Now, Andre was doubly suspicious of me. He had looked worried, if I wanted to be a hopeless romantic about it. But hisconcern might not have beenforme and how I was doing versus a concern about what could be going on.
He was already catching on to the fact that I had been sent here as a spy—and I was curious how he could’ve picked up on that when I wasn’t actually spying! There was nothing to give in terms of intel, and I’d stopped looking for anything. Sending Uncle Roberto outdated receipts for dinnerware at one of the Orlov restaurants or clubs was hardly scandalous or top-secret news.
As I woke up and yawned from this nap I hadn’t realized I’d need so early in the morning, I registered the fact that I was alone in the bedroom. He hadn’t stayed to watch over me and harass me.
I suppose it was nice of him to offer to get Claire for me.
That was the last thing I needed to happen. She’d see me and suspect I was pregnant. And that wasn’t what I wanted when I was scheming to extract myself from this situation.
Heaving out a deep breath, I reached for my phone and checked it. This old smart phone was going to die soon, but for now, it was still working. Mostly.
The burner phone buzzed, though, and I realized belatedly that it was in here, in Andre’s room and no longer hidden in the closet in the maid’s room.
Oh, shit.
I reached over the pillow I was hugging and saw the duffle bag on the floor. No wonder the buzzing was so loud. It was a miracle that Andre hadn’t lingered and noticed it to snoop through it.
Gingerly sitting up, I rolled over and grabbed the ringing phone from the pocket of the bag. It was usually kept on silent—for allobvious reasons—but I must have pressed the buttons when I locked it and turned the ringer on.
I wasn’t shocked to see that Uncle Roberto was calling me.
I answered, glancing over my shoulder to check that Andre wasn’t in here. That the door was closed.
“Hello?” I answered, speaking in Italian just in case. I bet Andre knew enough Italian to get around anyway, but I had to be as careful as I could until I was out of this tricky situation completely.
“You stupid,stupidbitch.”
I exhaled a harsh breath through my nose at his greeting. He’d talked to me like this so often, the words ceased to sting as much.
“You’re fucking pregnant?”
I sat up so quickly that I grew dizzy.
What?
The shock of what he’d just asked me might have more to do with this lightheaded sensation.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. I send you there to fucking spy on him. To get copies of paperwork about his deals. And you let him fuck you? And knock you up? How fucking stupid are you?”
My mouth hung open. He wasn’t bluffing. He was speaking like heknewthis, like he could verify it. But my God,how? I’d only realized it myself this morning! I’d only just taken the test to see the positive results hours ago. How in the hell couldheknow?
“I… I…”
“What? Huh? What? What excuse are you going to stammer and give me this time? What moronic reason are you going to give me to explain how you’re pregnant? You were supposed to remain a virgin. You knew that. You were supposed to keep your goddamn legs closed so I could sell you off.”
You fucking bastard.
Tears threatened to spill.
“You weren’t supposed to go there like it was some vacation, you damn slut. I didn’t send you there to be a whore and have fun taking his cock!”
“I…”
Speechless and furious, I felt like I was choking on my words. “How do you know? How can you—” I spluttered, so lost and mad and stuck.
“I was spying on you, bitch. When you slacked off and kept giving me stupid little shit I didn’t care about, I wondered what the fuck you were doing. I had the florist slip a bug into one of those bouquets that fucking Orlov ordered to be delivered to you.”
