I remembered the thin, silvery lines on her stomach and the softness of her curves. Even the way she acted now made sense.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I was pregnant.”
My chest retightened. She had said over and over again that I was the only man she had ever been with, and now she was telling me she’d had a baby.
Could that baby be mine?
“So there is a baby?” Wildly, I searched her face. “Is it mine? Where…” I left the rest unsaid.
Her face turned slack. “There is no baby,” she spat. “I didn’t give birth. I couldn’t…well, there was no baby to give birth to.”
She had aborted. That’s what she was trying to tell me. Years ago, six to be exact. Sophia had been carrying my baby, and she had gotten rid of it.
The rage that engulfed me was all-consuming. It took me over in a white-hot rage. Slamming my fist into the pillow by the side of her head, I screamed.
I screamed that I hated her.
Just when I thought she couldn’t hurt me anymore, she went and tore another piece of my soul and heart out.
“Sir, you can’t…I am going to have to call security.”
“Don’t bother,” I snapped. “I’m leaving. Test her to make sure she’s not pregnant, and this time, I want proof.” Storming away, I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t. If I did, I would hurt her.
I had never hated anyone as much as I hated her.
Chapter Thirty
Sophia
I went home the next day, if you could call it home. To me, the penthouse was nothing more than a prison. Now more than ever.
And if I had thought Matteo was bad before, then it was nothing compared to what he was now. He looked after me. I was fed and housed, but that was it.
He didn’t care for me. When he spoke to me, it was to say cruel things or even worse than that. He was cold.
The only saving grace in all of this was that I wasn’t pregnant. The hospital had confirmed that. Plus the fact that he believed me when I had told him there had been no child.
And he did believe me, he wouldn’t have been acting like this if he didn’t. Lily was safe.
For now.
But I would have to find a way to get in touch with Nat. She needed to leave the flat and take Lily somewhere no one could trace them.
There might not be any suspicion right now, but sooner or later, Matteo would calm down and start looking. I was pretty surprised hehadn’t already. Or maybe he had and hadn’t looked into my medical history. If he did that, it was all over, and I didn’t know what was worse: living like this, as his hated prisoner, or him finding out that I had lied.
Really, there was no contest. I would stay locked up in this penthouse forever if it meant my daughter was free of all of this shit.
I really, really did need to speak to Nat and check in with Lily, though. It was like an itch in my brain that I couldn’t scratch, and it was driving me crazy.
Grabbing my coat, I went to the elevator and pressed the button.
Matteo had said over and over again that I wasn’t a prisoner. At least he used to. Now, I wasn’t so sure, but there was only one way to find out.
Silently, the doors opened, and a man stepped out. It was not someone I recognized.
Shrinking back, I took a step backward and almost fell down. He caught me under the arm and jerked me back to my feet roughly.
