Page 146 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 3

“And clearly very happy to be here,” Honor added, still grinning.

Saroya was already moving toward the kitchen. “Two weeks. She said two weeks, and now I understand why.”

“Stop,” I said, but I was laughing despite myself.

“Nah, we’re not stopping,” Raven said, pulling me into a hug. “We’re just getting started.”

Honor waited until she heard the shower turn on upstairs before she rounded on me, hip cocked against the counter, orange juice bag still in her hand.

“Okay.” She set the bag down with purpose. “I need you to know that I see you.”

“See me doing what?”

“Working your set.” She said it slow, like I might need the words repeated. “For two whole weeks. Girl.”

“I’m not—” I started, but Saroya was already cackling from the kitchen doorway.

“Don’t even try it,” Saroya said. “We watched that man kiss you like we weren’t standing right here. That’s not a set. That’s a whole campaign.”

“And I’m not mad at you,” Honor said, holding both hands up like she was surrendering something. “I’m just saying. Two weeks. That’s dedication.”

“It’s not a set,” I said, even though my face was doing that thing again where it wouldn’t stop being warm. “We’re just⁠—”

“Fucking like rabbits,” Raven supplied helpfully.

“Raven.”

“I’m just filling in the blanks, so you don’t have to.” She shrugged and reached into the cabinet like she lived there, pulling down plates for the beignets. “You’re welcome.”

I grabbed the plates from her before she could stack them wrong, because she always stacked them wrong, and busied my hands with something that wasn’t answering.

“So, what’s the deal with Kaisen?” Raven asked. She asked it easy, like she was asking about the weather.

I whipped around so fast I nearly dropped the plates.

“Shh.” I pressed a finger to my lips, glancing toward the stairs. The shower was still running, but voices carried in this house in ways I hadn’t fully mapped yet. “Not now.”

“Not now?” Raven’s eyebrows climbed. “Truth, it’s a simple question.”

“It is not a simple question,” I whispered, waving her closer. All three of them leaned in like we were about to pass state secrets. “I will tell you everything. Everything. But not while he’s upstairs, and not until you promise me something.”

“What kind of promise?” Saroya asked, already suspicious, because she knew me.

“You cannot tell Mama.”

The kitchen went quiet for half a second.

“Truth.” Honor said my name like a warning.

“I’m serious. Not one word. Not a hint. Not a ‘you’ll never guess.’ Nothing.”

“How bad is it?” Raven asked, and there was something careful in her voice now, something that told me she already sensed the size of what I wasn’t saying.

“It’s a lot,” I said. “It’s more than a lot. But I need to tell y’all on my own terms, and if Mama finds out before I’m ready, she is going to lose her entire mind, and I don’t have the bandwidth for that today.”

Saroya studied me for a second, then held out her hand, palm up. “Fine. Handshake.”

We’d had this handshake since we were kids, something Honor made up when we were little and swore each other to secrecy about stealing candy from the corner store. It had evolved over the years into this ridiculous, elaborate thing that took longer than it should have. Slap, slap, interlock, pull back, snap. We did it now, all four of us crowding into the kitchen, laughing under our breath because it still felt silly at our age and none of us cared.