“It was great,” I lie. “Thank you so much for the lovely evening.”
I never want to do it again. And Ben will never be able to drag me here without kicking and screaming bloody murder.
“I’ve taken the liberty of booking you an appointment for tomorrow morning,” he says, as if he’s mentioning the weather. “Eight o’clock sharp. Private clinic. They’ll be expecting you, Sienna.”
My stomach drops.
He knows.
Or at least he thinks he knows.
“That’s…thoughtful,” I manage, even though all I can think is I have no idea how to fake an entire pregnancy in front of a man who could probably have me killed for lying.
Ben’s arm slides around my waist, steady. “We’ll be there.”
I glance up at him, trying to see if he’s panicking on the inside.
He’s not.
He looks like a man confirming brunch plans.
Ivan beams. “Good. I’ll expect updates.”
“Of course,” Ben says, smooth as glass.
Then he thanks his father for dinner like the night was nothing but polite conversation, and we’re walking out into the night air.
Only when the car door shuts behind us do I let myself breathe clearly for the first time.
9
Benedikt
The next morning starts the same way most mornings do for me. The difference is, today involved Sienna, my father’s pet doctor, and a lie big enough to shift the ground under our feet.
Dr. Mikhail was already sweating when we arrived. He was smart enough to know I wasn’t there for second opinions or gentle bedside manner. I let Sienna sit in the plush chair beside the desk while I stood, taking up the space between them like a wall. Mikhail glanced at me twice before fumbling with his computer mouse.
The threat I gave him last night was simple: You tell my father she’s pregnant. You put it in her records. If a single word contradicts that, I’ll put his wife, his two sons, daughter-in-law, and your two grandchildren in the ground before he could even blink.
Nothing fancy. Just facts.
He delivered the performance like a man with a gun pressed to his spine, which, in a sense, he did. Congratulated her eventhough she knew it was bullshit, offered a pamphlet on prenatal vitamins, and smiled like he wasn’t praying to every god he could name that he didn’t fuck up.
Sienna doesn’t speak much, nor did she ask any questions about how I pulled that off.
For once, she shut up. She allowed me to take the lead. She’s learning quickly.
We left without scheduling a follow-up. I know my father will be pleased to hear the news later and call, but I won’t be answering. What he won’t know is that I’ve given myself a deadline, and I don’t have time to fuck around with his plans for my future child.
Nine months from now, there’s going to be a child with my blood.
We’ve never slept together, and I don’t possess the ability to make her pregnant by just staring at her, so that’ll need to change.
Immediately.
I hear the front door open. My office sits just off the foyer, and the door cracked enough to catch the light from outside it.
Her steps are light, almost hesitant. She doesn’t wander too far, just lingers near the entry like she’s still deciding if she wants to be here or skip out and pretend she never was.
