My heart skips a beat, but I don’t say anything. I just stare at him. Then I take another bite of fry, and he stands up suddenly, turning to look directly at me.
“I had to take a walk to calm myself down.”
“Calder,” I start, and he scoffs at me.
“Stop that. Calling me by my real name isn’t going to change what I want to say.” He stares down at me with a very serious, very dark expression on his face. Doesn’t scare me. He literally cannot scare me, not now. Not ever. “I had to take a walk and ask myself if I could do it.”
“Do what?” I ask, and Crown laughs dryly.
“Watch you marry another guy,” he says, and then my stomach lurches, and my eyes go wide. Please don’t say it. Don’t say it. It isn’t true. “Or watch you have another man’s baby.”
“No,” I say, nice and firm. Deliberate. “I’m not pregnant.”
“You are pregnant,” Crown says, and I want to scream. I want to throw my own food at the wall like a thirty-year-old brat. Instead, I make myself sit still and keep eating. They can’t know that. They can’t. “Grainger told me before the wedding.”
“I hope your balls rot off and your dick gets infested with maggots,” I snarl at him, but he just stands there and stares at me while I feel like my body’s rocking on a boat astride a stormy sea. I might puke. Oh fuck. No. “You’re full of shit.”
“You’re pregnant whether you like it or not,” Crown hisses, leaning over and putting his palms on either side of my legs. The mattress dents slightly, and I drift toward him without meaning to. Turning, I look right into his face, and I feel my emotions cracking and breaking like thin ice. “Grainger even showed me both tests.”
“I want to see them,” I demand, as if that’ll make this better. I’m definitely in shock right now. The world rocks on its axis yet again, and I shove another fry between my lips. Fuck.
“Good luck. They were in Grainger’s pocket when the blast went off.” Crown looks right at me, still frowning. Our mouths are close enough to kiss, but I get the feeling that neither of us is in the mood right now. I know that I’m not anyway.
Pregnant? I don’t want to have a goddamn baby.
I close my eyes and groan, putting my head in my hand and nearly knocking my forehead against Crown’s. He draws back slightly, letting out a long, tired sounding sigh. I kept wondering where he was yesterday, what he was doing, but now that I’m thinking more clearly, I imagine he was dealing with politics, with Cat specifically. Probably cleaning up other bodies.
I’ve been selfish as fuck.
“Have you slept in the last twenty-four hours?” I ask, closing my eyes. When Crown doesn’t reply, I have my answer. “You aren’t an infallible being, Crown. You’re not fucking Hercules. You need sleep.”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he quips back at me, and I open my eyes to return his stare.
Crown moves over to the box of spilled food and begins dutifully cleaning it up. The move annoys me so much that I really do pick up my box and consider throwing it at him. But with a sigh of my own, I set it back down and continue eating. I’m not wasting a single fry.
My stomach rumbles, and I cringe, gritting my teeth.
“I don’t know which one of you assholes got me pregnant,” I say, but Crown ignores me, taking the box of spilled fries into the bathroom. Presumably he’s throwing them away and washing his hands. With a frown, I shove my food aside again and stand up, opening the top drawer of his dresser and digging around. I look in the nightstands next and, bingo, there it is.
A small velvet box.
I lift it out and crack it open.
“Gidge, what the fuck are you doing?” Crown asks me, and I turn around slowly. With great defiance, I continue opening the lid and stare down at the silver band with the large octagonal cut ruby at its center.
I take the ring out and slide it onto my finger above the rings Beast gave me.
It fits perfectly.
I look up at Crown in challenge.
“How did you know my ring size? Are you a serial killer or something?” I ask him, and he frowns again.
“Probably. What’s the rule? Three or more victims? Anyway, I’m sure I qualify.” He delivers that bit of news in a completely insipid sort of way, but I can feel the fury still simmering underneath.
“This fits.” I hold up my hand and Crown’s eyes find the ring. His lip curls at the edge before he meets my eyes again. “It’s mine.”
He comes at me so fast that I barely have time to scramble over the bed to the other side. We stand facing each other as Crown crosses his arms over his chest.
