Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
I’m so messed up that I nearly call Alex. I hold my phone and stare at his name on my screen, and I think about what he might say.
Then I throw it across the room, because screw that.
In the end, I find a nearby 24-hour grocery store, and sneak out of the house. That’s not easy—the place is normally guarded by a few of my father’s men—but they get a little lazy around midnight. I wait until I hear the snoring, then I slip out the back door, hop the wall, and slip down the alleyway.
My heart’s racing on the walk. My hands shake, and sweat pours down my spine. I keep thinking about Paris—about Alex touching me, about Alex kissing me—
About Alex finishing between my legs.
More than once.
I loved it at the time. I’m not going to pretend like protection even occurred to me in the moment. But now I’m like, what the hell were we thinking? How did either of us think that was a good idea?
He knew I was going to get married when we came back home. He knew and he still fucked me without a condom. He knew, and he still took the risk.
Now I’m left dealing with the fallout.
I’m left marking my ass alone to a grocery store at midnight to take a pregnancy test.
I’m the one that has to fix this nightmare, while he gets to keep on living his life as if nothing changed.
Rage builds me in as I find my way to the pharmacy section. I grab a little purple box of tests, pay for them at self-checkout, then hurry back into the public bathroom. I’m so mad I could scream as I lock myself in a stall and pray nobody comes to check on me as I rip open the box, take out a white stick, and get busy.
My heart’s hammering madly in my ears while I wait for the lines to change.
Someone should be here with me. I shouldn’t have to do this in some random public restroom in the middle of the night. Alex should at least know this is happening so he can help shoulder some of the stress.
Instead, it’s all on me.
That’s just my shit luck.
I’d pace, but there’s no room. Nobody bothers me, which is a minor miracle. I check my phone, hands shaking, feeling sick to my stomach with nerves and worry.
Alex should be here. Someone should be here.
Except I’m all alone, like always.
Finally, my alarm chirps. I yelp and force myself to turn around and to look at the test perched on top of the toilet paper dispenser.
It’s positive.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to think. I can’t move, can’t breathe. I force myself to take the second test, but it says the exact same thing.
Positive.
Pregnant.
I’m pregnant with Alex’s baby.
I’m pregnant with the perfect Bratva soldier’s baby, with my older brother’s best friend’s baby, with the guy I’ve always equally hated and crushed on’s baby.
And I’m getting married to another man in only a few short days.
Another wave of nausea hits me and I puke my guts up.
Chapter 10
Alexander
“You know we’re closing soon, right?” Lev is sitting in the corner of the jewelry shop with his feet up on an ottoman. He’s got three Rolexes on his wrist, all of them fake, and he’s admiring them in the light. “You don’t have to stay all night again.”
“I’m good,” I tell him, barely looking up from where I’m cataloguing another watch. This one happens to be real. “Tell the girls they can head out.”
“It’s just Dasha left.” Lev gets to his feet with a groan. He rubs his lower back. “You realize you’re a brigadier now, right? You don’t need to stick around and do this shit. I mean, you didn’t before, and you really don’t know.”
“Are you ordering me to go home?”
“No, obviously not.” He takes off the watches and puts them down on the table. I reach out and add them to my inventory pile. “But like I said—“
“Then I’m good.” I don’t look up as I start on another piece. I write down the make, the model, add a tag to the wristband, and come up with a reasonable price. Everything gets entered into a spreadsheet for inventory purposes.
Lev hangs around for a few more minutes before he finally heads out. I give it a few minutes before I head up front, pull down the gate, and lock the front. I’ll do the same for the back door after I leave.
It’s past ten on a Friday night, and I’m left alone in Fed Jeweler. I like it here this late with only the soft ticking of all the timepieces to keep me company. I can turn off my brain as I do mindless shit work, the sort of stuff Lev keeps begging me to pass off to the girls. But staying here all night until I’m so tired I can’t fucking think is better than sitting alone in my apartment and letting all my thoughts torture me to death.