“I saw you in there. You looked shell-shocked, are you okay?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant,” I said. “I’m… I’m scared.”
“Yeah.” He swiped a hand across the side of my face. “Don’t be. I won’t let anything hurt you or our baby.”
“Something already almost did,” I said, lifting my shirt and looking down at the scar where I’d been stitched in the wake of the gun wound. Horror registered on Gio’s face. “Whoever shot me wasn’t trying to shoot me or you. They were trying to shoot our baby.”
56
GIO
Avion and I drove home in total silence in the wake of our realization. We’d only conceived our child a night before Avion got shot, but we’d been having sex in general for a few weeks by that point. If that person believed that Avion might get pregnant and wanted to prevent that.
They’d shoot her exactly where they attempted to.
It all made such little sense to me. If someone wanted to shoot me, they could have done it when I was sitting in my chair with my back to the window, or once I stood up and was in the line of where they ended up firing. If they wanted to shoot Avion, they could have done it after I moved and they had a clear shot of her sitting in the chair, or after she got up and was walking across the room to me.
They chose neither.
They waited until she was standing still and tried to shoot her in the specific spot that would result in her losing a baby if she had one, or prevent her from conceiving in the future. If I hadn’t seen the laser from the scope half a second from the shot and tried to shove her out of the way, the sniper probably would have gotten her exactly where they had to in order to pull off what they needed to pull off.
I didn’t want to think about it.
I didn’t want to think about the only person other than myself that had extended conversations with the doctors at the hospital we first brought Avion to.
I didn’t want to think about the only person that was dealing with Dr. Aurora to make sure she was paid and getting her notes about Avion’s condition to me.
I didn’t want to think about the person that would have the most to lose by me having a child.
I knew who the traitor was and I didn’t want to think about it.
“Giovanni?” Avion said quietly.
I shook my head. “No. Don’t say anything until we’re in the greenhouse.”
“Okay.”
We moved quickly to the elevator, and then I used my key to lock the elevator and send it straight to the greenhouse without stopping. Who knew what rooms in my house were compromised? This greenhouse was a place I’d designed for Avion and I only, and only I had the key. It was the only room in the entire home that no one else had access to but Avion and me, and the only place I trusted for us to talk now.
Getting off the elevator, we scurried to the inner most part of the Greenhouse and sat down on the bed there. An amazing sunset was painting over the dome at the top of the greenhouse, but unfortunately, we couldn’t enjoy the view; we had to figure out our next course of action.
“Gio,” Avion said.
I crouched down in front of her and looked up at her. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I… I kept you in this house with him. I’ve left you alone with him. You’ve been in danger this entire time.”
“No,” Avion said. “I told your parents what I thought. They’ve been looking out for me.”
“You went to my parents?” he said.
“Your dad first. Then your mom,” she replied. “I knew Merrick would listen and Tamryn trusted me.”
“You should have been able to rely on me. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. He’s been by your side for a long time. You had every reason to question what I said.” She put her hands on my face. “But what do we do now? He knows I’m pregnant. That’s why everything came to a halt with my brothers, because he had to try and figure out how to just get rid of me. My brothers probably know too.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “Okay. I need to get you with my parents, and then I can take care of Milli. He’s probably here though.”
“I can get down to your parents,” Avion said.
