Chapter Forty-Two #2
After my shower, I blow-dried my hair straight and still wrapped in my towel, walked over to the closet. Running my hands over the clothes, I paused at a floral print.
It was long-sleeved, and I pulled it out immediately, feeling tired of the oversized shirts and leggings I’d been living in. I grabbed it, pairing it with some light denim jeans and the delicate gold necklace Zane had left here ages ago and I’d never bothered to wear.
I checked myself in the mirror, and something felt different… Not just about me specifically, but the whole world seemed less gray somehow.
Which was weird considering I was in more trouble than ever before.
I walked over to the bed and pulled the burner Bruce had given me from beneath the mattress, gripping it tightly.
I didn’t know what to do… I knew I couldn’t just give Bruce what he wanted, without risking Zane getting hurt in the process, but I had to throw him a bone.
I needed to buy myself some time and I needed to know if Malia was okay.
I stared at the message, the number, and the send button. The phone felt like a ticking time bomb in my hands.
And then, a knock at the door startled me.
I quickly shoved the burner under the mattress and sat up, trying to act naturally. Zane never knocked, so who could it be?
A brunette peeked inside. “Chloe, may I come in?” the woman asked.
I nodded, recognizing her after a second. She was the doctor who’d patched up Zane after he’d been shot the day he brought me here. Zane followed her inside a second later, shutting the door behind him and leaning casually against it.
“What’s going on?”
“This is Miriam. She’s a doctor and she’s here to give you a shot,” Zane explained, not moving from his spot by the door while the doctor set a brown bag on my bed.
“A shot?” I repeated, a frown creasing my brow. “What do I need a shot for?”
“A birth control shot,” Dr. Miriam clarified and if I’d had a mirror, I’d have seen my face turning fifty shades of red. Not only did this stranger know exactly what was going on between Zane and me, but I felt foolish for not thinking about that sooner.
I hadn’t needed to worry about birth control in so long that it hadn’t even crossed my mind. None of this had been planned, but still.
The thought of bringing a baby into his chaotic world made my stomach churn.
I glanced at Zane, who seemed oddly distracted with something happening on his phone, his presence both comforting and unnerving.
“I didn’t even—” My voice trailed off, loaded with embarrassment.
I glanced up at Zane again, but he watched silently.
“We’re here to take care of it now,” the doctor reassured, but oddly coldly, and started to prepare the injection.
She quickly checked my vitals first, wrote down some notes and then cleaned my arm with a cotton swab.
As the needle slid in, I heard the door’s soft click, closing.
Zane was gone and he was replaced by one of his goons, Andy, who stood by the door, waiting, making sure I wouldn’t snap and hurt the doctor or something.
“Any questions?” Dr. Miriam asked. “Do you need anything else?”
I shook my head. Zane had been surprisingly attentive, making sure I had everything I needed without me having to ask, and I always had Clarisse.
“Since I don’t know your cycle, I would strongly recommend you wait until your next cycle starts before having intercourse without a condom but…
” She trailed off as if trying to profile me as she spoke.
“...at least close your legs for the recommended ten days.” she concluded obscenely, applying a band-aid.
I didn’t like her tone or the expression on her face. As if I was an idiot who couldn’t control myself.
I straightened, “You think you know me? You don’t know a damn thing.”
The doctor chuckled softly, adjusting her bag over her shoulder. “No, I don’t know you but I’ve been around long enough to know what this is.” Her eyes judged me up and down. “We’ll do this every three months.”
With that, she turned to leave.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to shake off the way her smug expression had crawled under my skin. I wasn’t here for Zane, and I certainly wasn’t here for whatever she assumed I was after.
This was survival, nothing more, nothing less.
Once the doctor and Andy had left, I pulled out the burner again, realizing the text had sent.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Panic surged through me.
The walls were closing in.
What have I done?
I had to tell Zane, I couldn’t keep this from him.
I hurried downstairs, nearly tripping over my feet, but as soon as I saw Ivar standing outside his office, guarding the door like a rabid dog, I straightened myself. I slowed my pace immediately, not wanting to alert him.
His hands were hidden behind his back, his eyes on me, watching my every step without moving a single muscle. Fucking defying me already and I really didn’t have time to deal with this man right now.
“I need to speak with him,” I said as I stepped in front of him. He didn’t budge, standing like a wall of muscle blocking my path.
Just like Zane, Ivar was at least two heads taller than me and handsome enough that, under different circumstances, that cocky smile might’ve fooled me. Though now that was just one more reason why he infuriated me so much.
“Are you going to move, or what?”
He didn’t even look down to acknowledge me. He kept his face forward. Seeing past me, completely ignoring me for a long minute.
I was expecting him to tell me to fuck off, to grab me by my arm to drag me back to my room or find another creative way to threaten me but then he smirked. Without a word, he reached beside him and opened the door for me.
Reluctantly, I walked inside, not taking my eyes off him.
But then, movement in the room pulled my attention.
“Zane, I need to talk to you—”
Zane was sitting on a leather couch, legs spread wide, with a blonde kneeling between them.
I froze as Arianna removed her hand from Zane’s pants and turned to face me, her gaze locking provocatively with mine.
What the—
Zane glanced at me, completely unfazed. He didn’t move or try to hide.
As if he were doing nothing wrong.
But if this wasn’t wrong… why did my heart drop?