it deceiving me

“Ninety nine point something accurate”, he shrugged a little before checking on the timer he set on his phone. The second it went off, he stretched out his hand to read the results.

“Wait, wait”, I stopped him

“Lay, I know you peed on it. I'm just reading the results”, he took it in his hand and focused intensely on it for a couple of seconds before raising his eyes to look at me.

“What does it say?”, I bit nervously on my nails and witnessed him slowly shake his head in disbelief

“Call me when you can. It's urgent”.

A text from Troy read and my heart accelerated, scared that they were in some sort of trouble. I immediately searched for the burner phone buried deep into some files I no longer use in the bottom drawer of my table in my study office and dialed Troy's number.

“Damon”

“What's going on, is Layla okay?”, I asked nervously, and I could hear him sigh heavily, dragging the issue and building up the suspense, I couldn't take it

“Damn it Troy, what's the matter?”

“Don't worry about Layla, she's fine”, he drew a breath. “In fact, they are both fine”

“Huh?”

“She and the baby”

“What baby?”, my eyebrows arched in confusion. “Dylan is at my parents place”

I could hear him making that tsk tsk tsk sound as if he's shaking his head.

“For a multimillionaire, you're actually dumb”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“She's pregnant”