She's been carrying this for weeks?
And then to find out it's true and be so terrified to tell us?
Oh, my angel…
Her chin quivers. "And I— I'm so, so sorry I didn't tell you right away."
She still won't look at me, but she's been casting curious looks at Sev, and I see why.
He doesn't look even half as surprised as I feel.
During her explanation, he poured her a glass of water and sat down opposite her, nodding and waiting as if she were rehearsing a script he'd already read.
But how could he have known?
And fuck…what does this even mean?
I wrap my hand around Aurora's atop the island and turn my attention to Atticus, who somehow already knew this truth.
"She told me last night," he explains before I can ask. "And I did some digging. Therewasa secondary test run. My guy was able to get a copy of the results from the other lab, and they're legit."
Aurora shivers as if this is news to her. And if she was still holding out a tiny micron of hope that it could be false, Atticus eliminated that.
"And you?" I ask Sev. "You knew, too?"
He shakes his head, and Aurora looks up at him. He speaks to her as he answers me. "I guessed."
Her face pinches. "How?"
"You've been off since that first meeting with Ambrose, and I knew it wasn't the part you were playing. There was clearly something else, but you weren't sharing."
Now that he says it, I did notice that, too.
"And then later, when I spent the night with you at your apartment?—"
"When youwhat?" Atticus snaps.
"Not now," Sev and I say at the same time, and mercifully, Atticus shuts up.
"I stayed for a while after you fell asleep," Sev continues. "And you were talking in your sleep. I didn't know what it meant at first, but I figured it out."
Her lips part in surprise. "What did I say?"
"'He's not'," Sev says. "You kept muttering it over and over.He's not."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Aurora asks, almost accusingly.
Sev's bright blue eyes hold hers with more tenderness than I thought him capable of. "Because you weren't ready to talk about it."
"You aren't upset?"
Sev's lips twitch. "I wish you'd said something sooner instead of carrying this so long, but no, baby, I'm not upset."
She relaxes a fraction, and I hope I have the right words to say to make her see that this only changes things ifshewants it to.
I give her hand a squeeze and shift on my stool to face her. "Could you look at me, Angel?"
She swallows hard, and her jade eyes flit to mine and then away, and I hate how her chin quivers again.
