Zahra looked at me like I had grown another head. “Ava…” She did the math out loud. “That means you like four… almost five months!!!”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Oh my God!” She started rambling again. “Does Reek know? Has he known this whole time? Has he been keeping this secret too—”
“No,” I cut in. “He doesn’t know.”
That stopped her for a second.
Then she frowned. “Why not?”
I looked away shamefully. “Because there’s nothing between us. We had sex once, and he’s always been very clear about not wanting a serious relationship or kids. I didn’t want to tell him because I knew he wouldn’t want it, and I want my baby, despite his feelings.” I swallowed. “I’m terrified he’s going to think I trapped him.”
Zahra stared at me. “Duh! Of course he is!”
I groaned. “Thanks.”
“No, I’m serious!” she spiraled again. “Ava, this is messy as hell. Reek and Sienna already got whatever weird shit they got going on, and then there’s Alderman Langford—this could piss him off too if it gets back to him. Project 83 is still in the building phase. Alderman Langford can throw a monkey wrench in it if he wants to.”
I cringed. “I know. I’ve thought of all of that. That’s why I haven’t been able to tell him.”
She looked at me for a long second, then shook her head. “Damn.”
I moved closer and grabbed her hand. “Please keep it quiet until I tell him myself.”
“Of course. But you need to hurry up and tell him before that baby come out looking all Reek-y.”
I laughed, despite the tension.
Zahra’s eyes started filling up with tears as she stared at me. “My little sister having a baby,” she swooned. “And our babies are going to be so close in age. They’re really going to grow up like siblings.”
That made my eyes sting too.
She reached out and touched my stomach through my oversized sleep shirt. “Your little belly is so tiny.”
“That’s because the food was so healthy in Thailand. But I can already feel myself gaining weight now that I’m back here.”
Zahra rolled her eyes. “Girl, that’s also because you're young, slim-thick, and this is your first baby. I didn’t get huge until my last trimester.”
I looked down at her hand over my stomach and let myself breathe for the first time since I walked into the room.
Then Zahra emphasized much more seriously, “You need to tell Reek ASAP.”
And just like that, all the peace I had gotten from finally telling somebody disappeared.
SIENNA LANGFORD
I met Agent Mallory in the back room of a quiet wine bar downtown that was always empty before happy hour. I had on sunglasses when I came in and took them off only after the hostess led me to the private room in the back. Mallory was already there, sitting straight-backed at the end of the table with a leather folder in front of her and an expression that said she was already irritated.
As soon as I sat down, she bit, “This is getting old, Sienna.”
“Hello to you too.”
“You’ve given me scraps,” she urged through tight lips. “You’ve given me names I can’t verify, conversations with no recordings, and financial breadcrumbs that don’t tie cleanly to a prosecutable conspiracy. None of this is enough to open the kind of case that you need to save your ass.”
I crossed my legs and looked at the folder instead of her. “I’m trying.”
“No, you’restalling.” She flipped open the folder and tapped a page. “What you’ve brought me so far does not establish probable cause for warrants, it does not support a viable charging memo, and it does not get me anywhere near a TitleIII. I can’t go to a supervisor with rumors, half-context text messages, and your word that ‘something big is there.’ We already know something big is there. What we don’t have is admissible evidence that survives scrutiny.”
