The nurse left, and Burke put his face in his hands. "I can't tell you how sorry I am."
"Did you poison the champagne?"
His head snapped up. "What? No, of course not."
"Then don't apologize to me."
"It's still my fault, Kinsley. I brought you here, I corrupted you. I put you in harm's way!"
"Last time I checked, personal responsibility is still a thing. I made those choices for myself, not you." I watched him for a few minutes. "Who did it?"
Staring at the floor, he replied, "No idea."
"Was it the Carmichaels?"
He shook his head. "Doesn't look like it. We've had a detail on them for a few weeks, and nothing suggests they had the opportunity."
"Then who?"
"The Navarros, I guess."
"Or Carson."
Lifting his head, he locked me in place with his intense gaze. "You think my father intended to poison almost his entire family?"
To me, the answer was obvious, and I wouldn't back down, no matter how furious he became. "At this point, I don't think he'd hesitate."
There was silence for a long time while his jaw clenched and relaxed. Burke finally broke the staring contest, and I rested back against the pillow, wrung out and exhausted.
"It feels like they did more than pump my stomach."
Burke picked up my hand. "How much pain are you in?"
"It's hard to describe, but it reminds me of a pain I had when I was carrying Finn. Low and dull. And insistent."
"That doesn't sound right."
The door opened again, and a man in a lab coat walked in with a file in his hands. "Mrs. Gallagher, I have some test results here."
Nothing he said next made any sense, but my brain latched onto the word pregnant. "How is that possible? I'm on birth control."
"Sometimes a pregnancy still occurs."
"But what will happen now?" Burke asked. "She's ill."
The pain in my abdomen collided with the knowledge, and I gasped. "Burke."
"What is it?" he asked anxiously.
The doctor shook his head sadly. "I feared this might be the case when I saw your results."
"What the hell are you saying?" Burke shouted. "What's wrong with her?"
Tears fell in my lap when I raised my head to look into Burke's eyes. Everything was about to change. "I'm having a miscarriage."
41
Kinsley
