I close my eyes and sigh, holding my belly and feeling his little feet press against me as he stretches. I smile at the movement until the little brat punches me straight in the bladder.
I swim to the steps and carefully climb out, waddling as fast as possible to the bathroom.
As I come out, I hear a hushed whisper.
“It’s done,” Dru hisses in the phone. “Yes. Tomorrow. I don’t care anymore. I’m fucking ending this.”
I step out of the bathroom as Dru hangs up the phone.
“What’s that about?” I ask innocently.
Dru smiles. “Work thing. The board meets tomorrow to vote on the new look for the label. I’ve been working with a couple of designers.”
“Oh,” I say, but there’s a strange feeling in my belly, and it’s not the baby kicking my kidney this time. Dru is talking about my job. That was supposed to be my job before the first blackmail letter came through. The one telling me to stay out of it. To disappear.
“I have to show them to Mama. Want to see?” she asks. I wonder if this job is what this entire thing is about.
“Sure. I just have to change.” I gesture to my dripping shorts. “Meet you in the conference room.”
The entire time I cycle through all the reasons why my own sister could threaten me and torment me over a job. Some of it is obvious, some of it doesn’t make a lick of sense at all—like her broken arm.
All I really know is that I have to stay on guard. To make her think I don’t suspect her.
My ability to plaster on a smile and shape myself into anyone’s expectations of me is finally going to do something useful. I’ve finally figured out how to use my weakness as a superpower.