Page 16 of Legacy of Deception

“So?” She tossed the stick aside like it was nothing more than a broken toy.

“So?” I echoed her ridiculously vague question, pushing off the counter.

Shaking her head, she put her flask away. Now I knew she meant business. “Whose is it?”

“Robert’s.”

She nodded. “Of course.” She brought a hand to her forehead and lightly tapped it. “Why didn’t I think of that? It couldn’t very well have been John’s.”

“Who is John?”

“Who is Robert?”

“Lyons.”

“Robert Lyons?”

“The very one. Except in the bedroom, he went by daddy. Some kink.”

Capri’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“No, but I felt I deserved the amusement.”

“What’s the plan?” The quiet sympathy she evoked was as haunting as a ghost having a presence in the room with us.

My hands itched to extend into her purse and take the flask for myself. “To go to the christening, knowing these men will haul my belongings to Marco’s place where I will spend my first night.” Logically, I understood that wasn’t what she was expecting to hear, but it was all I had. I didn’t prefer to get into this before I had a second to sit on it and really let it marinate in my own head. “Where is he, by the way? Punctuality is apparently no friend of his.”

She rolled her eyes and dug into her purse again, this time drawing two sticks of gum out. “He had a prior engagement or something. That’s why I’m here.”

“And to think I thought you missed me.” I caught the stick she threw my way.

“Listen, stop deflecting.” Before I could even open mine, she had her wrapper balled up and ready to be disposed of, the gum being rolled into her mouth. “I meant, what are you going to do if that test is accurate and you are pregnant?” Loud smacks followed, and I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering if this was what it felt like to be on the witness stand.

“It’s accurate, all right.” I popped my own piece into my mouth, allowing the minty flavor to consume my senses. “At least, I’m pretty sure it is. I’ve been having symptoms. That’s why I purchased the test.” What did she think? That I had done it for shits and giggles? That wasn’t my style. Mostly because it seemed like a colossal waste of time, and time was something that I valued. Unlike Capri and Marco, who obviously had a mutual disinterest in the commodity.

She frowned. “When are you going to tell Marco?”

Fear fluttered in my chest. The long-standing hunger I felt to sabotage things in my life came back with a vengeance. For my father. Because of him. For me. Because of my infinite disgust for cleaning up his messes. “When my belly starts to creep onto his side of the bed.” I glanced down at the way I was delicately folding the wrapper.

Her expression morphed into something unfamiliar. Maybe abhorrence. “From now on, no more talking about Marco and beds in the same sentence with me.”

“Makes sense,” I said, shifting in the small space again and retrieving the stick.

“You have to tell him.” I could practically feel her breathing down my neck. “You have to.” The repetition wasn’t necessary. In fact, it was bothersome.

“Give me a little more credit than that. You didn’t think I knew that already?” I snapped, pinning her with a look that could burn just the same as acid being doused on someone. “I’ll save it for our first pillow talk.”

“What did I just say?”

I exhaled sharply. “Sorry. Well, it’s still true. We have the christening to think about, and it’s for your nephew, so it’s a big deal, and I’m not looking to ruin anyone’s day.” I came out looking like the hero, and technically, it wasn’t entirely wrong that I wanted him to not have to deal with this today. It just so happened to also be true that I didn’t think there was any good way to broach the topic.

She narrowed her eyes. “You do realize the ceremony is just tradition, don’t you?”

“Either way, I still think it’s a good idea to put it off until later. Who knows if he will even want to go through with things after I tell him.” Part of me hoped he wouldn’t, while the other part of me knew, with my luck, they would merely sic another brother on me.

“The fact of the matter is that he decided to do this…for his own reasons, obviously. It’s unlikely to change now that you’re carrying another man’s child.”

“I should have listened to no one but myself and become an influencer,” I said, changing the subject to one that was filled with regret, but not nearly as much as I suspected this arranged marriage would be.