Page 90 of The Arrangement

Anton walked past the bedroom for the second time without saying a word. He’d been attached to his cell phone all morning and it was starting to irk the fuck out of her. When he passed again, still not giving any indication that she’d even spoke, she threw a pillow out into the hallway. Finally, his steps faltered as his eyes glanced over his shoulder with a flashing warning.

“The tasting?”

Anton pointed at his phone and mouthed, “In a minute.”

Viviana sighed, frustrated. Nothing bothered her more than when he ignored her.

They had a tasting scheduled for not only the wedding dinner, but the engagement party someone decided they just had to have, as well. She could have done without that, since they had enough to worry about, but Anton agreed without even asking her. Not only that, but the invitations were ready to be picked up and sent out, too. Then there was the party planner … designer—whatever the hell she called herself—who needed confirmation on the choices for linen, flowers … and so much more. That was another thing Viviana didn’t know if he was handling, or her.

Considering he was still on his fucking phone.

Viviana didn’t really know what was going on, but it had to be something serious because from five o’clock in the morning on, Anton wasn’t at her side like he usually was before he left to go to the club. When she asked, he wouldn’t say.

Irritated was an understatement.

“Anton, hey, are you going to make that tasting or not?”

Nothing.

“No, that’s good. I don’t like that that’s where he wants to go, but I can’t say anything about it. He wants to be comfortable, right?” Anton paused in his spiel, his fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “I don’t know, Ivan. I was lucky they stayed here as long as they did, honestly.”

Viviana looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand as she put the clean sheets on their bed. Their time was running short and she still didn’t know anything about the day’s plans. Both of them needed to be out of the house within a few minutes or she wouldn’t make her doctor’s appointment. She had just managed to get that appointment an hour ago, too.

Damn it, her heart was stuttering just thinking about it.

In the midst of everything going on, Viviana had forgotten about something she shouldn’t have. She felt so incredibly stupid. They drank, and smoked …

What if?

Her thoughts were all but screaming.

Finally, the conversation out in the hallway ended.

“What, Viviana?” Her words seemed to catch in her throat at his exasperated voice. “Yes, I’ll make the tasting. We can pick up the invitations together after. You’ll have to go to the designer’s alone because Daniil got confirmation for his release from the hospital and he convinced Sasha to go back to their home. I promised to be there to get him settled. What else is there?”

She blinked back at him, her hands splaying out to the comforter. Tears threatened to make an appearance, but she forced them back as a deep breath shuddered into her aching lungs. More than anything, she just wanted to blurt it out and see what would happen, but her nerves weren’t quite strong enough then.

“Okay, thank you. That’s all I wanted to know. I’m going to the clinic first, so I might be a little late for the appointment with the designer. Can you call her and let her know; she likes you better and probably won’t bite your head off.”

Anton didn’t move for a minute. “Why?”

“I just said—”

“No, why are you going to the clinic today? You should have told me you weren’t feeling well, Vine.”

Something painful rolled through her stomach. One thing they had made clear between them was no more lying. Ever. If he couldn’t tell her something, he just wasn’t to say anything at all and she would get the point. This wasn’t even close to being the same thing and Viviana knew it.

“I forgot to take my birth control shot.”

The words were breathed below a whisper but they seemed to reach his spot, given the phone slipped out of his grasp with a clatter to the hardwood floor. Frozen like a statue, Anton didn’t even blink. In fact, Viviana was sure she didn’t see him breathe for a whole thirty seconds.

“Say something, please.”

A noise … that was all she got. A single noise.

Viviana felt the need to explain. “I used to get appointment notifications from my doctor’s office in Toronto on my old phone, but Boris destroyed it. I’m so, so—”

Another noise interrupted her, his heated gaze blazing into hers with a burn that had her aching.