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Gathering her supplies, Raven straightened up the side table where she had placed everything Tavia would need. “Let me know if your pain becomes too much. I can give you something for it.”
Tavia groaned. “I’m getting tired of all the pain meds. They make me sick to my stomach, and I’m cramping so bad right now. Could all of this trigger my period?”
Raven looked at me, and I held my breath, knowing it was time to explain about the baby. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me,” she said softly as she left.
I watched her until the door closed quietly behind her, before looking back at Tavia. She was staring di
sgustedly at the bowl of broth, so I moved the tray to the side table and took her hands in mine.
“Tavia, I need to tell you something.”
She scrunched up her brow. “More bad news?”
I sat there just looking at her for a long moment, trying to find the words to tell her our baby was gone. Her question to Raven told me she hadn’t known she was pregnant, and I didn’t know if that was a relief for me or not. If she hadn’t known, then she hadn’t been trying to tell me when I’d been avoiding her calls.
“Your cramping isn’t from your period,” I told her.
“And you’re such an expert on period cramps?” She laughed slightly, only to groan in pain. “Damn, even that makes me hurt.”
“Tavia, baby…” I closed my eyes and prayed for strength before finally just blurting it out. “You were pregnant. During surgery, you had a miscarriage.”
What little color was still in her face drained from her. “I-I’m going to be sick,” she whispered.
I grabbed the small bowl sitting on the nightstand holding fresh bandages and other first aid items. After emptying it, I pushed it close to Tavia’s face just as she started to vomit.
The contracting of her stomach muscles made her cry, but I wasn’t sure if it was the pain or the loss of the baby that had her sobbing by the time she was done.
Weakly, she fell back against the pillows and then curled into a ball. “Go away, Theo,” she cried. “Please, just…go away.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I gritted out, rubbing her back as she turned onto her side.
“Why not?” she demanded, her voice full of hurt and anger. “You’re so good at it. All you ever do is leave me.”
“Baby—”
“Just stop it, Theo!” she yelled. “Stop pretending you care. We both know you don’t, so just leave me the hell alone.”
“You don’t know anything,” I told her softly, refusing to raise my voice. She was hurting and needed to take her emotional pain out on someone. If it made her feel better, I would let her yell whatever she wanted at me. Fuck, I’d sit still and let her beat the hell out of me if that would make her feel better. But I refused to let her think I didn’t care about her. “I only backed away because I didn’t want you to get hurt while I was dealing with Viktor. He could have used you against me, and I didn’t want to pull you into the war I was starting.”
“Great job there, Mr. Noble.” She scrubbed at the tears flooding down her face. “Did you know I was his daughter before you fucked me? Was that part of the plan? Did you think that would piss him off too?”
“I found out he was your father at the same time you did. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Viktor Petrov, but you were his best-kept secret.”
She snorted indelicately. “Apparently.” When I continued to rub her back, she slapped my hand away. “Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. Don’t even look at me. I hate you, Theo.”
“Hate me, then,” I told her. “But I’ll always love you, krasotka.”
“Yeah, okay.” Angrily, she sat up, her face pinched in pain as she glared at me. “I’m done listening to your lies and your bullshit. I’m stuck in this bed for the moment, helpless and reliant on you and the people who live here. Right now, I’ll take the strangers over you. Fuck, I’d take the devil himself over you at this point.”
Chapter 8
Tavia
I held back my sobs until the door closed behind Theo. But as soon as I heard the soft click, telling me he was on the other side and I no longer had those dark eyes on me, I couldn’t hold on any longer.
My anger at him, at myself, at the fucking world, rolled into the deep, agonizing feeling of loss I’d felt from the moment Theo told me I’d had a miscarriage. Despite not trusting him, for some reason, I believed him when he told me I’d lost the baby while in surgery.
The baby.
