The box.
The pills. The logbook. The evidence of how far I’d gone to make her mine.
“What?” I was still in shock.
“The one in the kitchen, behind the spices.” She didn’t sound close, but she was calm—too calm. “I’m guessing I wasn’t meant to find it.”
My mouth went dry. “Avery, I don—”
“Is the birth control even real?”
I tugged at the cuffs, my chest tight, my throat aching. “Uncuff me, and we can talk about it. I promise, I’ll explain every—”
“June 5. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Hid powder inside her pancakes. She ate both.” There was a soft shuffle of paper, like she was turning the pages.
“Av, don’t go through it alone.Please. Let me go and—”
“July 23. Had sex on the patio, in the living room, and in the bedroom. Came inside her all three times.”
“Stop. Please st—”
“July 24. Her period is two days late. Will start watching for signs of…pregnancy.”
She wasn’t pregnant, and I knew that, thanks to the ‘wellness check box’ I told her I got her to make sure she was healthy and everything was okay. We drew her blood, sent it in, and a doctoremailed her all the details of her tests—sans pregnancy test, as I requested.
I bit the inside of my cheek, hating the way her voice broke, hating thatIwas causing her pain. Again.
If she’d just set me free. Let me tell her—
“When did you decide you were going to get me pregnant without telling me?” she asked quietly. “Before or after I started the fake birth control?”
“I swear to fucking God, Avery—”
“Before or after?” she stated again, venom in her voice.
My heart was pounding loudly in my ears, making it impossible to think. “I can explain everything. Just let me out,” I rasped.
“No.”
The same answer I’d given her when she asked me to release her.
Now I was the helpless one.
Not just restrained. Not just blindfolded.
But completely,utterlyat Avery’s mercy.
“You said you loved me,” she continued, “but you kept this from me. You even fed me the bullshit lie that we could talk about it later, when we werebothready.”
“I do love you,” I snapped, hating how pathetic and desperate I sounded. “I love you so much, it fucks me up, okay? I can’t bear the thought of losing you, Av.” I yanked on the cuffs. “One day, you’ll realize I’m too messed up and you’ll want to leave. They always leave, Av. Everyone always abandons me. One day, you will too.” My voice cracked. “I can’t lose you.”
“So you lie to me? You go behind my back and, what,tryto get me pregnant?” Her voice was strained, like she was on the verge of tears. “It’s one thing to try and get me pregnant, but it’s a whole different game when you use fertility supplements to increase the chances. That’s not love.”
“Goddammit, Av—”
“All I can think about is what else you haven’t told me.”
“Nothing else, I swear.” I pulled hard against the cuffs.
