Chapter 43 : Be Careful What You Wish For

  As soon as Rhys heard that Bianca had the baby, he wasted no time in getting over to the Monty Residence.

 

  He ignored Patrizio's glares, and ran upstairs.  He found Bianca sleeping.  Rhys left her to her sleep, and climbed the next flight of stairs that went on up to the nursery.

  
  His daughter, Amanda, blinked at him with sleepy eyes.  "Hey Baby Girl." he whispered.  "This is your Daddy."  He pulled her warm little body closer to him and sighed.  He was in love. 

 
 

  "Hello Jena?  This is Kit, hey, I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel again."  Kit smiled.  "I have a lot of fun with you, that's not it at all."  Kit thought back to their first date, when he had met her outside her workplace.

 They had discovered they had a lot in common.  A love of history, and old things in general.  She liked playing Chess, and walking the beach at night.  She also smoked, but he tried not to hold that against her.  He had also enjoyed flirting with her, none of it serious to his mind.

 
   Kit thought she was a cute, bubbly kid, filled with energy and enthusiasm for her town and life in general.  He had enjoyed her historical monologues, and had teased her when she felt embarrassed after a particularly lengthy chat about the City Hall building.  She had apologized for boring him, and he had assured her he didn't find her boring at all.  She did make him feel old at times though, here he was, a grandpa, and she had barely spread her wings.

  "My daughter in law is pregnant again."  Kit chuckled.  "Yes, Elly is quite determined to have a girl."  Kit smiled as he listened to Jena talk.  "Hmm, yeah, this is her fifth pregnancy, all of them boys so far.  What was that?"  Jena repeated her question.  "Well, there's Puck, Drake, Juniper, and little Ash.  Imps, the lot of them."   He loved being a grandfather, and spent every moment he could with his grandsons.

  He had even taught Puck how to walk.

    
  "This pregnancy has been really hard on her.  She's been really sick, and she spends most of her time sleeping.

  The baby is due any day, and with my son working such long hours, I just don't want to leave her alone, besides the fact that three toddlers underfoot, and a baby, is too much for her right now."  three toddlers and a baby, was a bit much for any one person, but Kit smiled fondly as he thought of his grandsons.

  Drake was more sober, and very serious.  He hardly ever cried, but he would sit and study everyone around him.

  
  Juniper was his opposite.  He would follow Kit around, crying until he was picked up and cuddled.

 
   Ash was still a baby.  His son spent as much time with his kids as he could.

 
 But more often than not, it was Kit that was chasing after the toddlers all day long.  He didn't mind in the least.  "So, I'll catch you another time then?  Sounds good.  Take care.  Bye."  Kit hung up the phone.  He felt a familiar tug on his pants, and looked down to find Juniper, his arms up.

  "Up Grampa, up!" he demanded.

  Kit obliged him.
   

 

  Reilly spent hours chasing down leads, and interviewing the residents of Monte Vista.  He was sure if he asked enough people enough questions, eventually he would get the answers he sought.  It was a slow, grueling, and frustrating process.

  "I'm sorry Signore, I cannot help you."

  Reilly was beginning to hate that answer.

  

 
  Elly didn't mind the awful sickness too much.  She knew the end result would be another baby in her arms.  But when she felt the familiar pain across her abdomen, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.  Soon she would hold another precious baby in her arms, and she would be done with the puking.   She thought to herself, well, until she was pregnant again.

 
 
  How appropriate that the day she gave birth to her daughter would be Love Day.  Elly was entranced, she finally had a girl!  She named her Cherry, after her favorite blossom.

 

  Elly waddled into the nursery, and carefully placed her daughter in the crib.  The pains had not gone away like they had before.  Reilly burst into the door, and headed for her.  "Elly, Dad just called and said you were in..." he stopped midstream, "We have a girl?"

  Elly nodded her head happily.  "Cherry.  Reilly, my stomach still hurts."

  Reilly frowned, "What do you mean your stomach still hurts?"

  Elly let out another groan, and delivered another girl.  "Oh Reilly!" she breathed.  "We are twice blessed, twin girls!  I did not think it was possible.  Well, I know I ate some of the mandrakes, just to maybe help us have a girl, but I never imagined we would have two girls!"

 
    "Twins?  What do you mean you ate some mandrakes?  Elly doesn't that usually..."

  "Oooh!  I don't think I'm done Reilly!"  She set the baby down, and then gave birth to a boy.

  

  "Triplets?"  Reilly knew his grandmother had been a triplet, but he had never expected to have triplets of his own.  "What are we going to name them?"

  "Alder for the boy."  Elly panted.

  Reilly considered the name.  "I like the name Alder." he decided.  "And maybe Camellia for our other little girl."

  "Oh yes, that is a pretty name."  Elly panted again.

  Reilly looked closer at her.  "Elly, are you alright?"

  "Ohhh!" she whimpered.  "I think, I think I have one more!"

  "One more..."  Reilly was in shock as Elly gave birth to another girl.  "Quads?" he said faintly.  He felt dizzy.  Had she just given birth to FOUR babies?

 

  "Ahhh," Elly sighed.  "The pains are finally gone, I think I am done now.  And another girl, this one I think we should name Cedrela.  What do you think of that name Reilly?  Oh, isn't this lovely!" she exclaimed.  "I can't wait to have more!"

  Kit had quietly gone about giving the babies their bottles, and snuggling them, plus handing out bottles to the toddlers that were crawling around under everyone's feet.  He overheard Elly as he passed by.  "You want more?" he asked incredulously.

  
  "Oh yes!" she said, quite happily.  "I would like many babies!"

  "Uh, Elly,"  Reilly said, "I think we need to wait a while before we have more kids."

  "A voice of reason speaks at last!"  Rhys said loudly from the other side of the room, as he bottle fed Cherry.

  "Wait?  Why wait Reilly?  I feel good, I know I could carry more babies!"

  Reilly lightly kissed his wife.  "While you may be a fairy, Love, I am only human.  And four toddlers and four babies, eight kids!  That is all I can handle, and then some!"

  Elly frowned.  "Are you sure Reilly?"

  "Definitely."

_____________________________________________________________

  Challenge Notes:  So--I haz babies, lol.  If you guys read my spoiler on the MTS thread, this comes as no surprise.  And like I said there, I was surprised by the quads.  I was thinking she may have twins, that would put me over by one kid, but that's not too bad.  I was willing to risk it for a girl.  She kept having boys, even though I only let her eat watermelons!  Annoying---if it wasn't a challenge game, I would have used MC and made the second one a girl!  Now---my game is chaotic and definitely challenging!  Atm, I have 5 toddlers, and I can't wait until Ash becomes a kid!

  As soon as Elly had them--she rolled the want for a baby.  I laughed, and actually talked to a non-existant pixellated person, I said---No way!  You two are done!  

  Reilly is half way through his career, and Rhys faithfully gets a new tattoo every week, though I don't show it very much in the story itself.

  Elly has a little garden, but rarely has much time to do anything with it.  lol  She has too many kids demanding her time!

 
 

Chapter 42: Born to be a Gambling Man

The agreed upon time was in the middle of the night, on Sunday, inside a private room.  Just two people, Rhys, and the man that would be representing Patrizio.  The robot dealer would record everything, so no lies could be made about the result.  One game.  Winner takes all.

 
  Patrizio's choice, Mike Braun, head of his Gambling Empire.  Mike had never lost a bet, and he wasn't planning on losing this one.  The stakes were high for him, if he lost, he would lose his life.  He studied his cards intently, and considered his options.

 
  Rhys didn't feel nervous in any way.  He was confident in his card shark abilities, even if he was playing against a Great White.  He flipped through his cards, and studied each one, giving the impression that the hand he had been dealt was a bad one.  It wasn't good, Rhys admitted to himself, but he had been dealt worse.

 
  The game dragged on, long into the night.  Tokens were placed, and cards revealed, as hand after hand their tokens piled up beside them.  Mike had a respectable pile of tokens next to him, but Rhys was keeping the pressure on.

  

  "You look a little nervous there, Mike."  Rhys casually said, a slight smirk on his lips.

  "Shut up you little Bloodsucker."  Mike growled back.

 

  Mike counted out his tokens, and placed them.  Rhys flicked a few more onto the pile.  "Are you sweating yet?"  Rhys asked him.  "I would be.  I bet Monty isn't going to be too pleased once he hears that you lost."

  "You're a cocky little Bloodsucker."  Mike glared at Rhys.  "When this game is finished, I'll pummel your body, just as I'll pummel you in this game!"

  Rhys scoffed.  "Anytime, Fatman."

  "One more word..."

  "How about three?"

  Mike pushed his chair back and stood up, Rhys sat there, grinning at him.  "Go ahead, Fatman.  Try it."

  Mike sat back down as Rhys laughed.  "After this game, your ass is mine."

  "Big words for such a little Fatman."  Rhys chuckled some more as he stared down at his recently revealed cards.

  
  Mike stared at them as well.  He could feel the sweat beading and sliding off his face.

 
  He wiped his brow, and looked at the cards the Robot had just dealt him, and then back to the cards in front of Rhys.  He carefully placed his cards down on the table.  "You cheated!" he snarled.

  Rhys couldn't hold back his grin.  "Cheated?  Me?  With the Robot recording my every move?  Impossible.  Face it Fatman, you're just not as good as I am."

  
  Mike looked upwards and began to pray, while Rhys gathered up all of his tokens.

 
    Once his tokens were gathered up, Rhys pushed a button on the Robot, and inserted a USB thumb drive.  He hit the record, and pulled the thumb drive once all the information was recorded.  He kissed it and then he stuck it in his pocket.  He heard the door slam and glanced up.  Mike had disappeared.

  Rhys shrugged.  Mike was not his problem.  He had proof now, that he had won.  This time around, no one was going to keep him from his kid.  He cautiously made his way back outside, and headed for his car.  Reilly was standing next to it.

  "Well?"

  "What are you doing here?  I said I'd handle it, and I did."  Rhys couldn't stop the smile.  "I smoked him." he boasted.

  Reilly looked at Rhys and shrugged.  "I wanted to know right away if you lost your life to Monty or not.  How did you do it?"

  Rhys jumped into his car, and Reilly slid into the passenger's seat.  "Monty overlooked something by sending his best man."

  "What's that?"

  "I can read minds.  Fatman there, was broadcasting his cards and game plan, it really wasn't all that hard to beat him."

  "Hmm, I don't like the sound of that Rhys.  You couldn't read Monty at all, but he sends someone in that is easily read?  It doesn't make sense."

  "I don't care if it doesn't make sense.  A deal is a deal, and I won.  All I want is to be able to see my kid, whenever I want.  And I won that today."

  Rhys pulled up in front of the house.  "Be careful Rhys."  Reilly told him, as he got out of the vehicle.  "Something doesn't smell right."

  Rhys grinned at him.  "I'm the epitome of being careful."

  Reilly snorted, and would have said something more, but once they got close to the house, they found Elly standing outside the front door in a puddle.

 
 "Reilly!" she gasped.  "I don't think I'm going to make it to the hospital.  The baby is coming!"  With that said, she gave birth to another boy, Drake.

 
    "Oh Reilly!" she whispered.  "He is beautiful!"  She kissed the top of his head.  "I do not even mind so much that he is a boy, though I did really want a girl.  We will just have to keep trying until we get a girl."

  "Why are you so fixated on a girl?"  Rhys wanted to know.  Boys would be more fun, he reasoned.  Girls were just a problem waiting to happen, just look at all the problems girls had caused for him.

  "Apparently, there are not that many female fairies."  Reilly answered for her.

  "That's right, silly Rhys!"  Elly admonished him.  "Boys cannot have babies!  Sadly, we fairies are more likely to have boys than girls."

  Rhys rolled his eyes.  "Right Elly, how silly of me to forget that boys don't have babies."  He gave Reilly a look, and Reilly simply smiled at him. 

   Drake's birth overshadowed the fact that it was also Puck's birthday.  He grew up with a minimum of fuss, and a smile.

  

  ________________________________________________________

  Challenge Notes:  I actually wasn't sure which way I was going to play Rhys' card game.  I decided to leave it to Chance and the game, since I had some story ideas either way.  Lucky for Rhys, he won, lol.

  It's a short chapter---I wanted it to be mainly about Rhys and his card game, but I am not a gambler, lol, and couldn't think of any way to make it much longer without it being boring.  So I opted for short! :P  Now he'll have access to his kid, so Rhys is riding high at the moment.

  Lots more kids on the way for next chapter.  Five is the goal, I have 2 down.  The P.I. career isn't too exciting---I don't think I've missed much by not playing it all these years, lol.  I still have the Expansionist goal to do, but I have an idea on that, finally! :)

  (I was also goofing around with my blog settings again.  I'm not entirely happy with it yet, but it's getting there.  I'm trying to make things easier to read---some of my title colors weren't dark enough, the page seemed too bright to me--I had a headache, lol---and then I decided to just change the background while I was at it.)

  A pic of Rhys' daughter Corrine.  She's a vampire/werewolf mix like her Dad, and she has Rhys' haircolor.  But the skin/eyes, are from her mother.

 
  Some more MV spam--this time in Winter. :)

 
 

Chapter 41: Rumors

  "Come on Old Man."  Reilly teased Rhys.  "You're being pokey."

  "Cute."  Rhys responded grumpily.  Daylight was not his favorite hour, yet Reilly had insisted on them getting together today.  "With you getting visitors at all hours of the night, I'm surprised you are so..." Rhys paused, searching for a word and finally settled on one.  "...awake."

 
   Reilly sat at the far edge of the counter, and Rhys sat down next to him.

 

  "I sure imagined that this Healing business would be different than what it is.  Who knew that most of the Camulodunum people would be quite happy to stay the way they are."  Reilly shrugged. "The ones that want to be cured are the ones that find me."

  Rhys yawned.  "Yes, your Grandfather was quite vague on the particulars."

  Reilly waved the mixologist over.  "I doubt that my Grandfather was entirely sure of what would happen, despite his prophecies."

  "Hello Guys."  The Mixologist said with a flirty smile.  "What can I do for you two handsome fellows?"

 

  "Just an Iced Tea for me, thanks."  Reilly answered her.

  "With a kick?"

  "Too early for that."

  Rhys looked up at the mixologist, and while he found her attractive, he wasn't in a flirty mood.  "A Plasma Orange Juice for me."  The bartender left to get their drinks, and Rhys turned to find Reilly watching him.  "What?" he asked irritably.

 Reilly smiled slightly.  "There was a day when you would have had her phone number and a kiss by the time she walked away."

  Rhys grunted.  "I'm just not interested."

  Reilly shook his head.  "I'm worried about you Rhys."

  "Me?"  Rhys feigned shock.

  Before Reilly could say anything more, the Mixologist showed up with their drinks.  She handed them out, and then stood there for a moment studying them, before finally asking, "Anything else?"

  

  "No thank you."  Reilly said politely.  Rhys just ignored her.  A bell dinged, signaling that another customer had arrived, she left to help him.  Reilly took a sip of his tea.  "It's strange living in a town where the bars are open 24/7.  I hear rumors that they are merely a front for a gambling ring, but I haven't found the entrance yet.  But back to you..."

  "I'd rather talk about gambling rings."  Rhys took a long drink.

 

  Reilly snorted.  "I'm sure you would."   He sighed as he looked at his best friend.  "I discovered the identity of our mystery guest."

  "Really?"  Rhys acted like he didn't care, but Reilly knew him too well to fall for the act.

  "Yeah, turns out her full name is Bianca Monty, the youngest daughter of the Kingpin.  You know, the family we should be careful around?  She was probably sent over to spy on me."  Reilly speculated.  "I get stares wherever I go, and everyone is suspicious and jumpy.  I get the feeling all is not well in Monte Vista.  But I found out one other piece of news that might interest you."

  Rhys shrugged.  "Hit me with it."  He took another drink.

  "Rumor is that Bianca is knocked up."  Reilly looked straight ahead as he said his bombshell.  He didn't have to look at Rhys to know how this bit of news would affect him.

  Rhys froze, staring into his drink.

 
  
  "Rumor also has it, that Patrizio Monty is looking for information that will lead him to the baby's daddy.  Bianca is his pride and joy Rhys.  The apple of his eye!  She was going to go to college in a few weeks!"

  "Another child?"  Rhys groaned.  He saw flashes of his sour relationship with Olga fly by.

  "This is going to be worse than the Corrine/ Olga debacle.  Monty is..."  Reilly sighed heavily.

  "I know, I know."  Rhys said glumly.  "I have this habit of royally screwing up my life."

  "Well, having an affair with a married Olga wasn't one of your better judgement moves."  Reilly agreed.  "Even though you act like you don't care, I know it hurts that she doesn't even acknowledge Corrine is yours."

  "Any one with a brain could figure that out.  Her husband is an idiot, and I don't understand why she chose him over me." 

  "I don't either."  Reilly said honestly.  "The man is a worm.  But Monty is a whole other can of worms.  You know I've been investigating him, and the more I find, the worse it is.  Nothing I can pin to him yet.  But I'll get him."  Reilly vowed.  Both of them were deep in their own thoughts for a while.

 "What are you going to do?" Reilly finally asked.

  "Do?  I'm going to have a little talk with Monty, that's what I'm going to do."

  Reilly groaned.  "Are you out of your mind?  Do you want to get yourself killed?  Over a rumor?"

  "Rumor?  No," Rhys rejected that thought.  "You wouldn't have told me if you thought it was rumor only.  Bianca is carrying my child.   I am determined to be a part of this child's life."

  

  "You guys need anything?" the Mixologist interrupted.

  

    No, we're fine."  Reilly answered.  He looked at her suspiciously, wondering how much she had overheard.  "We'll let you know if we need something, really."  He smiled politely.

  Rhys was less than polite.  "Woman, leave us the hell alone would you?" he snapped.  "I'm not interested, neither is he.  Go away."  The Mixologist left in a huff.  "I read her, she's harmless."  Rhys answered Reilly's unspoken fear.  "Annoying, but harmless."

  "Hello!  Yes, I'd like a menu, thank you."  Reilly and Rhys both turned their heads at the sound of a familiar voice.

   Reilly groaned as his father Kit sat down at the other end of the counter.  "Seriously my Dad still thinks we are twelve years old and can't leave the house unsupervised!"  Kit ordered the cheesy chili fries and soon struck up a conversation with the Mixologist.

  "Well, at least he is keeping that girl busy."  Rhys noted.  Then he turned back to Reilly.  "Reilly, tell me what you know about the Monty's."

  "It isn't much yet."  Reilly warned.  "People don't like talking about them.  The town's history was easy enough to find out, looking through the City Hall records.  It was founded in the 400s BC, by Cassius Monty, of whom Patrizio is a direct descendant of.   The not so easy stuff to find out is about Patrizio himself.  I know that Patrizio owns most of Monte Vista under many different subdivisions of his main company, Simcatti Industries.  The Criminal Underworld is vast in this little town, but Patrizio has so many people between him and their criminal activities it is impossible to tie him to any of it.  But as sure as I am sitting here, he's the man running the show.  He also offers his protection to business owners, if you don't take it, he takes you out, it's that simple.  If you cross the man, you run a high risk of becoming food for the sharks."

  "That should be a warning for you Coz as well."  Rhys said.  "You have a baby, and another on the way."

  Reilly nodded.  "I know.  I adore my wife, but she is a bit flighty on these kinds of things, so I have talked to my Grandfather about getting some type of protection.  He said he would send some Camulodunum Guardians to watch over her and the kids, they'll keep their distance though.  She won't even know they are there unless they are needed."


 Rhys stood up.   "Good thinking."

  Reilly hesitated, then said, "I also took the liberty of having a Guardian sent to keep watch over Corrine.  You just never know, I wish there was a way to protect your other child that is on the way, but Bianca is in the Viper's nest."


  "I appreciate it Reilly."


    Rhys turned to leave and Reilly stood up.  "Where are you going?"


  "To face the Viper."


  "I'm coming too, if you run into trouble I can throw a potion spell or..."


  Rhys was shaking his head no.  "No dice.  The two of us going in will make him suspicious, especially since you are already on his radar.  I go alone."


  "You'll go into the house alone."  Reilly agreed, "But I am still going to be nearby.  If you run into trouble, just give me the signal and I'll be there."


  Rhys smiled at Reilly.  "Agreed."

  "So Handsome, is the one with longer hair your son?"  The Mixologist asked Kit as she took his empty plate.

 

  "How did you guess that, uh, Jeanna wasn't it?"

  She shrugged.  "He looks just like you.  You can call me Jena, all my friends do."  she smiled flirtatiously at Kit.

  "Jena."

  "Have you seen much of our fair city?" she asked him.

  "No, I've been busy." he told her.

  "Well, if you ever want a guide, I'd be more than happy to show you the sights of this city.  It is gorgeous, and filled with tons of history."

  Kit looked up at Jena, amused.  "A guide you say?"

  "Absolutely.  I'm paying my way through college, my major is History.  I could tell you all kinds of things about this city."

  Kit looked at her thoughtfully.  "I bet you could, Jena.  You know what?"  Kit decided.  "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

  "Fabulous!"  Jena exclaimed.  "I get off from work in a few hours, how about you come back then, and I'll show you some of the night life of Monte Vista."

  "It's a date."

  She smiled at him as she echoed his words.  "It's a date."  Kit paid for his food and left her a generous tip before taking his leave.  Jena pocketed the tip, and grabbed the phone as she went into another room for more privacy.  The call was answered on the first ring.  "No, neither one of them would bite." she told the person on the other end.  "But I think I've got the father.  We have a date tonight."  She was quiet as she listened to the instructions being given.  "Understood."  She hung up the phone and grabbed a cigarette, she had to figure out where to take Kit on their little date.

 


  Rhys was led straight into Patrizio's study to wait.  Patrizio was not there yet, so Rhys took advantage of the computer sitting there on the desk and decided to do some hacking on his own.

 

   He didn't have more than a couple of minutes however, before Patrizio showed up.  He stood up as Patrizio entered the room.  "Find anything interesting?"  Patrizio asked with a cold smile.

  Rhys shrugged.  "Not particularly."

  

    Patrizio said heatedly, "You have quite the balls, to sit at my desk, at my computer..."

  Rhys laughed.  "And what?  Find out you like to play Solitaire?  Please."  He rolled his eyes.  "I beat it."  He pointed to the Solitaire game that was open, with the words *You Have Won* on the screen.

  Patrizio looked at closely at the screen, then at Rhys, before guiding him away from the computer.  "Come near my computer again, and I shall have to castrate you."  Patrizio said pleasantly.  "That is if I don't decide to castrate you now.  You are the one responsible for getting my daughter pregnant, are you not?"

 

 Rhys looked at his nails, and affected an unconcerned attitude.  "I believe so."

  "You believe so!?"  Patrizio said angrily.  "What are you implying about my daughter?"

  "Absolutely nothing."  Rhys said calmly.  "Only that I just heard, through the grapevine, that she was pregnant.  I have not heard that from her, "  Rhys shrugged, "So I can't be sure."

 
 
  "I can assure you, Mr. Van Gould, that my daughter is indeed pregnant.  She has only been out of my sight for that one night, and it appears that she is not entirely trustworthy."  He said grimly.  "She will not be out of my sight again."  Patrizio clasped his hands together.  "So, now I have this little mess of hers to clean up.  The question is, what would be the best way to clean it up?"  Patrizio asked the question in a rhetorical manner, not expecting Rhys to answer.

  "I'll marry her."  Rhys said simply.

  Patrizio laughed coldly.  "Marry my daughter?  Who do you think you are?  You're nothing but pond scum, and unworthy of such a prize as my daughter."

  Rhys smiled at Patrizio, making sure that he could see the glint of pointy teeth.  "Mr. Monty, I was not asking your permission.  I was stating a fact.  I will marry Bianca, because she is expecting my child, and I will not be kept away from my child."

  Patrizio's eyebrows rose in astonishment.  "You dare speak that way to me?  I could have your head on a platter in seconds, and no amount of Power," he sneered, " could ever heal you, Vampire."

  
  "Good, you know what I am."  Rhys told him calmly.  "You know then, that when you are dead and cold in the ground, I'll still be around to dance on your grave."

  Patrizio stared back at Rhys.  "I know all about you Rhys Van Gould." Patrizio said frostily.  "I know all about your Camulodunum heritage, that and of your cousin's Camulodunum lineage.  I plan to make you two regret ever settling here."


  Rhys laughed.  "Was that a threat?  If you know who we are, then you know what we are capable of.  I'd say you'd best watch yourself around me, Monty."


  "You are not the only one with...certain connections.  But I see you need a little demonstration of my Power."  Patrizio walked to the door and opened it.  "Bianca!" he yelled.  A few minutes later, a subdued Bianca walked into the room.  "Is this the man?"


  Bianca quickly glanced up at Rhys, then lowered his eyes just as quick.  "Yes Papa." she said meekly.


  "You will have no contact with him, is that understood?"


  "Yes Papa." she said obediently.


  Patrizio gripped Bianca's face with his hand.  "Do not cross me girl."


  "I understand Papa."  Patrizio let her go.  She left the room without looking at Rhys again. 


  "My daughter will do as I command.  You can forget ever seeing your child."  Patrizio snarled.

 

  "Are you a gambling man?"  Rhys asked him.  The question threw Patrizio off.  "I am."  Rhys continued.  "Obviously you fear the reprisals of harming either Reilly or myself, or you would have killed me instead of letting me into your home.  I don't kill you for the simple fact, that I am a law abiding citizen, though I would dearly love to kill you."  Rhys smiled at Patrizio with a feral gleam in his eye.  "I propose we settle this with a game of chance.  I hear rumors that there are Gambling dens in this City.  I'm sure you know of their location."

  Patrizio laughed.  "You expect me to admit to Gambling dens?  And even more than that, to participate in an illegal activity?"

  "Send a lackey, I don't care."  Rhys shrugged.  "If I win, I get access to my child, whenever I want.  You will also let Bianca make her own choice in regards to me."

  "And if I win?"

  "If you win, I'll be your lackey.  Either way, I will get to see my child."

  Patrizio studied Rhys.  "You would betray your cousin at my command?"

  "I don't plan on losing."

  Patrizio chuckled.  "You should never bet against the House, but I will take your bet.  I could use someone of your...talents."



  Rhys took a deep breath of fresh air once he reached outside.  Reilly waited until Rhys was clear of the house before joining him.  "So, how did it go?"

  "As well as can be expected."  Rhys answered him.  "He knows something about  Camulodunum, and he even seems to have some connection to it.  I couldn't read his mind, he has some sort of block that I have never encountered before."  Rhys frowned.  "I got him to agree to a little game of chance though, where if I win he'll let me court Bianca and I get to see my child whenever I want."

  "And if you lose."

  "I promised I'd be his lackey, and do his bidding."

  "Are you crazy?"

    Rhys shrugged.  "I'm not going to lose, Reilly, so no worries."

  "No worries!"  Reilly grumbled.  "You have lost your mind, and that is plenty to worry about." 

   "Oh, I also had a chance to peek at his computer, and due to my excellent memory, I have some addresses for you to check out.  I don't know anything about them, but it'll be a good starting point for you."  Reilly stopped walking and stared at Rhys.  Rhys stopped and looked back at Reilly.  "What?"

   Reilly was stunned.  "You hacked into Monty's computer?"

   "Of course.  We've got each other's back, right?"

   "Always."  Reilly replied.

_____________________________________________________________

  Challenge Notes--so apparently when I packed up all the sims I wanted to save from MF and moved them to MV, Olga was pregnant from the one time she did a Risky with Rhys.  I was quite surprised when I got the pop up that Rhys was now a father.  lol  She is married though---and happily.  Her hubby doesn't compare to Rhys at all! :)

  With my MF save dying on me, I sort of spaced where I was going with my Healer thing---that got dropped a bit.  So I kind of touch on it---it wasn't meant to be a curse broken for all, but only for those who no longer wanted to be werewolves.  They could now be cured, whereas before they didn't have the option.  I decided though, that after all those years living that way, the majority would probably want to stay the way they are.

  As to Patrizio's connection to Camulodunum, that will come up later.  :)

  I'll post more pics of kidlets next chapter---