I am infamous, it seems.
Crown and Beast take turns watching over me. They keep their distance during the day, doing their own work while I deal with mine. At night, it depends on who’s there when I get ready to fall asleep.
For the last couple nights, it’s been Beast. Just me and my new husband shacking up and sharing a bed. It’s hard to remember that this is all new for me. Staying the night with a man, sleeping next to him, waking up with him by my side.
On the day Sin is supposed to be released, I sit down and try to remember when I last had my period. Tapping my phone’s stylus against the side of my head, I stare down at the calendar in thought.
Have I had a period at all since I got back from the mafia compound? No.
Wow.
Things have been so hectic, so crazy, that I never even gave it much thought. Besides, stress can cause a missed period, so even if I had taken note, it might not have been an immediate red flag. I definitely remember getting my period when I was with the mafia, however. Grey had to request tampons be brought to our room. A servant delivered them with Ivan Wolfe trailing behind.
Gross.
I make a huge red X on the calendar, marking off my wedding day. Well, my first wedding day, the one to Grey.
Was that really only six weeks ago? It feels like years have passed.
I make a few more marks, coloring in the spots where I had sex with Grainger again, with Crown, with Sin. They’re all so close together that my mouth twitches. The only way I’ll be able to figure out who the father is would be to do a DNA test. But I’m not doing that. If they don’t like it, fuck them. I don’t care.
At least I figure that I’m about … eight weeks pregnant. Shit.
Seems weird, I know, but the first two weeks of pregnancy, you’re not even pregnant at all. Doctors generally ‘backdate’ a pregnancy to the first day of a woman’s last period. If I wanted to get an abortion, I’d take a pill and that would be it. Rather, it would be two pills forty-eight hours apart followed by a heavy period.
I stick the stylus back into my phone and lean back on the sun-warmed deck outside the clubhouse. It’s so smoky out here that it’s actively unpleasant. I’m the only bitch crazy enough to brave the air willingly. There’s actually an air quality warning today strongly encouraging Ashbury, Oregon residents to stay indoors.
It isn’t healthy for me to be out here, but I just needed a minute alone to process.
How do I get an appointment somewhere to get checked out? I wonder, considering our current situation. Just to see Sin and Grainger at the hospital was a whole thing.
A raucous near the front gate draws my attention, and I turn my head to watch as an SUV rumbles up, pausing so that the on-duty guards can check out the occupants before sending it on its way.
The SUV parks in the main lot, and the back door opens from the inside.
Out steps Sin, his blue hair catching the strange light and making it look almost purple, the color it was the night we first had sex. I sucked his dick right here on this very deck.
As if he can sense me thinking about him, he turns his head and sees me sitting there.
Holy shit. There’s this indescribable zing that passes between us, this excruciating pang of relief and desire. It’s like we’re drawn to one another over and over again, moths to flame. It doesn’t even matter if our wings burn. It doesn’t matter if we turn to so much dust on the wind.
My heart skips a beat and I sit up, crossing my legs in front of me. Sin is able to take maybe one step before he’s surrounded immediately by well-wishers, his brothers clapping him on the back, their distant words impossible to make out but clearly congratulatory in nature.
I stay where I am, watching and waiting. It takes a while, but eventually, he’s able to peel away, and makes his way directly to me.
I stand up, clenching and unclenching my hands in nervousness. Not a normal emotion from me, certainly. But it’s been, what, three days since we’ve seen each other?
“Hey Gidge,” he murmurs, tucking his hands into his front pockets, face resolute and with much better color than the last time I saw it. Some of his usual bronze glow has returned.
“Hey Gidge?” I imitate, and then offer up a little laugh. “That’s all I get?”
I step forward before he can reply, putting my arms around his neck. Sin stiffens up, but I put my lips to his ear and whisper, “relax, Colton” just before my mouth finds his.
