By the time I hear approaching footsteps, the broken sunshine through the shutters has grown less intense.
Ilya knocks before he enters, and immediately wrinkles his nose. “You smell disgusting.”
“So?”
He drops a paper bag by the door, and circles the bed. I shuffle backwards across the mattress, but he doesn’t attempt to grab me.
“Silly girl,” he says as he rests against the dressing table, legs crossed and arms folded. “I would never fuck something a Griffin has played with.”
“Pleased to hear it,” I say with a sneer that hides my overwhelming relief. “Why have you moved me?”
Ilya sweeps his arms out wide. “This is your new home until we can get you back to Russia.”
I should have known it was too soon to feel any relief. “Russia?”
“You’re to be my uncle’s new pet until you produce an heir.”
I can feel the blood draining from my face. I know Ilya’s deliberately drip-feeding me information to confuse and upset me, and it’s working. “Vasili wants to impregnate me?”
Ilya smiles for a long beat, then says, “Nothisheir, you stupid bitch. A Griffin heir. Congratulations, Quinn. You’re going to have a baby.”
“No, I’m not,” I say with a shaky breath. I can’t be. It’s another of Ilya’s games. “Is that what you’ve told Reid? Have you spoken to him?”
“Oh, he was thrilled,” he says with a hollow laugh that he quickly cuts off. His features darken. “His brothers not so much. They called you a whore. Said you had probably slept with half my men given where your loyalties lie. And they do make a valid point. Have you been sleeping around, Quinn?”
“No!” I say, too horrified at the accusation to do the sensible thing and not tell him anything.
“I hope not for your sake. I’m already having a hard time convincing them that you and the spawn you’re incubating are worth protecting.” He stands up. “I’d love to stay and chat more, but that smell is burning my nose. And we’ve got nine whole months to plan how to exploit the situation.”
There are so many questions I want to ask, but I listen to my body rather than Ilya’s word play. My breasts have been feeling heavy, and despite the slight cramping, I haven’t started my period. I’m never regular, but maybe I am late, even by my standards.
Ilya’s at the door, and there’s only one question I need him to answer. “Where’s Blake? If you do send me away, can she come too? Can I speak to her?”
He pauses. “We do need to tie up that loose end,” he says as if agreeing with me. “But if we’re back to making bargains, get cleaned up and we’ll speak again.” He kicks the bag he’d left by the door. “We’ll get around to organizing clothes for you, but in the meantime, you’ll have to wear what you came in.”
I hold myself tense as I wait for the door to close. Worries about whether or not I’m pregnant are pushed to the back of my mind as I stare at the bag on the floor. Has Ilya just made his first mistake?
Chapter 30
Reid
With the exception of Ash, who’s locked away in his study, the rest of the family are helping themselves to the feast laid out in the center of the kitchen table. My stomach growls, but it’s anxiety gnawing away at me. I haven’t been able to face food all day. I have only one need, and that’s to find Quinn.
I’d checked her burner phone five minutes ago, but I look again. I’m still waiting for that notification from Strider to say Quinn’s activated her tracker.
Connie places a bowl of stew in front of me. “Don’t make me spoon-feed you,” she warns. “Eat.”
I pick up the spoon and take the smallest mouthful, if only to appease her.
“Has it sunk in yet?” asks Lily gently.
I shake my head. I know what she’s asking. Quinn’s pregnancy is what everyone wants to talk about. Everyone except me because there’s only one person I should be having that conversation with.
“I’m a long way from letting myself see a future with a baby in it,” I reply. “Even if we accept Ilya’s word thatQuinn’s pregnant, the trauma of the last few days could…” I don’t come out and say miscarriage for fear of giving the fates any ideas. “And I can’t bear the thought of Quinn and the baby being under Ilya’s control, or worse still, being sent to Russia to become Vasili’s ward.”
“It was pretty sick of Ilya to suggest you could choose to bring Quinn back while they keep the baby,” says Maddie.
“It’s not a choice he has to make,” Hunter replies, looking at me. “We’ll find her long before then.”
