Page 76 of Forever King

“Don’t worry. I promise I didn’t do anything that will bring shame on the family or this company. I’m just feeling weird about this message. That’s all.”

“Well, call the woman and find out what’s going on. And call me back and tell me because now you have me wondering.”

Typical Matthias. He claims he doesn’t give a damn about gossip, but the first chance he gets to hear some, he’s all ears.

“Don’t you have anything more important to do as the CEO of this company?” I joke, chuckling at his eagerness to know the details of what’s probably a nothing situation.

“I do, but just in case this has anything to do with this company, I want to know. So call me and tell me as soon as you find out.”

“Okay, boss. I’ll let you know.”

Tossing my cell phone onto my desk, I turn back to my laptop to find Emily Martin’s number. Even though I still feel like this is strange, I’m sure it’s not going to be anything important. Her idea of urgent and my idea of urgent are likely miles apart.

When I locate her number in my messages, I call her and she answers immediately. Her voice, soft and a little sad just like my assistant described it, doesn’t make me remember her, though.

“Hi, Miss Martin. This is Kellen King. I got a message you called me and said the situation is urgent. I’m thinking you may have made a mistake. I don’t know you or recognize your name at all.”

“Hello, Kellen. Thank you for returning my call. In all honesty, you don’t know me. We’ve never met, so that’s why you don’t recognize my name. I apologize for leaving such a strange message with your assistant, but I wanted to make sure you called me back even if I didn’t feel right about saying what I was calling about.”

Great. In person, she’s even more cryptic than she sounded in her message.

“So, what can I do for you?”

There’s a long pause before she says, “From the way you’re talking, I’m going to assume you don’t recognize my last name. I’m Amelia Martin’s sister.”

She stops, I assume, to give me time to remember who her sister is, but that name doesn’t sound like someone I know either. I begin to tell her precisely that when my memory of Amelia Martin comes rushing back to me.

Amelia, the woman who was leaving for veterinary school a month after I met her. We hung out a few times. Beautiful with long brown hair and blue eyes. She had a girl-next-door thing going on, even though in private she was as freaky as all hell.

All of this runs through my brain in a matter of seconds, giving me some information about why Emily Martin would have called me. We have someone in common, but I still don’t know why she’d be contacting me. Her sister and I hooked up a few times right before I met Salem. I haven’t heard from Amelia in years.

“Oh, okay. How is your sister?” I ask, unsure what to say after finding out who Emily is.

“My sister passed away two months ago. She was in a train crash,” she tells me, and I hear the sadness my assistant must have heard when she left her message for me.

Damn. I liked Amelia. She was fun, and I’d never met anyone who loved animals as much as she did. I thought she would be a great vet.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Amelia was a good person.”

I don’t know what else to say. We weren’t close. We met, had a lot of sex, and had a good time. Neither of us wanted anything permanent. She planned to leave for California to go to college out there to become a vet, so she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. That worked great for me at the time since I didn’t want to be that for anyone.

“Yes, she was. My sister had a good heart. That’s why she wanted to be a vet.”

Even as Emily says that, I get the sense she’s holding back from what she really wants to say. Then again, she’s probably still in mourning, so perhaps she’s just having a hard time.

“Did she finish vet school?” I ask, not knowing how long it takes to graduate from the program she was in.

“Yes, she did. It was hard, especially considering everything, but she finished earlier this year. She was so excited to be starting with an emergency clinic, but she died before she ever could.”

Jesus, that’s awful. Amelia may not have been someone I planned to spend the rest of my life with, but she deserved better than to work all that time to become a vet and never actually get the chance to do the thing she loved.

“I’m sorry, Emily. Amelia was a good person.”

That’s the second time I’ve said that, but I don’t know how else to reply. I can’t tell her anything about what her sister and I did together, so I’m left with bland comments.

“Kellen, the reason I called is because Amelia had a baby. His name is Elias. He’s your son.”

Instantly, my head feels like it’s swimming, like someone has dropped me into the bottom of the ocean and I can’t do anything but silently flail for air. A son? It’s mine? That’s not possible. It can’t be.