He smirked, and Aiden smiled, even as he shifted in his seat. The man still had an uncanny way of making him feel like a piece of meat.
“So…” Toby continued, “…you’re looking for the couple that got your sperm? What do you plan on doing with the information?”
Aiden didn’t know the answer to that question himself, not yet, but that was his business and no one else’s. “I can tell you this. If you provide me with any information, it will never come back to you. They will never know who I got it from, and I’m even willing to pay for it. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his checkbook. He held it up. “Give me a price, and it’s yours.”
“We can negotiate that later.”
He moved his chair up against his desk and started to type in some information into the computer in front of him. He paused and made a humming noise, then grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something down. Aiden watched him as he did so, and then looked down as it was slid closer to him.
“I remember the couple well.” He looked up at Aiden as he spoke. “Our fertility clinic handled the insemination and subsequent pregnancy. They were so happy when they learned they were going to have triplets.”
“Triplets?” Aiden’s eyes widened.
“Mmm.” Toby pushed the paper right in front of him. “Must have been some impressive sperm.”
Aiden looked back down at the paper and could feel heat spreading up his neck to his face. He’d never heard sperm talked about so casually.
“There’s something you should know, though.” The man cleared his throat, and Aiden looked back up. “I happened to catch it on the news. Barry—he was the beta father—was in the military. During Quinn’s pregnancy, that was his omega, Barry was deployed. Unfortunately, Barry died in the line of duty before the triplets were even born. I’ve added the business address we had for them on file.”
Aiden didn’t know what to say, but he felt a little sick hearing about Barry’s passing.
The man took his silence as a cue to carry on speaking. “If not for the fact that Barry has passed away, I would not be sharing this information.” He held Aiden’s gaze as he spoke. “An omega should not be on his own, you see.”
Aiden nodded and took the paper with the information, folding it carefully. “What do you want me to do for you, or pay you, for giving me this information?” Aiden asked.
The man simply shook his head. “There’s an omega charity I support...” He grabbed another piece of paper and scribbled the name down. “How about you see what you can do for them. But please… mum’s the word that I gave you this info.”
“You have my word. I’ll contact this charity, and you have no worries about me saying anything.” Aiden said. “Thank you.”
Toby nodded. “If you could still look upset as you leave, I would appreciate it.”
Aiden chuckled and nodded as he rose from the chair.
They left his office and headed back to the front lobby, and Aiden thanked him once more before they reached the door. Once they were in the waiting room, he plastered a dejected look on his face.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do to help me?” Aiden made sure his voice carried.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Cross, but rules are rules. We make no exceptions for anyone.”
Aiden nodded and hurried out of the building, head down till he reached his vehicle. With Quinn Parker’s information now in his possession, he needed to decide what the next course of action might be.
* * *
“Parker’s Cleaning.”Aiden said the name out loud, and not for the first time since he’d received it the day before.
He considered going straight there from the clinic yesterday, but something stopped him. Aiden wasn’t sure if it was fear or something else, but he’d driven around for a while before finally heading home.
Only sleep had been slow to come, and when it did, it was fitful at best, plagued with disturbing dreams he couldn’t remember upon waking up.
He’d spent most of the day staring at the damn paper with the address on it in between answering emails and two Skype meetings, and all the while, every time he glanced at it, the address seemed to be mocking him.
Maybe his papa was right and leaving well enough alone was the best way to go.
Aiden shook his head. No, even though he didn’t know why, he knew this was something he wanted.
Aiden ignored the small voice that told him he did know, shoving it down where it belonged. After waking up from surgery, he watched all the other people being visited by their families. His papa was the only one to ever come to see him, and he loved him all the more for that, but after that, he wanted a family, people who would be there for him no matter what.
He grabbed the paper from his desk and left his house, and when he was finally sitting inside his car, Aiden typed the address into his GPS. But before he even started the car, he stopped and shook his head.
