“I meant you.”
I met his stare. “Are you fishing for something? Thinking of having kids with me? Because if that’s the case, you need to slow down. I don’t think we are there yet.”
He frowned. “Are you uncomfortable with the question?”
“Why would I be?”
“Because you are not answering.”
“Why are you asking?”
“I am curious.”
“Why are you curious?”
“Why are you getting defensive?”
I poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue, looking away from him as I looked back at the kids, letting the silence stretch before I spoke. “Yes, if I could, I would have loved to.”
When there was silence from his end, I looked up at him, expecting the question I saw in his eyes.
“I can’t have children,” I informed him, a tremor in my fingers as they stroked the butterfly.
“What?”
Not wanting to see what he thought in his eyes, I looked away, back to the innocence of our surroundings, before I answered. “How do you think they made sure none of us got pregnant?” I asked. “No female Plant can have children. We can’t reproduce because we were not made to reproduce.”
He stiffened beside me, and my heart almost sank.
“Does that change anything for you?” I let the question slip out before I could stop it.
With a snap, he was turning my body to face his, and with great effort, I met his gaze, which was angry and harsh. “Do not speak nonsense.”
I bit my tongue.
“Do you remember what they did to you?”
I dragged in a breath and let it out. “When they took us to the—When we were fourteen they took us somewhere before we were prepped for penetration. It was a doctor’s place. I don’t think it was registered, but it was an equally big organization, too… I didn’t know then; they just made us sleep, and when we woke up, we were taken back. But as I grew, I learned it was tubal ligation.”
“So, it can be reversed.”
“In some cases, yeah. I went to reverse it… but the doctortold me there was a lot of damage and the possibility of me ever getting pregnant was, well—zero to none. And we’ve had sex unprotected a lot of times and nothing—so… yeah.”
A familiar look flashed in his eyes.
I pursed my lips before speaking. “I’ve had years to get over that fact, Elio; you don’t have to pity me.”
“I do not pity you. I pity the people who did this to you.”
I laughed, but he did not join me.
Pulling me into a hug, he whispered in my ear, “I promise you, Zahra, when I find the people who did this, the world will know.”
The tone of his voice told me he meant every single word he said. It sent a chill down my spine—but my mind loved the idea because it was what I also wanted, and with him by my side, I was more assured that we would find them, and we would rain hell-fucking-fire until there was nothing but ashes beneath our feet.
“What kind of sick motherfucker makes someone work for a fucking surprise?” Dog bit out, pinning a glare my way as he slid into the space beside Milk, hitting her shoulder not so gently.
We were at the newly refurbished cafeteria in the building. Some of the tables were filled by other workers who’d decided to have a late dinner too.
