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25. Pictures

It took me a week to finally swallow the fact that my father was Dark Lanotte. A man, who I had only seen through pictures.

I did not feel comfortable around Mr. James because he seemed so secretive. He had hid my father from me.

Every time I wanted to hate him, flames of love for him started rising inside of me when I thought of his kisses and his touch.

My hormones were driving me crazy.

I spent most of time in my room after I found out that I had had a rich father.

Priorly, my mother had told me 'I was conceived by the wrong man'. "He was a poor one-night-stand at a party after I gave birth to my first child," she said back then.

I struggled to believe her.

I tried to imagine my life if he had not been killed.

His wealthy presence would have probably not changed a thing in my life on the other side of the fence. It was uncommon for rich men to keep babies like me. I was an accident, I had not been ordered.

"Stella?" I jumped from my bed at the sound of Stephen's voice. "Won't you come downstairs and eat something?"

"I ate an hour ago. I am not in the mood for company," I honestly told him. I did not care that I was being completely rude.

"I miss your ways, Stella," he said and entered my room. "I get that you hate my father right now. He is a d.ickhead. Trust me, I know firsthand. But you should at least come to my room. We always have fun."

"I just need some time, Stephen," I uttered. "Dark Lanotte is not an easy pill to swallow and I still have so many unanswered questions."

Stephen stood in the middle of the room. He seemed to be thinking about something. I watched him. His body made you fear him, he was strong and muscular, and when he opened his mouth, you mostly wanted to punch him because of all the inappropriate things he said.

Stephen had something tender in him as well. The way he thought about his child and me - the 'order' who would carry it out. He called me 'mother of my child'. I was getting a special treatment from him and with everything I had seen on this side of the fence, I had the feeling that special treatments were rare.

"Do you want to look for your mother?" he asked me. I could see the hesitation in his eyes. What he was offering was illegal through and through.

"I... Well... Would you do that?"

A shadow moved on my right. Why hadn't I heard him approach my room? I turned and saw Mr. James. Sh.it. He would never allow it. Mr. James had probably heard us through his cameras and had come to m room to stop us from doing something this crazy.

Women that looked for their friends and relatives outside of the agency got severe punishment. Nobody ever heard of them afterwards.

To my complete surprise, Mr. James said the following, "Let's go look for your mother, Stella."

Stephen offered to do the search on his computer, he rushed to his room to prepare it. He would have to keep his moves a secret from the government and the agency.

He left me alone with Mr. James.

"I never thought you would allow me to look for my mother," I confessed to him. I left the bed and got closer to him. He put his arms around me and I let my head rest on his shoulder.

He whispered towards me, "I love you, Stella. I would do anything to keep you on my side."

-A/N the 'on my side' is intentional. Usual, I would say 'by my side'.-