Chapter 28 His Name Is Keith
Julian’s pulse slammed in his ears. For a moment, the world around him blurred. But he had his feelings under control.
“Keith?” he breathed, disbelief curling through his tone.
The older man in the mask stepped closer, and the dim light kissed his face just enough for recognition to land like a knife in Julian’s chest.
Keith pulled off his mask calmly. “It’s been a while, isn’t it, partner?” His voice was smooth, almost casual, but his gaze drifted to the child in Julian’s hold. “You always had a weakness for saving lost things.”
Vincent shifted instantly, gun raised. “Boss?”
Julian didn’t look away from Keith. “Stand down, Vincs. Don’t interfere.”
A smirk flickered across Keith’s mouth. “Oh Julian, you would still be my favorite if you hadn’t let your intelligence get into your head.”
Julian’s jaw flexed. As much as seeing that it was Keith who was behind this shook him, he wasn’t going to let his purpose drift. “You touched the wrong kid, Keith. He’s not part of your experiments.”
“Everyone’s part of something, Julian,” Keith replied, almost kindly. “This one… is special to me. He could complete my biggest project yet.”
Phoenix whimpered softly, hiding his face against Julian’s shoulder. That sound tore through him. His protective instinct kicked in hard. He wanted to ask what he saw in the boy but didn’t want to feed his distraction any longer.
“Well, your mission is aborted. Sorry to say, but you’re not taking him,” Julian said, voice low and defiant.
Keith’s brow lifted slightly. “You sure you want to pull that trigger again? Last time ended… poorly.”
“You ordered the kill of his nanny. Just how insane have you gone?” Julian’s voice, though chilled as ice, came out ferocious.
Keith let out a very low dark chuckle. “Very insane, my boy.” Then his expression turned cold.
Julian immediately sensed the change in the air. Then — movement. One of Keith’s men lunged from the dark, gun raised toward Vincent.
A single shot cracked.
Vincent’s reflex was faster. The man dropped, clutching his leg.
Chris and Astor took guns and fired at Julian, but he missed. Phoenix didn’t make a sound in his arms. He just held on tightly, his eyes deeply closed.
Julian used that half-second of chaos. He turned, shielding Phoenix, and shouted, “Move!”
Vincent fired again, covering their exit. The gunfire echoed through the hall as they burst outside.
Keith didn’t follow. He stood at the doorway, watching them vanish into the dark night with something that almost looked like pride.
Julian shoved Phoenix gently into the backseat, climbed in, and slammed the door. “Drive.”
The car tore through the narrow road, headlights cutting through the fog. Julian looked down — the boy was trembling, gripping his toy plane with white knuckles. He was surprised that he hadn’t let go of the toy plane even amidst such chaos.
Vincent’s voice broke the silence. “Boss… who was that?”
Julian exhaled, staring out the window. “Someone that should’ve stayed dead.” He met Vincent’s gaze in the rearview mirror then. “His name is Keith.”
He looked back at Phoenix, who had finally started to calm, and said quietly,
“You’re safe now, kid.”
“Take me to my mummy.” He whispered soberly.
“I’m taking you to your mummy, handsome.” Julian’s hand hesitated as he reached for Phoenix’s hair. Then gently, his tan his fingers through them. The hair texture… he removed his hand suddenly as if something burned him.
Vincent kept staring at Phoenix in the mirror as he drove. “That kid…”
Julian, who still had his gaze on Phoenix, gently tore his gaze away from him. “What about him?”
Vincent paused for a second as if contemplating in his head. “He’s the one. He’s been all over the news today.”
Julian frowned, “What are you talking about?”
Instead of replying, Vincent went through his phone with one hand and passed it to Julian at the back. The video came to life and by the time Julian finished watching, his defenses collapsed instantly.
An alarm screamed in his head. ‘My Son’
~
Julian didn’t reply to his security guards' greetings as he arrived at his penthouse, not minding that they all see him with a kid asleep on his shoulder. He had parted ways with Vincent earlier.
He took Phoenix to his room and tucked him under his sheet. For a long moment, all Julian could do was stare at the kid in horror. ‘His son’
He crossed to his restroom, splashing water onto his face. His chest tightened, pupils dilated, he almost couldn’t breathe. His heart thudded very hard in his chest.
He felt weak for the first time in years. The connection he felt towards the kid was almost surreal. He felt like his own very soul and his downfall at the same time because he knew he would go to any length in the world to protect him the moment he realized he was his son. Even if it would cost him his life.
But he was also aware of how dangerous that was for his work. He had made a promise to himself never to have kids. His kind of work demanded that he had no genuine connections with anyone.
His own family had betrayed him, and he had thought he could never have any reason to be weak. He didn’t want a family. But here was Phoenix.
The resemblance had struck him at first. The eyes, facial expression, hair texture, but after Vincent showed him that video, the certainty dawned on him. “A kid with a photographic memory trending for reading pages of a book off-head.”
He knew at that moment that it was a rare quality the kid earned from his genes. Damien didn’t possess it, he did. The kid was his. His hands curled into fists before he realized he was shaking. This wasn’t him.
His shoulders sank as he looked at his reflection in the restroom mirror. The vulnerability in his eyes scared him. He shouldn’t feel. He shouldn’t be capable of it.
But five years ago, Seraphina had made him enjoy intimacy for the first time in his life. And now she was here. He didn’t want to admit it but every time he set his eyes on her, he wanted to grab her. He wanted to kiss her senselessly and claim her till she couldn’t breath. And at the same time, he wanted to protect her and allow no harm come to her.
He didn’t realize it at first, but right now, he was at his most vulnerable state. Everything was clicking fast. It was the reason he wanted to own her, the reason he made her sign that contract without waiting, and the reason he wanted her under his roof.
As if that wasn’t disturbing enough. He had a son.
And she didn’t think to let him know about it. His son had been out there for years, at risk of danger- without his protection…
He had been protecting children and the innocents most times of his life, but he hadn’t been present in his own son’s life.
Anger boiled with desperation under his chest. By the time the thought formed, he was already moving — toward her room.