A piece of him. A piece of me.
Created in violence. Born into a cage.
Silas.
He told me once that his father beat him for hesitating. He told me he killed his own father to take the throne. The Vane bloodline is cursed. It is a river of trauma and cruelty.
Does he want to pass that on?
Or will he look at a child and see a weakness? Nikolai used my father against me. Would someone use our child against Silas?
He would lock us up,I realize with a jolt of clarity.If I have a baby, the world gets smaller. He will never let us leave the penthouse. He will build a wall so high we’ll never see the sun.
My timer on the phone buzzes.
Three minutes.
I stand up. My legs feel like lead.
I walk to the counter.
I look down.
Two pink lines.
Stark. Undeniable. Screaming against the white background.
Pregnant.
The air leaves the room. I grip the edge of the sink, my knuckles turning white. I stare at the stick as if it’s a venomous snake.
I am carrying Silas Vane’s child.
A laugh bubbles up in my throat, hysterical and sharp.
I shot a man. I robbed a cartel. I married a monster. And this... this is the thing that terrifies me.
I hear a sound.
The front door of the penthouse opening.
The heavythudof the lock engaging.
Silas is home.
"Ivy?"
His voice echoes through the apartment. Deep. Commanding. It vibrates through the floorboards.
Panic explodes in my chest.
130 BPM.
He’s going to know. He’s going to check his phone and see the spike.
I grab the test. I wrap it in toilet paper. I bury it at the bottom of the trash can, underneath a pile of cotton pads and tissues.
I grab the box. I crush it. I shove it deep into the bin.
