I sighed, looking at her half-eaten Chinese food and the computer still opened on the ridiculous presentation that was running in the background.
She needed to sleep, so I grabbed her phone to turn off the alarm and unlocked it with alarming ease. We would need to discuss her predictability and also my level of annoyance at her using my brother’s date of birth as a passcode.
I frowned as her phone vibrated in my hand to an email notification from ‘Jeff’ with ‘Interview time’ as a subject.
Knowing I had no right to do it but needing to nonetheless, I pressed the notification and it gutted me. Jeff was happy she'd reconsidered, and she had an interview today at 11 for a job up north.
Betrayal burned inside me as I set the email back to unread and scrolled through her emails, seeing one my brother had sent her last night with offices he was planning to rent and houses he could buy.
I tightened my hand almost painfully around her phone, wanting to destroy it. They had lied to me; he had always planned to claim her and the child as his! That fucker had only planned to do it there, hoping I would never find out.
“You’ll pay for this, little brother. I swear to everything you hold dear. You will regret trying to pull one over on me,” I muttered through gritted teeth, still glowering at the screen.
I was so far gone in my righteous anger that I clicked on an unopened text that was from none other than that bastard Hardings.
I keep thinking about the way we ended things that night. I know you’re pregnant and I know it’s complicated, but I’m ready to accept this child, to make them mine. It sounds crazy, but Ava, I think you’re the one and I’m not scared to go all in.
You’ll go all in, right to hell,I thought, deleting the text.
I turned toward the bedroom, my chest heaving with anger, indignation and shame I felt at having let her fool me.
She thought Hardings wouldn’t want her! That was why she'd promised not to see him again and she was still planning a fake life with my lying snake of a brother!
I knew it!The mask had slipped; she had just been better at it than the others and it took longer, but I was not going to be fooled again.
She was the conniving snake I’d thought she was, just like every other woman. She didn’t love me, never had. She used these words as a weapon.
She wanted to use me? To make a fool out of me?
Bring it on, Ava Byrnes. Be ready for fucking war.
Chapter 19
Ava
Iwokeuptothe harsh shrill of my alarm but I kept my eyes closed. I rolled to the side, burying my nose in a pillow that smelled like Hugo.
I couldn’t help but smile, hugging it to my chest. Yesterday had been different; Hugo had left the perfect Cecilia to come to me and he’d admitted that he’d been conflicted before making love to me. It had been sweet and loving, and my heart cracked open, especially as he looked at me with awe during each deliciously slow thrust.
The first time we had sex had given me pleasure like never before, but this time, as we kept our eyes locked, I felt a connection that was once again new for me. I was glad that I had not done anything drastic yet, not made any decision, and I was happy there was a part of me that hoped for more.
I sat up and winced at the discomfort between my legs and on the side of my stomach. I stood up and made my way to the bathroom, hoping the hot water would ease my aching muscles and soreness. Hugo had been most gentle the previous night, but the size of him still took some getting used to.
I groaned and rubbed at my stomach as I felt the same discomfort again. That would teach me to have spicy food with lots of onion. This pregnancy was affecting my digestion and I had to remember that the choices that agreed with me before didn’t really do now.
I did feel a little better after my shower and when I was dressed for the day, I wondered with some trepidation what today would be like between us. Would he keep his distance? Be professional? Of course, he would! Hugo was the epitome of British phlegm. He would never let anything transpire, but I was not sure I could do the same.
I prepared my bag for the day as my peppermint tea was infusing, hoping it would help settle the weird sensation in my belly.
Just the thought of seeing him again made my heart race and my stomach do backflips. Would he give me the same roguish smile he had given me last night? Would he whisper the words he’d whispered to me last night when no one could hear?
I sighed, grabbed my tea to go and went through my emails as I waited for my bus to work.
I winced at Jeff’s email, not thinking he would have been this fast to set up an interview, and quickly replied, pretending it was too short notice and that it wouldn't be possible for me to leave work at that time.
The strangeness in my belly didn’t quiet down as the bus took me to work. Even if I wanted to pin it on seeing Hugo again after the previous night, the shooting pain on my side started to concern me a little, enough to make me call the OBGYN center as soon as I stepped off the bus to get an urgent appointment for 11 this morning.
When I arrived upstairs, Hugo was already there and on the phone. The look he gave me made me stall. It carried the cold anger and contempt he'd given me when I saw him at his father’s birthday party.