Promise

chapter 4

Elijah
I couldnt believe it. She was my girl. Or at least there was strong evidence to suggest she was. I had to be sure so I would have a DNA test done and I would get the results by tommorow.  "that's a beautiful necklace" I say and she holds it close to her chest, "please dont take it from me" she whispers and I feel my heart crack. Fuck. Daughter or not she was effecting me so much. "Never" I tell her and she nods. "May I ask where you got it from" I say careful that I wasnt going to scare her anymore than I already was. "I dont know, I've just always had it, I guess that's why it means so much to me, its from a time where life was good" she said tears filling up in her eyes. I didnt want to press the subject but she continued "I was told my mother  started taking drugs when I was 2, so I guess this necklace was from before then. I guess it's just a reminder that I was once loved" she says tracing the heart with her hands. Tears fell down her cheeks and I didnt know what to do. She was to scared of me so I couldnt hug her, i dont want to seem cruel by changing the topic. "Can we go" she asks quietly and i nod, thankful that the situation was over. I pick up her backpack and head out, she picks up another backpack "schoolwork" she mumbles as we head downstairs.  Eliza is in her office with paperwork ready, I see a few names of children so I presume that tht other paperwork was for other kids that are being taken today. "Good job its only temporary, you will be bored of her by the end of the week" eliza says handing me the documents.  I glare at her already planning her murder in my head "also if she misbehaves feel free to punish her however you please" she says. Yep, I'm definitely killing her. My 7 year old niece often stays with us and when shes naughty the furthest I go to 'punish' her is a light and I mean very light smack but that is only when she has pushed the limits after being in a time out. I shake my head at the thought and grab the papers to sign, I wanted to be out of here soon. Before I could sign the door to the office bursts open and in walked a girl, unlike Avery the girl was dressed in designer brands and looked a little like a brat, I figured she was one of the families visiting daughter. "Adopt me instead" she shrieked throwing herself in front of me. Her voice made me cringe "Aubrey not now sweetheart" Eliza spoke and this time her nice tone wasnt fake. I was shocked at how poor she treated Avery compared to Aubrey. "Why are you adopting that thing, you do know shes damaged, I can be your daughter, see I already dress the part" aubrey practically screamed in my face. That girl needs to be taught manners, to bad I have morals when it came to children or I gladly would. How dare she refer to Avery as 'that thing' I might just make an exception for Aubrey and kill her. "Shes right Mr West, Aubrey is much more suited to be your daughter" Eliza speaks.  By this point I was beyond annoyed. How dare she. I have a daughter who I'm not replacing, not even with Avery I'm sure is my daughter but if I'm wrong she wont be replacing her. "Shut the fuck up both of you" I say my voice cold and lacking emotion, I turn to aubrey "and you, you have a terrible attitude which needs fixing, I suggest you keep your whiney little mouth shut before I grab a needle and thread and sew it shut. Get the hell out of my sight now" I snap,  I had lost my patience and I had become the heartless gang leader I didnt care though. I grab a pen and quickly sign the documents to become a temporary guardian of avery, aubrey runs out crying and a smile appears on my face, a sadistic cruel smile, I was pleased she was crying and eliza could tell because she had also become nervous "I'd be counting down your days if I was you" I tell her and hand the papers back. "What do you mean" she asks and I roll my eyes and simply put my hand into a gun shape pointed straight at her. She gulps and I laugh, it was a dark and cinical laugh "come on avery let's go" I say and I walk out, avery followed behind me, clearly scared of what just happened but I wasnt to bothered.
"Get in" I tell her as we reach my car, she quickly does and I do the same.

We had been driving for 40 minutes now, we werent going straight home, I was stopping by the warehouse to get some of my men to run the DNA. I had to know and if it turned out she wasnt then after two weeks I'd send her back and make sure someone better is put in charge of the orphanage, if she was my daughter then I would go through the process of getting her back by declaring her as my child. I was not going to adopt my own child.
We soon arrived at the warehouse and I pulled up to the drive, I know taking her here was very risky but I wasn't going to allow her in, I wasn't that crazy. I parked the car and turned to her "I'll be 5 minutes, do not leave this car" I tell her and she nods quickly, I take this chance to pull one of her hairs out, she looks at me with fear but I ignore it and leave the car.  I  enter the warehouse and head straight to the lab.
"Boss what are you doing here" charlie the lab guy asks, he was a faily young guy, only 19, he worked part time for me and studied forensics at university, which I paid his tuition for.
"I need you to run this" I said producing the hair and he nods and quickly gets a glass slide and places it down. "Any reason why" he asks as I pull a strand of my hair and he quickly grabs a slide for it. "I need to know if this has a DNA match with mine" I tell him and he nods "since you touched it I will eliminate any finger prints from you" he says and I nod "I'll have the results by morning sir" he tells me and I smile knowing that I would most likely have a daughter by tommorow. "Great, ring me when you get them" I tell him and head out.

When I reach the car I couldnt help but smile, a real and genuine smile, I get in and fasten my seatbelt "right let's go get pizza" I say and turn to Avery, she was sleeping and it made me smile but then I looked closer, why was her breathing so slow.  "Avery" I say and shake her lightly, I dont get a response so i try again this time a little more frantic. Luckily she opens her eyes and I let out a sign of relief "you ok" I ask knowing that I should be taking her to the hospital. "Just tired" she whispers and I smile "ok you sleep, I'll get some pizza and I'll wake you when we get home" I say and she closes her eyes again.

I use my hands free and call a pizza place that's around 10 minutes from my penthouse, I place the order so it's ready to collect when I arrive. I was aware of how thin Avery was and I knew part of her tiredness was probably from lack of food. I had to  put some food in her and fast.

20 minutes later

We had arrived at my penthouse and the pizza was resting on the back seat, Avery was asleep and I didnt have the heart to wake her so I went round to her side and picked her up, she weighed nothing which concerned me and I was definitely taking her to the doctor at some point, with her in my arms i walk round to the other side and carefully take the pizzas out and place them on top of Avery. I made my way inside the building which I owned. It's a good job this place was high end and not some run down apartment block or I would look like a kidnapper, I laughed at that thought, I got a curious look from a old couple as I entered the elevator,  they probs thought similar. I mean I was a 35 year old man with a unconscious girl in my hands which to me seemed shady, if I had brought her into the warehouse like I am bringing her up to my apartment, my gang would be hovering around asking who I kidnapped whilst a few get a torture room ready, I cringe at the thought of her in that place and my grip tightens more securely and protective. The elevator dings letting me know I reached my floor and I step out. I type in the numbers on the keypad to open the door only once inside do I realize her bags were in the car so I place her down on the sofa and the pizza on the coffee table and go back down to get them. I was definitely buying her new clothes tommorow after we visit the doctor.

When I entered again I found the sofa was empty, maybe she needed the toilet. "Avery" I call out knowing she was somewhere in my apartment. There was no response though and considering she woke up on her own in a unknown place I dont blame her for hiding. "Well I just went and grabbed your bags, I'm gonna get put them in your room" I call and go into one of the guest rooms. I placed them in the walk in closet for her to hang up later and exited, I found her curled up in the corner of the living room when I entered, why hadnt I spotted her before. "Here" I say and hand her the box, she hesitantly grabbed a slice before hanging me the box. I grabbed a slice and turned on tv, I didnt want to make her come sit on the sofa as she seemed ok sitting on the floor.

It was soon 9pm snd she looked exhausted, she had moved a little from the corner and was now facing the tv,  I didnt mind as long as she was comfortable.  We both had 4 more slices and 2 were left. "Come with me, I'll show you to your room" I say getting up. She looks terrified at the mention of her room but nods and also gets up, i head towards her room and out of the corner of my eye I see she has started to shake.  "Your clothes are in the closet but I'll take you shopping for more tommorow,  bathroom is in there, I dont have any shower products for you but you can use it to just rinse off, we will get you some tommorow.  If you need anything I'll be about" I explain once we enter and she responds with a nod. "Goodnight " I say, I wanted to comfort and reassure her that I wasnt going to hurt her but I knew she was terrified of me and it would be easier for her if I just left. As I did I noticed how she practically jumped away from me and I hated it. "Get some rest" I say and leave.

Today was a hell of a day. This morning I woke up with business plans this evening I'm going to bed with a child asleep a few rooms away. I never even intended on bringing her back even when I decided I would go and question her. A grab a slice of pizza and start on making a coffee. I was going to be ip for a while doing paperwork so coffee would help me stay awake. I finish the pizza and grab my coffee before making my way to the sofa, I put the coffee on the coffee table and quickly grab my laptop from my office and go back to sit on the sofa. Tonight was going to be a long night.