Chapter 6 - The Child They Were HuntingThe call ended.
Leo stared at the screen.
Natasha could hear his breathing.
"Who was it?"
"No one."
"You're lying again."
He looked at the elderly woman.
"You're staying here."
She nodded.
Leo took Natasha outside.
Rain had turned to mist.
"Where are we going?"
"Canada."
"What?"
"Tonight."
She stared.
"You're sending me away?"
"I'm keeping you alive."
"You told me to leave yesterday."
"I was wrong."
"What changed?"
His eyes met hers.
"You."
She almost laughed.
"Because I'm pregnant?"
"Because they know."
"Who?"
"Everyone."
He opened the passenger door.
Natasha did not move.
"I won't spend my life hiding."
"You won't have to."
"That sounds like a promise."
"It is."
They drove north.
At a safe house outside Milwaukee, Leo stopped.
A woman in tactical clothing met them.
"Name?"
"Dr. Claire Benton."
Natasha looked at Leo.
"She's a doctor?"
"Obstetrician."
"You brought me a doctor."
"I brought you someone I trust."
Claire examined Natasha.
Then looked at Leo.
"Eight weeks."
He nodded.
"Everything normal?"
"Everything looks normal."
Leo exhaled.
Claire closed the medical file.
"She needs rest."
"Can she travel?"
"Yes."
"Then we leave."
Natasha grabbed his sleeve.
"No."
Leo looked at her.
"I'm not going to Canada."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
She pointed at him.
"You think you can move me around like property."
His expression changed.
"I thought that was what I was doing before."
"And now?"
"Now I know I'm scared."
Natasha stared.
Leo Tomlin saying he was scared felt more shocking than a gunshot.
"Of what?"
He looked at her stomach.
"Of burying my child."
Silence.
Then Claire spoke.
"You should tell her."
Leo looked at her.
"Not now."
"You don't get to decide that."
Claire left them alone.
Natasha folded her arms.
"Tell me."
Leo looked toward the window.
"Carlo left something."
"What?"
"A succession contract."
"With whom?"
"Every major family in Chicago."
"And?"
"Under the contract, the first direct descendant of Carlo inherits his controlling shares."
Natasha frowned.
"But Carlo had no children."
"That's what everyone believed."
Her hand moved to her stomach.
"No."
Leo nodded.
"The child."
"How?"
"Carlo secretly had a daughter."
"Who?"
Leo looked at her.
"Your mother."
Natasha's breath caught.
"My mother was Carlo's daughter?"
"Yes."
"Then..."
"You are Carlo's granddaughter."
She stared at him.
"And my baby is..."
"The first direct descendant after Carlo."
The room suddenly felt too small.
Leo continued.
"That makes your child the legal successor."
Natasha whispered.
"Before you?"
"Before everyone."
She looked at him.
"That's why they want me dead."
"Yes."
"And why you sent me away."
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"Then why bring me back?"
He stepped closer.
"Because I realized something."
"What?"
"I spent three years convincing myself you were a weakness."
He reached toward her but stopped.
"You weren't."
His voice broke slightly.
"You were the only reason I still knew how to be human."
Natasha looked away.
She wanted to believe him.
That was the dangerous part.
She did.
Then a gunshot cracked through the house.
Claire screamed.
Leo drew his weapon.
Another shot.
Glass exploded.
Leo shoved Natasha behind a concrete wall.
"Stay here."
He ran.
Natasha heard footsteps.
Shouting.
Then silence.
She waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Then Leo appeared in the doorway.
Blood covered his hands.
"Claire?"
"She's alive."
He crouched.
"They took someone."
"Who?"
He looked at Natasha.
"Not Claire."
"Then who?"
Leo handed her a phone.
On the screen was a live video.
Her mother.
Alive.
Older.
Terrified.
Tied to a chair.
Natasha stopped breathing.
Her mother looked into the camera.
Then whispered:
May you like
"Natasha, don't trust Leo."
The screen went black.
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