Chapter 23
23
SOFIA
“ S hit. Shit! Sofia. Fuck!”
I’m vaguely aware of being carried. I open my eyes and lift my head. “Wha-What happened?”
“You fainted. Fuck!” He’s breathless, frantic as he takes me to the couch. “Are you all right? Do you feel all right?”
Of course I don’t feel all right! I just vomited and fainted. But given his green complexion, I’m afraid he’ll pass out if I tell him. “I’m fine. Must have been something I ate.”
He tugs out his phone and dials someone. “I’m having Dr. Montaigne come anyway. Fuck! Doc, it’s Gideon. I need you at the manor now.” Gideon tells the doctor about my incident, then listens to whatever is being said, his brows tightly pinched.
Meanwhile, I swallow down the bile threatening to make another appearance. Maybe it’s for the best that I’ll finally be seen. I’m not sure how much longer I can take this nausea.
Thirty minutes later, Dr. Montaigne arrives. Every criminal organization has a doctor that makes house calls. There’s no way around that when you need the utmost discretion. Pops had three. All loyal to him and willing to take his secrets to the grave.
Dr. Montaigne is Gideon’s trusted physician, and from what I understand, he’s been for a while. He wouldn’t have trusted him to come in to take care of me otherwise.
So, it surprises me when he tilts his head and studies me over his small readers and says, “If you don’t want me to tell him, I won’t. But… you won’t be able to hide it for long.”
“I know.”
“Was this consensual?”
“Yes.” I’m now lying on Gideon’s bed. I try to sit, but the moment I’m upright, the world spins and I heave. “Jesus, help me.”
The doctor hands me the garbage can, but all I produce is a small amount of thick foam. When I’m done, I fall back onto the pillow, exhausted and oddly enough, hungry.
“I’m dying,” I say.
“It will pass.”
I glance over to the doors. From underneath, I can make out Gideon’s frantic pacing. “Can you give him something to calm him?” I ask Dr. Montaigne. “He’s making me anxious. And I’ve already been so on edge since I realized…” God, I can’t even finish that sentence.
“I already offered to, but he refuses. He’s hardheaded.” He sighs as he jots down a few notes. “All right. I’m going to prescribe you something for the nausea. I don’t generally carry that with me, as you might have guessed, this is quite unusual. But I’ll bring it later today. Then you can hopefully keep some food down.”
“Thank you.”
“As for the pregnancy. If you should not wish to continue with it, I can?—”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you want to live,” I hiss in a tone so full of menace, it frightens me. It takes me a moment to regain control of the protective reaction that just came over me. “I’m sorry. It’s just, she’s my baby.”
“Of course.” The doctor seems completely unfazed by my threat. “Very well. In that case, I will recommend a change in diet as well as some vitamins.”
“Thank you.”
“Also, I should add, it would be best if you go to a clinic for checkups.” He gathers up his things and comes to stand by the bed.
“I don’t think Gideon will allow that.”
“He has the means to bring the clinic to you, should he choose to.”
There’s a knock on the door. “May I come in now?”
“How did we get into this mess?” I ask the doctor.
He arches a brow. “Are we in need of a sexual education class?”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m only twenty-one. I have plans.” Or had them, until Gideon barged in.
“Would you like me to stay while you tell him?” he offers kindly.
“I’ll be fine.”
The doctor leaves and Gideon comes in, his face gaunt, his hair a mess. Two of the cats follow him in, as if they too were pacing with worry.
“What did the doc say?” he asks. “Why won’t he tell me?” He comes to sit by my side, his hands all over me.
“I’m fine.” I swat them away. “It’s just morning sickness. Except, it’s been happening all day long for a week.”
He blinks at me, his hands frozen on my face. “Morning sickness?”
“I’m pregnant, Gideon.”
Again, he blinks. Confusion fills his gaze, as if I’m speaking a foreign language he sort of understands, but it takes a while for his brain to translate.
“You’re pregnant,” he repeats. “How?”
“Do you need a sex ed class?” I say, using the doctor’s words.
Gideon goes even paler. “I...” Beads of sweat form on his brow. I grab the puke bin and offer it to him, but he shakes his head.
Suddenly, he stands. He moves from one end of the bed to the other, then to the bathroom and back. All the while, his fingers are in his hair, his eyes wide.
“Gideon.”
He pauses in front of me. “How long have you known?”
“I’ve suspected for a few days,” I confess.
“You’ve suspected and didn’t think to mention in?”
“You were dealing with Rowan and I couldn’t be certain it wasn’t just a bug.”
“And you’re certain now? It’s confirmed?”
I nod. “The doctor picked up a test on the way here after you told him of my symptoms. So yes, it’s official. We’re having a baby.”
“When?”
My brows pinch together. “Can you please sit down? You’re going to drive me crazy.”
He complies, coming back to me, but I can tell he’s not happy about it.
“I’m six weeks along,” I say. “We have a while to go. Gideon!”
His attention is gone, somewhere far from here. “I have to think. I…” He stands and leaves the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I give Gideon a few hours to calm himself. I’ve had days to think about it, after all. At first, I didn’t notice my lack of period. It wasn’t until the beastly heartburn and nausea that I counted the days and realized just how late I was.
Even then, I couldn’t be sure if it was simply the stress causing the delay. Although, deep down, I knew. I felt her inside me, this weird connection that had me constantly reaching for my lower abdomen.
Sure, I’ve had time. But Gideon doesn’t have the same luxury. I’m not sure he deserves it. He must figure out what he’s going to do now that it’s not just me he’s holding captive.
From his reaction, having a baby isn’t part of his plan either. A newborn and revenge don’t exactly go hand in hand. Does that mean he’ll let me go? If he does, will I be able to return to Briar House? Would Luca allow me back when he finds out I’m carrying Gideon’s child?
Whatever’s about to happen, I need to know.
When my stomach has settled enough, I head downstairs in search of my villainous baby daddy. I find him in his study, staring at the portrait of his father, his brows pinched tightly together.
I stand at the doorway for a long while, watching him, partly because Stephen Black’s portrait gives me the creeps. Even though I’d been dying to investigate the study when I first arrived at Kingsbrook, now that I can, his evil gaze keeps me away.
But mostly, I stand silently because Gideon doesn’t know I’m here. He’s in that place far away, where he goes to when he’s pensive. A myriad of emotions cross his face— sadness, fear, worry and other’s I can’t quite read.
“I’m going to be a father,” he says, without turning my way. Guess he did know I was here. “I always assumed I’d die, and it would be over. My line would end. I’ve always been so careful. Until you.”
No. We weren’t careful. Not one bit. And that’s on both of us. He never asked. And I never demanded it. Even though I knew better, I didn’t speak up, always caught up in the storm he swept me into when he touched me.
Sighing, I step inside and sit in the chair across from him. “What do you want to do? Perhaps it’s time I go home and?—”
“If I wouldn’t let you go before, there’s no way in hell I’ll release you now.” He turns to me, his eyes inflexible steel.
“But, you seem?—”
“Like I just received shocking news?” Coming around the desk he stands in front of me. He tugs me up by my arms, holding me tightly against him. “You’re mine, Sofia. That baby, is mine.” Then his lips are on me, on my face, my neck. “I’m not going to let you go. I can’t.”
He’s so desperate in the way he holds me, that I let him. Worse than that, I melt into him. I inhale him as for the first time in a week, I can breathe.
My arms come around him too, and I lay my head on his chest. I was so afraid of what his reaction would be. I agonized, wondering if he would send me away, or keep me. It terrifies me to realize just how relieved I am that he’s chosen the latter.
He’s keeping me. Keeping us. He will never let us go.
That’s when I open my eyes and they instantly fall upon the portrait. Stephen Black stares back at me, cold and calculating. I’m engulfed in that ominous presence that keeps me away from the study most days, even against my own desire to explore.
I. See. You .