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She stares at me with wide, pained eyes. “We’re talking about a baby, sweetheart.Yourbaby.”
“We’ve been over this. I’m not ready to be a mother.”
“No one ever is.”
“We’ve got enough on our plates right now.”
“A baby would brighten up our lives. Give me something to look forward to. Give you someone to love, after?—”
“There is no ‘after,’” I insist. “There’s only ‘now.’And right now, you’re here. End of story.”
“Sweetheart—”
“Evelyn!” I call, cutting Mom off. “I think your soup is burning.”
As Evelyn races back into the kitchen to check on her soup, which is perfectly fine, the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it,” I announce, avoiding Mom’s gaze on my way out.
When I open the door, though, there’s no one there.
Just a small package sitting in the center of the welcome mat.
I pick it up and pull at the silk ribbon holding the box together. The wrapping unfolds like a flower. Appropriate, considering what’s lying on the plush cushion inside?—
A tiny gold pendant…
In the shape of a rose.
11
ARSEN
“So beautiful! I’m amazed you can stand with those diamonds around your neck, Natascha.”
I recognize the source of the sniveling compliment without even needing to look over. Replace “drugs” with “diamonds” and Lorraine Henley is the human equivalent of a top-tier sniffer dog.
Lorraine herself is dripping in gaudy champagne diamonds that only marginally distract from her horse-like features and fence-post physique.
“Were they a gift from your husband?” the woman presses, running a finger along Natascha’s necklace as though she just can’t keep her hands to herself.
Natascha smiles coyly. “Arsen does love to lavish me with surprises.”
The grilled quail we just consumed for dinner is in danger of coming back up again. There’s only one woman I’ve lavishedwith presents in the last four months, and she isn’t in this ballroom.
I turn my back on the two witches and find a quiet corner where I can pull out my phone and disappear behind it before anyone dares approach me.
“Arsen! There you are.” I must not quite manage to keep my feelings buried because Dominik shrinks back like I just spat fire at him. “Socially drained already, are we?”
I was drained before I even put on my tux tonight. What’s left doesn’t even count as running on fumes. I want to be anywhere else but here.
“Kira hates these things, so I left her at home. It doesn’t look like you’re going to be any better company.” Dom joins me in the shadows. “Where’s your better half?”
“My lesser half,” I correct. “She’s out there peddling what little she has to offer and lying to anyone who will listen about how madly in love we are.”
Dominik clocks her standing by the garish ice sculpture loaded with fresh shrimp. She’s surrounded by a mob of older men, all of whom are either staring at her diamonds or her breasts. The sight stirs nothing in me.
If they want her, they can have her.
When I can’t watch anymore, I turn to Dominik. “Well? Are you going to make me ask?”
