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“And you understand I will not be ornamental.”

“That is precisely why I’m asking.”

In the present, I stare at the blonde who was riding my cock just over two weeks ago, the sight of it seared in my head.

Alester continues, “Dr. Acharya will remain responsible for fertility and obstetric coordination until the handoff is appropriate. I would like you involved in the broader medical picture. Oversight, risk review, referrals when necessary. Petra will make sure you receive the relevant records.”

Petra’s fingers tighten slightly around the folder. Efficient. Ready.

Maggie finally looks at me. Fear. Embarrassment. Something like apology. Beneath all that, a fragile thread of the woman from the hotel room, the one who looked at me like wanting had made her reckless and alive.

I keep my attention on Alester. “When did the procedure take place?” I ask.

“Two weeks ago,” Petra says. Her voice is smooth.

Maggie’s gaze drops.

Two weeks. The morning after she left me.

Something in my chest hardens.

She left my bed and went to a clinic.

No. Not the same morning. I do the math before anger can distort it. The procedure was two days after the hotel. She told me, in pieces, without telling me anything. An appointment. Friday. Something that would make her life complicated.

I had heard the edges of it and not the thing itself.

“The beta hCG?” I ask.

Petra opens the folder. “Positive. Initial level is consistent with early pregnancy. Dr. Acharya has scheduled repeat testing and follow-up ultrasound pending appropriate timing.”

I nod once.

The words are ordinary. The situation is not.

Maggie sits so quietly that it begins to bother me.

Alester turns to her. “This is good news, Margaret.”

“Maggie,” she says softly.

A beat.

“Yes,” he says. “Maggie.” He corrects himself without warmth. Not unkindly. Just as if the preferred label has been noted.

Alester continues, “The first stage has gone as well as could be hoped. You should be pleased.”

“I am,” she says.

I look at Alester. “I’ll need the complete file before I agree to any oversight.”

Petra glances up. “We can provide it.”

“Not summaries,” I say. “The file.”

Alester’s eyes settle on me. He knows the difference between a request and a boundary.

“Of course,” he says.