We turn off the main road and slip into a quiet neighborhood lined with brick buildings and modest little offices. It’s the kind of place people visit for routine appointments and paperwork. The driver slows, then pulls into a narrow lot beside a low-rise medical complex tucked between a dentist’s office and a pediatric clinic. The signage is neat and understated.
At first, I don’t understand why we’re here.
Then my eyes catch the words printed on the frosted glass door.
Women’s Health Associates, OBGYN.
The words sink in slowly, like stones dropping through water, and my pulse hammers so hard it makes my fingertips tingle.
It’s barely seven in the morning. The place isn’t even open yet. The blinds are still half-drawn, and the CLOSED sign hangs on the door. A light glows inside and a shadow moves behind the front desk as though someone has come in early just for us.
“What is this?” Devin whispers.
Before I can respond, Kaz is already out of the car. He circles around and opens my door himself. Moving carefully, like every step is painful, yet still determined to handle this personally. He offers me his hand, palm warm and steady, and I take it automatically even though my thoughts are racing.
“They’re waiting for you inside,” he says, his tone low and controlled.
“For me?” I ask, my voice unsteady.
He nods once. “Devin will go with you.”
My mind jumps to the worst plausible conclusions, stacking fears on top of each other until I can barely breathe. Does he think I cheated on him? Does he want proof of something? Is this some kind of test I didn’t know I was taking?
Panic rises fast and sharp, and before I can stop myself, I clutch the front of his jacket like I might drift away without the anchor of him.
“Kaz,” I whisper, searching his face, “what is this?”
His expression softens in a way that almost undoes me. The hard lines easing just enough to show the man underneath the armor.
“I’ll be right here,” he murmurs, guiding my hand down gently. “I’ll wait in the SUV.”
He says it like a promise, like proximity alone should make me feel safe. As I turn toward the quiet clinic with Devin at my side, my heart keeps racing as though I’m walking toward something that might change everything.
The clinic has a suspicious air of luxury to it. All clean lines and lush plants, and as soon as we walk in, we’re offered tea and even pastries. It’s warm inside, almosttoowarm for so early in the morning, and Devin presses a calming hand to my upper arm.
My pulse hasn’t slowed since we stepped out of the car.
Devin signs us in at the front desk while I try to catch my breath. My voice feels lodged somewhere in my throat, thick and useless. The woman behind the counter doesn’t look surprised to see us before opening hours, which means this has been arranged, which means Kaz planned it carefully, which means?—
I don’t even know what that means.
Devin sinks into the chair next to me. “Do they need…?” I ask, but she only shakes her head, brows knit suspiciously.
“They already had all your info on file.”
“I feel like I’m about to take an exam I forgot to study for,” I whisper.
Devin snorts under her breath. “Girl, you look like you’re about to meet a firing squad.”
“That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
I glare at her, but she just bumps my shoulder gently with hers. “I’m sure the leader of the Bratva would have a better way to make you disappear and wouldn’t start in an OB office, Aly.”
My hands twist together in my lap while my brain runs in frantic circles. “Do you think he thinks I cheated?” I murmur. “Is this some kind of test? Like—like he wants proof or something? Because I haven’t even looked at another guy, but what if he thinks?—”
“Aly.”
