“Again, thanks for all your help today. I truly appreciate it.”
She nods her head, leaving the room. Her reaction is strange as hell. What is going on? I’ll revisit this later. I have bigger fish to fry in my life, like the possible bun baking in my oven.
As I settle into my car, a new thought flashes through my mind. What if Art doesn’t want our baby? My heart would rip in two. Having one baby daddy who isn’t interested in his child is a nightmare, but two would be a damn tragedy. How will Mom and Anneli take the news? I can’t stress myself out. Not in my condition.
Condition?
God, I’m acting like the pregnancy is confirmed. Tomorrow can’t get here soon enough. I’d rather stay home and wait for the phone call, but Art will become suspicious if I miss work two days in a row. It’ll be difficult acting like nothing is wrong around him. I’m going to be on pins and needles until Dr. Gates calls.
“You’re quiet today.” Art brings his car to a stop in front of the mansion.
We were almost at our destination when Art realized he forgot the USB needed for this morning’s meeting.
“I’m not accustomed to talking unless there’s something to talk about.”
He eyes me suspiciously. “How are you feeling?”
“Great. It was just a twenty-four-hour bug, nothing serious.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m right as rain.”
His unwavering gaze nearly has me blurting out the real reason I missed work yesterday.
“Give me a few minutes,” he says, leaving the car.
“Okay.” I check my cell phone, hoping to see a missed call from Dr. Gates, though it’s still early.
After a few minutes turns into several, I go inside to search for Art. Maybe he needs help finding the USB. I follow the sound of his muffled voice to his study. His words become clearer the closer I get to the door, which has been left slightly ajar.
“Are you sure she’s pregnant?”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Did he conspire to purposely get me pregnant? Dr. Gates’s sudden change in demeanor makes perfect sense now. Fucking bastard!
“Good. I’ll have the money transferred to your account.”
Am I in the fucking twilight zone? I storm through the door and grab a vase off a nearby table. Art turns around just as I launch it straight towards his fucking head. He throws up his arm, blocking the impact. My preferred target was his beautiful masculine face, but a sense of gratification flows through me as blood pours from the cuts on his forearm.
“I’ll call you back.” He puts the cell phone in his pocket. “That’s a twenty-thousand-dollar vase.”
“Fuck the vase!” I yell. “This is the second time you’ve done something to my body without my permission!”
He points at a blood stain on his shirt. “This is one of my favorite shirts.”
“You’re an egomaniac on a power trip.”
He shrugs his shoulders, cool as a goddamn cucumber. “Thanks for the compliment.”
I charge at him in a blind rage. He laughs, deflecting each blow as if I were nothing more than a bothersome fly.
“Your behavior isn’t good for the baby.” He grabs my wrists, preventing me from scratching out his eyeballs. “The health of our unborn child should be your number one concern.”
I go full apeshit on his ass, kicking and swinging, trying my best to hurt him. The fucker must have been a gladiator in his past life. He picks me up, holding me like a sack of potatoes.
I struggle to break away. “What was in the shot that bitch gave me?”
“It was harmless,” he says, dumping me onto the sofa.
