“You need to see a doctor.”
“I know.”
“Soon.”
“I know.”
She looks at the tests, then back at me.
“You need to tell him. God, he’d kill me if he knew that I knew but didn’t tell him.” She glances away.
“I’ll tell him. I will. Just… not yet. Not right now. Not with Kolya still out there and my life in danger…” I trail off, not sure what else to say. “I can’t put this on him right now. He needs to be focused.”
She’s quiet for a long moment.
“Alright,” she says finally. “I won’t say anything.”
“Thank you.”
“For now,” she adds firmly. “Gabriel is the kind of man who likes to know everything. You need to tell him. And don’t wait for the perfect time. He deserves to know—this is his child, too.”
I nod. “I will. I promise.”
She holds my gaze for a moment longer. Then she stands and extends her hand, helping me up from the floor.
“Wash your face,” she says. “You look terrible.”
I laugh. It’s a broken laugh, but real.
“That’s some comforting bedside manner.”
“Sorry. I’m a lawyer, not a therapist.” Her mouth curves slightly. “For what it’s worth—” she pauses, finding the right words. “Gabriel isn’t quite the man he seems on the surface, the one who runs a crime family, the one who’s ruthless and uncompromising. That’s not all he is.”
“I know,” I say quietly.
“Then trust that. And tell him soon.”
She takes one more look at me, then leaves.
I stand at the sink and look at my reflection. I’m pale and my face is streaked with tears. She’s right, I do look terrible.
But I also feel miraculous. My body is doing something incredible. And regardless of what happens next, there’s a life growing inside of me.
I’m going to protect it. No matter what it takes.
CHAPTER 31
THEA
Two days later…
It’s time. I want to put it off even longer, but I know I can’t.
I have to tell him. But I need to see a doctor first.
I find Gabriel in the study, hunched over documents spread across the table before him. Classical music plays softly on a speaker system I can’t see, and a fire crackles in the fireplace.
I knock once on the open door and walk in without waiting for permission.
