Page 121 of The Killer Card

I blink, my eyes widening as I watch Elias place a hand against Nelly’s abdomen at the same time she smooths the plume of her skirt over the distinct roundness of her belly.

“No. Fucking. WAY!” I shoot to my feet so fast I nearly knock the beer out of Graham’s hand. “NO FUCKING WAY!”

I grab for my phone, texting Nelly immediately, even though I know she won’t see it until she’s either seated at award ceremony or when she gets back to the villa.

“How could she not tell us?!” I shout, gesturing to the tv. “We’re their best friends and this is how they tell us?!”

The silence that follows is suspicious enough to make my eyes narrow as I look first at Cristian- sinking even lower in his chair and deeper into his team hoodie- then to Clara who is admiring her new wall art with too much interest- and finally Graham- who has suddenly found the wrapper on his beer bottle fascinating.

“You,” I glare between them. “Fucking cunts. Did you all know?! Clara?!”

She holds up her hands. “I was there when she took the test,” she admits. “But you were still in Boston! So, it’s not really our fault you weren’t part of it—”

“Cristian?!”

“You and I aren’t really the texting kind of friends—”

“When did you find out?!”

He winces. “Dad called me the moment she told him. Like, the very moment. She was still washing her hands in the bathroom—”

I finally turn my glare on Graham who looks seconds away from bolting for the door. “And you?”

“Okay, like Clara said, you were still in Boston finishing up all your shit for the move, and we didn’t—”

“GRAHAM!”

He cowers and I can see the instinct in him to drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness at my feet. “I was also there when she took the test…”

“And NO ONE thought to tell ME?!” I look back at the tv where a thousand pictures are being taken of the obviously framed baby bump as they reveal to not only me, but the world that Elias and Penelope Santos are expecting their first baby together. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Naomi—”

“Don’t,” I snap at Graham, yanking my hand from his. “You are so going to get it later,” I seethe.

He blinks and then a slow, sensual smile spreads across his lips. “In that case,” he leans back against the couch. “I bought her the test too—”

“GRAHAM!” I scream.

“And I was the one who suggested they reveal it in the most dramatic way possible, namely to his fans,” he grins as he raises his beer to his lips. “But also, to you—”

“You sick FUCK!” I screech. “God, I could fucking strangle you!”

Graham licks his lips. “Promise?”

Cristian audibly gags. “Gross,” he mumbles, standing to go into the kitchen. He thinks no one sees how he takes out his phone as he goes, but I so fucking notice. He’s gone for this Saige girl, whoever she is. Gone in the way he never was for Nelly. Gone in the way Elias now is for, over the moon, deeply enamored by his pregnant wife.

I turn back to the tv where Elias is leaning in to kiss his wife while a dozen camera flashes continue to flicker in the periphery. “Wait…” I take in their ensembles again, the matching powder blue. “Is it….?” I grab Clara by the arm as she too comes to this particular realization at the same time.

“Is it a boy?!” She gasps. “Cristian?!”

I whirl on Graham, tears welling in my eyes. “Graham?”

He smiles softly. “Yes, mi reina,” he nods. “They’re having a boy.”

My hands fly to my mouth as the tears start coming, hard and fast and Clara dives into me, wrapping her arms around my middle as we both dissolve into sobs.

A boy! Our best friend is having a baby and it’s going to be a little boy!