It sucks to agree with him, but I do.
“But things are a little muddled now.” He opens my door before gesturing for me to enter before him. “No one was expecting to find Audrey alive.” I’m surprised he sounds more annoyed than relieved. Although he works for Dimitri, he is also his best friend, so shouldn’t he be happy he got his little family back? “Since she’s not fit to fly, we could be here a little longer.”
“Great.”
After flopping onto the mattress, I throw a hand over my eyes. I’m not tired, I just want to hide the tears the ruffling of Dimitri and my combined scents caused my eyes.
I’m so damn emotional lately. Take my exchange with India when Dimitri raced out of the room like his ass was on fire. She called me a homewrecking whore, and I just stood there and took it. I didn’t slap her. I didn’t put her in her place. I just stared at her with enough fire in my eyes, the tears welling in them didn’t have a chance in hell of falling.
That killed me. I wouldn’t hold back my retaliation if Audrey called me that, so a stranger who doesn’t know me has no right to speak to me in such a manner. Yet, I let her.
I scold myself for a couple of minutes before I roll onto my hip to face Rocco. I’m not surprised to spot his unhidden watch. He has barely taken his eyes off me since Dimitri rocketed out of the room like he had a jetpack strapped to his back. “What’s the story with India? I get she’s standing up for her best friend, but something about her rubs me the wrong way.”
“You’re not the only one,” Rocco mutters under his breath before he joins me in lying on his side. He stares at me for a couple of moments, pondering on what to say before he comes right out with it. “Dimitri and India were almost a thing a couple of years ago.”
I hate thinking about Dimitri with anyone but me, but as they say, curiosity killed the cat. “Almost?”
Roccoboinksmy nose, wordlessly advising he heard the jealousy in my one word. “Almost.They had a handful of dates. One night, they were heading back to her apartment to… you know—”
“I get it. You don’t need to spell it out for me,” I interrupt, fighting the urge not to gag.
He throws his head back and laughs, says something about Princess Peach being extra cute when she’s jealous, then gets back to his story. “They didn’t get past a rough game of tonsil hockey when Dimitri spotted Audrey. Despite India’s best efforts, Dimi wanted Audrey then and there.” This hurts to hear, but I love his honesty. “She wasn’t having a bit of it, though.”
I balk like he jabbed a knife under my ribs. “Audrey turned Dimitri down?”
Don’t mistake the shock in my tone. Audrey is beautiful, and I can imagine the number of men she had clambering for her attention, but still, I’m shocked. I couldn’t turn Dimitri down when he had the blood of my father on his shirt. I don’t think he could do anything that would see me rejecting him. Even now, believing he isn’t on my side hasn’t changed my objective. I would stupidly sign on to be his mistress if it’s the only way I could be a part of his life.
“Yeah,” Rocco responds with a laugh. “Then the chase pursued. I honestly didn’t think she’d ever give in, then all of a sudden, she arrived on his doorstep.”
My eyes pop out of my head. “Audrey went to Hopeton?”
Rocco nods. “She spent a couple of weeks there, then moved back to her hometown two weeks before she found out she was pregnant with Fien.” He shrugs like he isn’t cut about the gap in his friendship with Dimitri. “The rest is a little hazy for me from there. I stepped back as Dimitri stepped up.”
“You came back when he needed you, Rocco.” I’m not trying to weaken his guilt. I’m being straight-up honest.
“Yeah, but I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different if I had hung around.” He peers at nothing while muttering, “I might have noticed something fishy, or watched Audrey while Dimitri was watching you. There’s more I could have done.”
“And no guarantee any of them would have made any difference. Everything happens for a reason.”
Rocco scoffs, then peers at me as if I’m an idiot. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
I push him on the shoulder, unappreciative of the candor in his tone. “Of course I do.”
This is outrageous for me to say, but if Audrey hadn’t been kidnapped, perhaps Dimitri and I would never have crossed paths. His watch wouldn’t have made me climax, Eddie wouldn’t have needed to retaliate to my ‘deceit,’ and Dimitri wouldn’t have killed him for hurting me. If none of that had happened, I’d still be in the town I hate, unemployed without two nickels to rub together, and most likely looking for a cheap thrill somewhere I’d end up either dead or a drug addict like my parents.
Or worse, I could have been sold to a baby-farming syndicate.
My voice has an unusual twang to it when I ask, “Do you think Dr. Klein’s diagnosis is why my mother changed her mind?”
Rocco tries to shut down his surprise at the quick change of our conversation, but he isn’t quite fast enough for this little black duck. “I’m unfamiliar with girlie shit, but I’m reasonably sure you can’t diagnose PCOS by looking at someone.”
“You can’t, but you can via an ultrasound, which I had the week before my meeting with my father.” Confusion crosses his features, but he doesn’t get the chance to seek clarification for it. “For years, I had horrible periods. Cramping, clots, and—”
“I get it. You don’t need to spell it out for me.” Rocco grins to ensure I know there’s no malice in his reply. He’s mortified I’m discussing my cycle with him, but he’ll handle the injustice if it helps unjumble some of his confusion.
“I went to a local women’s clinic. They usually just stuffed condoms in my hand and sent me on my merry way, but there was a doctor on that day who specialized in reproductive organs. He sent me for a sonogram. Since I was young and under the impression I didn’t want to have kids any time in the next century, I—”
“Didn’t go back for the results,” Rocco fills in, clicking on. “Sounds like something you’d do. I’m beginning to wonder if you are allergic to doctors with how hard you try to avoid them.” After scrambling to a half-seated position, he digs his cell phone out of his pocket. “Smith…”
