Free Rendezvous by Arie Lane

information turning my life upside down. Pulling into my drive, I remember I left Sarah at the club.
     
    S,
    So sorry I took off on you like that. Something came up, it’s about Cora. I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I know more.
    B
     
    It’s a couple of hours later when I receive a text back from Sarah. Apparently in all of the commotion, she had to take off as well. I guess her appointment got moved up and she had to take a red eye out a few minutes after I walked away from her. I still feel like shit for ditching her, but at least I know she wasn’t sitting around wondering what the hell happened to me.
    The next morning I did something I haven’t felt the need to do since moving here. Reaching under my bed, I pull out a small metal safe. Unlocking it, I run my fingers across the cool, comforting metal. Sure I carry a handgun, but this is one of my most prized possessions. An exactly replica of the 9mm Dagger Mercutio carried in the newer Romeo and Juliet movie. It’s probably not what a normal person would spend their money on, but it was the first thing I bought when I saved up enough from my royalties. I was obsessed with the movie. It has always been my go to movie when I needed an escape, so I thought it a fitting tribute to a movie that saved me from myself on more than one occasion.
    I spend the next hour cleaning it inside and out, making sure everything is in perfect working order. I’ve only ever fired it a range, even though it’s licensed with a concealed weapons permit. I’ve never considered using it for any kind of protection, but the idea seems almost poetic now.
    Once it’s all cleaned up, I place it back in its case, but leave it on my bed. I’m startled by a knock on my door. I don’t bother to check the peephole as I suspect its likely Jacob. When I open the door though, it’s Agent Oliver Betina standing there.
    “May I come in?” he asks.
    I’m a bit weary, but I open the door so he can pass through, and lead him into the living room. We both take a seat and I listen to a most unbelievable sequence of events.
    “Bentley what do you know about your father?”
    “Grant Celeste works in broadcasting for as long as I can remember, though he traveled a lot so I’m not sure what he really did for it. As far as his personal life, I suspect he despises me almost as much as my mother, though he never raised his hands to me, why?” I questioned.
    “Not Grant, your real father.”
    The look on my face must have conferred that I thought he was nuts.
    “I see,” he stated while pulling out two pieces of paper. He handed me a photo of a man with a striking resemblance to myself, as well as what looks like a paternity test. “This is your real father, Marco Linzetti. He was a big time movie and TV producer from the 1980s to the early 2000s. He met your mother on a production set and she seduced him. She saw him as her step to stardom. He wasn’t the only one she was having an affair with. She was also sleeping with Grant. She devised a plan to get pregnant with Marco’s child, and convince him to leave his wife to have a family with her. Since he and his wife had tried for years to have children, he was desperate for an heir. Darla was under the impression that he was sterile though, so she would sleep with Grant within an hour of her relations with Marco. Once she got pregnant she tried to blackmail Marco into leaving his wife. She said she would destroy their marriage by publicly ousting their sordid affair. That she would leak the details of late night romps. She didn’t account for just how Marco loved his wife. He called her bluff and confessed everything to her. They worked through their differences and your mother was livid, especially after he had her blacklisted from any set he directed on.”
    “So wait, you’re telling me my sister and I are this man’s children?”
    “Yes and no, it’s a freak phenomenon. There were two eggs one fertilized by Marco and one