Page 26 of Leo

“Fred, you could always adopt or do a surrogate.”

“A surrogate,” he whispered. “I’ve never thought of that.”

“Do you have someone special in your life?” asked Tillie.

“No. No one. I’ve been very careful with my private life. No midnight trysts. No paid escorts. No back-alley clubs. I didn’t want to bring shame to my family.”

“Listen, brother. I don’t know your father intimately, but he seemed like a fair man to me,” said Luke. “I’m going to bet he’d understand if you told him. He just wants his son to be happy.”

Fred looked away and nodded. He’d hoped, prayed that his father would accept him. He’d tried so many times to tell him that he preferred the company of men to women, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“He’s right, you know,” said the voice behind them. Fred turned to see his father standing next to Matthew Robicheaux. “Mr. Robicheaux was kind enough to send a plane for me. A rather unique airplane, I might add. Frederick. What on earth would ever make you believe I could love you less because of who you choose to love?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want to disappoint you. I didn’t want you ashamed of me.”

“Ashamed? Frederick, our country needs to move quickly into the future, and having one of their own royalty representing a huge part of our population would be monumental.”

“Really?” smiled Fred. His face looked like a twelve-year-old’s trying to gain his father’s approval.

“Really. Now, don’t get me wrong. We still need children, and I overheard your friends. Surrogates would be ideal. They would still be of your royal bloodline. I think that’s a wonderful compromise, don’t you?”

“I do,” laughed Fred, hugging his father. “Now, I just have to find someone who’s willing to take that role.”

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem,” smiled Matthew. “The world is made of a lot of wonderful people. You just stick with us, and we’ll find your happily ever after in no time.”

“You are an extraordinary group of people,” said Fred, shaking his head. “I knew there was something special, something different about you, Tillie. I just didn’t realize that it would stretch back generations. Thank you for helping me. With everything.”

“You’re more than welcome,” nodded Luke.

“Luke!” called Hiro, running toward him. “I’ve got Jewel on the phone. She needs our help.”

“Gee, I can’t imagine why,” he smirked.

“Will you help her? I mean, even after all she’s done, will you still try to help her?” asked Fred. Cam smiled at the man, nodding.

“It’s what we do, Fred.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Hello, Echo, how can we help you?” smirked Cam, staring at the screen.

“Shit,” she muttered, looking at her surroundings. “So, you know. You won’t help me now, will you?”

“I didn’t say that,” said Cam. “But we don’t appreciate being lied to. You got yourself into deep shit with Mr. Nahm. You could do yourself a lot of favors by turning over the photos and the videos.”

“It’s all I have,” she said, staring at him.

“No. For the time being, at least, you have your life. If you continue to try and steal from him, to bribe him, you’re going to find yourself on the short end of his anger. It won’t end well for you.”

“I know. I know all of that, and I’m not trying to get anything from him any longer. I’m just trying to stay safe.”

“You won’t be safe as long as you have all of that hanging over his head. He’s ordered for you to die,” said Hex. “Turn it over to him.”

“Listen, you said you wanted our help,” said Cam. “That’s our advice. Turn all of the photos and videos over to him, and if you’re lucky, he’ll let you live.”

“I’ll think about it, but that’s not why I was calling.”

“Then why?” frowned Hex.

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