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“Has she met us? What about me and Arsen together screams ‘fun’ to her?” Dominik bites his lower lip in a wince, and I sigh. “She doesn’t know we aren’t really married, does she?”
“My lady is a romantic,” he explains. “She wouldn’t understand. And anyway, she’s always had a bit of an issue with Arsen. I didn’t want to make things worse.”
I raise my eyebrows. “What kind of ‘issue’?” My brain scrambles to come up with theories, but only one option presents itself. “Who did Arsen kill?”
“Jesus Christ! It’s not that big of a deal. You think Arsen whacked Kira’s Nana, and I’m still working for him?”
I throw up my hands. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe!”
He shakes his head. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just—you know how Arsen is. The man comes across as?—”
“Cold?” I guess. “Terrifying? Soulless and ever-vigilant like the Eye of Sauron?”
“Aloof,” he finishes politely. “But he’s different with you. I want Kira to see it.”
It’s a miracle I didn’t already slip up on Saturday and tell Kira about my contract with Arsen. But if she spends any more time with us together, she’s definitely going to figure it out. Then, the one and only friend I’ve made in the last year might not be interested in knowing me anymore.
Dom must be able to see the indecision on my face. “No pressure. I can always make an excuse for you if you want, but… she’s already started cooking for tonight.”
I groan. “Guilt tripping me is not nice.”
“I’m not the nice one. That’s Kira.”
“Okay—but if this is actually a setup for a surprise baby shower or something, I will kill you. Slowly.”
“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t let that happen.” He rests his elbows on his knees. “Kira doesn’t know the situation with you all, so I’m sorry she tried to force the baby shower on you. Arsen told me about it.”
I can’t hold back the bitter laugh that comes out of me. “I’m sure he thought that was hilarious.”
“Why would it be hilarious?”
“Throwing a baby shower for a mom who won’t even be around once the baby is born?” I ignore the stab of pain in my chest, grimacing through it. “Kira should throw one for Arsen, if she throws one for anyone at all.”
I can’t look at him, but I feel Dominik’s eyes boring into the side of my face. “What do you mean? Arsen’s agreed to allow you contact with the baby after?—”
“I don’t even wanna start with the semantics of that one. ‘Agreed’? ‘Allow’? ‘Contact’? Even if I did know what all that meant in this extremely niche set of circumstances, it wouldn’t matter. At the end of the day, whatever happens will be on Arsen’s terms, contract be damned. It’s his world. We’re all just living in it.”
I close my eyes and remind myself to inhale and exhale. I won’t be Arsen’s wife forever. I’ll have to move out eventually. Then I’ll only be able to see my baby when he says I can. What if he decides that he prefers not to have me around at all?
I want to stop there, but now that I’ve let a few concerns slip over the edge of the dam, I can feel the rest rushing out of me.
“It’s not like we have a contract for that part of the deal, do we?” I burst. “He probably just said it so I’d stop arguing about getting married. The only piece of paper I have says that the baby in my belly belongs to Arsen and Arsen alone.”
A sharp pain shoots up my side, and I clutch my ribs with a wince.
Dominik hurries in to steady me. “You’re getting all worked up over nothing.”
“Dominik, this is my life. My daughter’s life.”
“Arsen is a good man?—”
“No, Arsen is a powerful man,” I correct. “And powerful men have a habit of doing whatever the hell they want. Even—and maybe evenespecially—at the expense of other people.”
Dominik opens his mouth and shuts it again. He runs a hand over his face and finally says, “You just don’t know him like I do.”
“Actually, I don’t know him at all.” I blink away the tears that have accumulated at the corners of my eyes. “But I signed a contract, so I might as well play my part. Tell Kira I’ll be at dinner tonight, whether Arsen shows up or not.”
“Like I said, you don’t know him like I do,” Dom says. “He’ll be there.”
