Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Lyam
I stare at her, uncomprehending.
I don’t trust her.
But I can’t ignore what she’s telling me if she absolutely is telling the truth.
Pregnant?
My mother was just here talking about Savannah’s baby and—did she get the brilliant idea that lying to me would get her out of punishment? That I’d be more lenient on her if she told me this?
Cosette has a high, high pain tolerance.
I would know.
I fully expected her to grit her teeth and bear it, but I knew a spanking alone wouldn’t be enough. So I ramped it up. Broke down her walls and defenses by making her climax. Showed her how much control I truly can wield over her.
Tears flow down her cheeks. She looks scared.
Every instinct in me wants to hold her. To assure her that everything’s okay. To tell her that she’s safe with me.
But I can’t do that.
Before I do another damn thing, I need to make sure that she’s telling me the truth.
“Pregnant?” I repeat, narrowing my eyes at her. I cage her throat with my hand and hold her gaze. I don’t restrict her airway or hurt her, but I keep her in a grip so that if she moves, she’ll hurt herself.
“Yes,” she whispers. Her wrists are still tied in front of her, but she lifts them so she can put her hand on mine. “Please. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
I take in a deep breath, my mind riddled with questions.
Is she lying?
If she is lying, what do I do with her next?
How far along is she?
“We need to verify this.”
She chokes back another sob and nods. “Yeah.”
“If you’re telling me the truth, who’s the father?”
“Lyam,” she sobs. She shakes her head from side to side. “I haven’t been with anyone else.”
Ice pulses through my veins.
I want to believe this is true, all of it.
I want to believe she’s lying.
I don’t know what I want to believe.
I lift her up. She’s fragile and soft in my arms, and her body shakes with wracking sobs.
I pull the covers down then lay her back on the bed and stare at her while I take out my phone. If I call Thayer, he’ll ask questions. Fabien’s the same.
My mother won’t and she’ll know someone I can trust to take care of Cosette.
My mother answers on the first ring. “Lyam?”
“I need a doctor.”
She’s quiet for a minute. “For whom?”
“Cosette.”
“What kind of a doctor? Is she okay?”
I clench my teeth. I don’t want her to know anything. I don’t want anyone to know, if this is confirmed to be true.
“She isn’t hurt. I just need a doctor.”
She pauses before she goes on, and doesn’t ask any more questions. “Of course, yes. I know someone. Doctor Martin.”
I text the doctor and tell him what I need. He’s on his way.
I pace outside Cosette’s room while I wait for him to arrive.
If she is pregnant—have I done anything that would hurt her? My mind races with a quick scan of how we’ve spent the last few hours.
No… no, nothing I’ve done would hurt her.
But now I definitely don’t regret beating the shit out of Claude.
God.
Pregnant?
I make myself another drink to stop the inner turmoil, but it doesn’t help. My mind races with possibilities.
I’ve already dismissed my staff for the night, so I answer the door when Dr. Martin arrives.
A petite, stunning woman with short black hair and bright blue eyes, dressed impeccably in a conservative black dress, stands on the steps.
What the hell?
I yank the door open, likely glaring. I don’t welcome visitors.
“Mr. Gerard?” she asks brusquely.
Wait. What?
“You’re the doctor?”
She gives me a tight smile. “I get that a lot. My surname is Martin.”
Right.
“Come in.”
I shut and lock the door behind her. If my mother suggested she come, then she knows who we are and what we expect. My mother wouldn’t send someone who doesn’t play by the rules.
“Tell me everything I need to know, please. Your mother and I know each other well. You can expect full confidentiality.” She’s matter-of-fact and direct, as if she came straight from the French Armed Forces.
I draw in a breath and let it out before I reply. Thayer and Fabien would want to know all about her and get a full background report before I tell her another thing.
“Her name’s Cosette. She claims she’s pregnant, and she claims I’m the father. I need to know if both of those things are true.”
“I see.” She asks no more questions. “I can tell you within a few minutes the veracity of her claim to be pregnant. However, paternity tests take a few days to determine.”
Son of a bitch. “That’s too long. I need to know tonight.”
The doctor gives me a patient smile. “Not the first time I’ve heard that either,” she says firmly. “But unfortunately, I can’t tell you that for a few more days. We have to send the tests to a lab, and as it is, the shortest turnaround is two days, and that’s only through expedited means.”
Two days? What the fuck is that all about?
“Fine.”
We reach Cosette’s room.
“Now, sir, if you’ll stay here, I’ll—”
“Absolutely not.”
“I prefer to work in private.”
“And I prefer to be present. Since this is my house and I’m paying your fee, this is where I draw the line.”
“I see.”
She goes quiet when I open the door and reluctantly enters with me.
Before the doctor came, I freed Cosette’s wrists and had her get dressed in her nightclothes. She lays in the bed staring at me then the doctor.
“I’m Dr. Martin,” the doctor says. “I asked Mr. Gerard to leave the room but he refused.”
Cosette sighs. “I’m not surprised.”
“I’m told we need a pregnancy test?”
“So he says,” Cosette responds.
I turn on her. “Are you kidding me? You had me call this doctor all the way out in the middle of the night and you don’t even know—”
“Mr. Gerard.” The doctor’s sharp voice could freeze fire. “Cosette is my client. And while I promised confidentiality, I cannot allow you to abuse my patient in my presence.”
I can tell by Cosette’s wide-eyed stare that we both hear the caveat “in my presence” loud and clear.
No one talks to me that way.
Who the hell did my mother send here?
Cosette clears her throat. “Anyway, you were jumping to conclusions, Lyam. I am not lying. I only reason I chose the words ‘so he says,’ was because you’re the one that says we need a test. I don’t need one, because I’m very well aware of the fact that I’m pregnant.
” She lifts her beautiful chin defiantly and stares at me.
“So there’s no need for you to go all caveman on me.
Not now, anyway.” If rolling your eyes was a tone of voice, she just used it.
The doctor looks from me to her then back again and rubs her hands together. “Well, then. Let’s get on with this, shall we?”
Cosette blanches.
“Do you need to do a blood test?”
I stand next to her and cross my arms over my chest. It goes against every grain in my body not to give her comfort and consolation right now. The entire paradigm of why she’s here is beginning to shift, and I’m not happy about that.
“No, at least not for a pregnancy test. Urine tests are less expensive and more accurate and will provide a faster result.”
“Do it,” I snap.
Both the doctor and Cosette side-eye me.
“Mr. Gerard, I’d really like you to consider leaving the room, please. You’re making my job more difficult.”
“Give. Her. The. Test.”
Cosette, however, is unperturbed. “He can stay. It’s his baby, after all, whether he needs a test to prove it to himself or not.”
“Ah. Yes, but if we get a negative, we will have to move on to a blood test. A paternity test will also involve a sample of blood from you, Cosette, and swab from you, Lyam.”
Cosette nods. “That’s fine.”
How long has she known? Did she betray us before or after she found out?
“Do you need to accompany her into the bathroom so she doesn’t escape? Make sure she doesn’t cheat on the test?” Dr. Martin asks wryly.
Cosette opens the bathroom door and gestures to the barred windows. “No fear of that here. Is there a way to cheat on the test?”
She smiles wryly. “No.”
This is the last fucking time this doctor’s setting foot in this house.
A minute later, Cosette opens the door and the doctor and I enter.
We all stand in various forms of awkward silence as she dips a stick into the cup. Cosette yawns as if bored, but I know she’s probably exhausted, too. I check my phone and pretend I’m busy doing something, but I’m actually searching how to cheat on a pregnancy test.
Turns out the doctor’s right.
I send my mother a text. If I know her, she’s probably still up, wondering what’s going on.
Me:
Where the hell did you find this woman? At a walk for women’s rights?
Maman:
Haha. She’s good at what she does. Trustworthy. Doesn’t put up with any nonsense. She’s Louisa Myles’s daughter. You remember her?
Me:
Ahh.
Our family medic for years before my father passed away and she retired.
“Well, folks,” the doctor says pleasantly, holding up the test. “That’s a pretty clear positive.”
Cosette smiles victoriously.
I blink.
“Are we keeping the baby?” the doctor asks.
“Yes,” we say in unison.
I glare at Cosette. She glares back. We’re not supposed to be on the same team.
Keep the baby.
Keep the baby?
As if that’s even a question.
Wait. I haven’t even gotten the paternity test back yet and I’m already jumping to the assumption the baby’s mine.
Whose else would it be?
I’d have to find him and kill him.
“Congratulations, Mr. Gerard. Your mother will be thrilled.” She beams, holding up the test.
She goes on about things like prenatal care and vitamins and checkup visits, but I hardly hear it.
“Lyam?” Cosette asks. I ignore the smug look on her face.
For now.
I look at Cosette. “Did you hear what she said? She asked if you want her to take care of my prenatal care here or elsewhere?”
“Here but I want an option for an office visit if necessary. This changes nothing.”
Cosette flinches but quickly recovers and turns back to the doctor. They talk about nausea and hydration and a bunch of other things I barely listen to. My mind races with questions and possibilities.
“That’s it then for now,” the doctor says, rising as she gives me a smile. “Again, I tell no one else any more details. Good night, Mr. Gerard. I’ll see myself out.”
She’ll do no such thing.