Page 114 of In the Dark

My ovaries made me. They weren’t in lockdown. They were in overdrive.

34

Jasmina

DID I HAVE TO look like I was freaking glowing?

I was staring at a woman in love with the man she was about to marry, but it was all supposed to be a farce.

Except it wasn’t.

How had I fallen for Callahan Knight in such a short amount of time?

Two months, you stupid whore? Jesus.

“More importantly, how did you fall for him, you little traitor?” I whisper-yelled at my cat. He was sitting by the door wagging his tag in irritation because I wouldn’t let him out.

“Look, only one of us can appear that desperate, and your display is really pathetic at this point.”

His ears went back, but he didn’t even look my way. That’s how obsessed my cat was with him.

And that wasn’t the only pussy that was longing for Cal.

Why was I like this? I could get good dick anywhere, right?

But it wasn’t just about how he slept in my bed, or how his hands felt against my skin. It was about how he let me unravel, let me question him over and over without ever giving me pause, how he never lied, and how he consistently stood by my side even when it wasn’t in his best interest.

It made me feel guilty about the SD card and about my hiding it, like I owed him the truth even though I didn’t know exactly what the truth was yet.

A sharp knock at the door had me spinning around in my dress to see my Aunt Perla there. She looked elegant in charcoal lace, but her eyes were red-rimmed, the skin beneath them tight with anxiety. She didn’t offer a hug; she grabbed my wrists, her grip surprisingly strong, anchoring me to a reality I was trying to escape.

“Jasmina, escúchame,” she hissed, her voice trembling with raw emotion. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you. He’s trying to be nice. I saw it when he was with you last, but … No dejes que ese hombre se te meta bajo la piel. Es un Knight. Es un depredador.” She’d said, “Do not let that man under your skin. He is a Knight. He is a predator.”

“It’s okay, Tía Perla. We have an understanding, and things are fine.” I tried to pull back and soothe her at the same time.

She searched my eyes. “You look in love.”

“What?” I whispered. Did I?

“You look stupidly, utterly in love. You, Jasmina.”

“I’m not,” I denied.

“What if you love him for two years, and then what? He dumps you on our doorstep again with less of Fuerte Firearms and more work along with a broken heart?”

“I’m not … The plan was always for us to be done after two years. We’re establishing a new way for our family forward. It was the only way.”

“But now you’re blinded. Now, what? You sleep with him and have a kid?” Her tone was disgusted. “He’ll take it, you know? And you’ll never see them again.”

“I’m not getting pregnant,” I whispered furiously at her.

“So, you’re not sleeping with him?” she confronted me blatantly with the question, and her eyes were pinned on me like lights in an interrogation room. I was never good at lying, but lying to her when she was like this was nearly impossible.

“I … that’s not the point.”

“Of course it is,” she wailed, spinning around to pace and throw her hands up. “What will I tell Monte if you’re pregnant?” she hissed.

“I’m not.” I wasn’t. I couldn’t be.