Ch.21: Leo's Awakening

I found him in the garage, washing the Rolls Royce. It was a repetitive, meditative motion—wax on, wax off—but I could see the tension in his shoulders.

He didn't look up when I entered.

"I told you," he said, his voice flat. "Thorne is going to kill you if you keep pushing."

"He won't kill me," I said, walking up to him. "But he might kill you."

He stopped scrubbing. He looked at me, his eyes dark with fatigue.

"What are you talking about?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crumpled printout from the DNA sequencer. I had managed to snatch it back from Higgins before we fled the study, promising her I would get her "her share" of the blackmail money later.

I handed it to him.

"Read it."

He wiped his hands on a rag, frowning. He took the paper.

"What is this?"

"It's a paternity test."

He scanned the numbers. He saw the names at the top. *Sample A: Leo V. Sample B: Subject D-01.*

He froze.

"Leo," I said softly. "It's you. You're not just a donor. You're her father."

He shook his head, a denial forming on his lips.

"No. That's impossible. Thorne said it was anonymous. He said..."

"He lied," I cut in. "He selected you. He selected me. He needed your durability gene and my regenerative enzyme. He bred Daisy like a prize horse."

He stared at the paper, his hands beginning to shake. The reality was crashing down on him—the years of service, the loyalty, the polishing of the car that belonged to the man who had stolen his child.

"It's not true," he whispered. "It can't be."

"Come with me."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door.

"Where are we going?"

"To see her."

We snuck into the house through the kitchen entrance. It was 3:00 AM. The house was asleep.

We crept up the stairs to the nursery. I opened the door.

Daisy was awake. She was sitting up in the crib, holding onto the bars, looking out at the dark room.

She saw us.

And she smiled.

It was a small, gummy smile, but it lit up her face. And in that smile, I saw it. The crinkle at the corners of her eyes. The shape of her mouth.

Leo saw it too.

He walked to the crib, moving like a man in a dream. He reached out a trembling hand. Daisy reached back, wrapping her tiny fingers around his thumb.

Leo let out a sound—a choked, strangled sob that broke my heart.

He fell to his knees beside the crib, burying his face in the mattress. His shoulders shook.

"My god," he wept. "Oh my god."

He stayed there for a long time, holding onto his daughter's hand. When he finally stood up, the grief was gone.

In its place was a rage so pure, so cold, it terrified me.

He turned to me. His eyes were burning.

"I'm going to kill him," Leo said.

His voice was calm. It was a promise.

"I'm going to walk into his bedroom, and I'm going to tear his throat out."

He started toward the door.

I grabbed his arm, digging my heels in.

"No!"

"Let go, Elena."

"If you kill him now, we lose," I hissed. "Security will shoot you before you get halfway down the hall. And even if you succeed... what happens to Daisy? What happens to Isabella? The entire system collapses, and we go to prison."

"I don't care," he snarled. "He stole my life. He stole my daughter."

"And we're going to make him pay," I said, looking him in the eye. "But we do it my way. We expose him. We burn his legacy. We take everything from him before we let him die."

He looked at me, his chest heaving. He looked back at Daisy.

Slowly, the murderous tension left his frame.

"Okay," he whispered. "Your way."

He looked back at the door, his hands balling into fists.

"But if he touches her again... if he hurts her one more time..."

"I'm going to kill him," Leo said. And for the first time, I was the one asking for restraint.