Renata
I’m flanked by two guards. Both are older men with expressionless faces. They lead me to a hidden building at the very back edge of Rokiades’s property.
It feels weird that Kian has been so close to me this entire time. A stone’s throw away—but with a whole fucking world between us.
When I walk into the warehouse, the large wooden plinth-like structure that he’d been tied to is gone. I can’t see him anywhere. “Where is he?” I ask.
Neither guard answers me. Instead, they lead me silently to the back of the warehouse, towards a line of doors with small square partition windows at the top. I know immediately that the second door on the right is Kian’s room because there’s a guard stationed just outside it.
Before I can head over, the door opens and none other than Dr. Lenore walks out. She’s wearing one of her signature baggy shirts and her head looks freshly buzzed. The guard locks the door and follows her as she makes her way towards me.
“Renata,” she says with a pleasant smile, as if we’re old friends. “You’re looking well.”
I glance over her shoulder. “Were you treating Kian?”
“I was.”
“Is he okay?”
She gives me a sympathetic smile. “His injuries will all heal in time. How are you?”
Her question is pointed. I know what she’s really asking. “Tired,” I respond. “But otherwise, good.”
I’m about to move past her when she reaches out and grabs my wrist. “Renata…” I look down and she drops my hand immediately. “I have to tell you: Don Rokiades has requested your medical file. And when he sees it…”
I freeze. “Oh.” She doesn’t have to say the unspoken part. When he sees it, he’ll know your pregnant. He’ll know it isn’t his.
“He’s expecting me to hand it over in a day or two,” she says. “I can’t stall much longer than that.”
I nod. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Good luck,” she says before walking away.
I close my eyes for a moment, trying to determine to how handle the coming shit storm. I decide that there’s nothing more I can do but brace.
For now, I need to see Kian. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. “Stay here,” I tell my guards authoritatively.
Neither one seems inclined to listen. I stop and turn around slowly. Drawing myself up to my full height, I look each man in the eye. “I am to be your don’s wife. Do you really want to get on my bad side so early?” I ask.
“We have orders—”
“Your orders are to watch me. I will be within your line of sight, talking to the man through a closed door. Let’s not be precious about this.”
The two guards exchange a glance, and then the taller of the two shrugs slightly. Then, in unison, they retreat a few steps back down the hallway. Smart boys.
Smiling in satisfaction, I nod and turn towards the door Dr. Lenore had emerged from.
When I slide the partition open, I get a small window into the space beyond. Which is predictably small and dark, but there is a low bed pushed to one wall and a small table next to it. I notice a glass of water on the table and an empty plate and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Kian?”
He appears at the window. His face is disturbingly gaunt but his blue eyes seem even more piercing than I remember.
I grip the partition, my fingers edging between the gaps in the grille. “Are you okay?” I ask urgently. “Are they treating you better now?”
“Renata…” He says my name so softly that I have to strain to pick it up. His eyes bore into my face as though he’s trying to take a mental snapshot. It’s lovely. Touching. Almost tender, in the strangest of ways. My heart twinges and I don’t know what I’m expecting him to say…
But it certainly isn’t what he says next. “What the fuck were you thinking?”