How Could She? (Book 2.0) - INTERSEX

Chapter Fifteen

A distant cry for help is heard, and I duck low, following the voice. I open the office door, but can't see anything because there's so much smoke. I'm moving closer to the cry and trip over something. Reaching into my back pocket, I take out my phone again and switch the flashlight on, pointing to what I've tripped on. On the floor, there lies a body almost lifeless with blood everywhere. I shine the light over Olivia's face and, without hesitation, pick her up bridal style and head to the front of the house. I reach for the front door handle, but it's too hot and it burns my palm. I wince in pain but hear creaking sounds from the floor above us and realize I need to get us out of here immediately.

I turn around and decide to go out the way I came in. I know I can't climb through the window while holding Liv, so I try to wake her up. "Liv, baby, wake up," I say, shaking her. Olivia's eyes roll open, but she's not very responsive. I jump at the sound of a post dropping behind me, and I begin to panic. The fire begins to close in on me as the heat rises on my legs. The fire jumps to the side of my calf, and I cry out from the burning sensation. "LIV WAKE UP!" My screams were enough to make Olivia wake up. I put her down and helps her climb through the window, climbing out after her. Both of us glance at our blood-covered bodies while Olivia lets out a wail, hunching from her stomach in pain. I rush to her side and catch her just in time.

***

I take a breath. "As you know, I chose to become a firefighter, but Liv didn't have much of a choice. After the fire, she was determined to find out who caused it, as dad and Roger already know. But what you don't know is why Olivia searched hard for who started the fire." All their curious gazes were cast on me and I began fidgeting with my hand, afraid to reveal a secret Olivia and I never told a soul. My fingers run through my head and I sigh deeply. "Olivia was pregnant our senior year."

"What!" Everyone in the room shouts the same word in shock.

I nod my head not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. Especially my parents, they warned me to use protection and it didn't take long after Olivia and I started to have sex in school to accidentally get pregnant

"Rayden..." my dad finally speaks.

"When the fire happened Liv was 6 months pregnant and fell down the stairs while trying to escape the flames. I found her and got her out, which you guys know. But because she was 19 the hospital legally couldn't tell you all she was pregnant without her consent. We didn't want to disappoint you all so we kept it hidden. When we lost our daughter we felt there was no reason to reveal that secret anymore since she was taken from us before she even entered this world."

"Rayden baby you should have come to us." My mom says next to me. I finally look up and they all have sorrowful expressions on their faces. Expressions I didn't want to see then, and definitely don't want to see now. I don't want pity. I just wanted answers as to what was so bad that she hacked into and why she had to be taken by our parent's company.

I wipe the single tear running down my cheek and sit up straight. "It's fine. It happened years ago. We have both moved past the loss of Junie. Olivia came back because the mission she got after being linked to the fire was complete, so the government let her go." I say trying to change the subject back to what's important at hand.

"Rayden..." my sister says attempting to bring the subject back to our daughter but I shake my head.

"We reconnected okay? But she was called back." Tears start forming in my eyes again, and I get up and turn around to the wall hiding them. I try to fight the tears but fail miserably as my anger gets the best of me. I start slamming my fist against the wall. "We were this close to starting our lives again, and they snatched her away." I turn back towards my family in rage. "What the fuck did she link the fire to?" I yell at Roger and my dad. "What did she find that was so bad that they had to take her away from me? Why did she have bullet wounds? Can someone please answer me that? You guys are so invested in how we're back together and why we got married, or how we lost our daughter, but can anyone answer me why the fuck my wife got pulled away 5 years ago to be a slave for the government? Why did they take a 19-year old away from school, away from the father of her child right after we lost something so important? I needed her! I fucking needed her!" I scream, slamming the glass of whiskey against the floor and watching it shatter.

They all keep quiet, looking down at their feet, but dad finally starts talking. She sighs and rubs her face. She looks over at Roger, and he nods. "As you know, for many years, Roger and I have had a second job with the government. When I met Roger, he was a hitman for them. With my psychology degree and being so good at analyzing people and getting them to talk... the government asked me to join his team and together we took down many criminal lords. Not only in the US, but in other countries. On one occasion, we were in a position where we had to kill one of the criminals and when his girlfriend found out, she traced it back to us. The fire was no accident. Her men set it knowing it was the Link home."

She sighs, and Roger continues, "Olivia knew about our jobs and she took it upon herself to hack into our servers to find information. She was a damn good hacker because she hacked too deep. We begged her to leave it alone, we thought it was just because her leg got hurt not because... but after finding our info, she kept digging for more and found something in the government's server she wasn't supposed to see."

"What?" I ask

"In order to pull a big drug dealer out of hiding, the government had been laundering money to her in Columbia. Liv found the mule bank account and brought it to us, but she wasn't careful enough with covering her hack. She left her trace on accident and not only did the government find out but so did Nazarena González, the drug dealer."

"Did you just say Nazarena González, as in one of the biggest drug lords in Columbia?" They nod their heads. "Great, so they took her to protect her from an infamous drug dealer. Wow! What the actual hell, Dad? So for 5 years, you knew why she was gone and didn't think to tell me?"

"Rayden, would it have made a difference, none of us knew when she was coming back."

"But I wouldn't have had so much hate and anger in my heart towards her while she was gone."

"Must not have been that much hate if yall got married and had sex. Seems like a bunch of love in your heart to me," Addy jokes.

"Addy shut up," I said, laughing. I can't stay mad over this situation forever. It's not their fault she had to leave. I let out a breath and slouch in the chair. "I just... I don't want to be without her."

They all frown, understanding the feeling. "We know baby girl," Mom says, coming over to hug me. She pulls back a little and looks at me. "So am I going to get an actual wedding from you two or nah?" she asks, and we all burst out laughing.