“I woke up in the hospital.”
Her voice cracks.
“The doctor told me I’d lost my baby.”
The porcelain cup trembles violently in her hand.
I take it from her and place it on the table. I’m aware I’m instantly triggered about the loss of her baby.
“She murdered your baby,” I whisper.
A familiar panic grips my chest.
Kinsley’s eyes close.
I wrap my arms around her.
“I’m so sorry.”
She clings to me just as tightly.
For several minutes the room fills with nothing but quiet sobs and shaky breaths.
Neither of us knew how badly we needed this.
Eventually we pull apart and reach for tissues, dabbing swollen eyes.
It’s funny.
You think your life is unbearable until someone trusts you with a pain even darker than your own.
I tell her everything.
About my mother.
About what happened when I was fourteen.
About the nightmares that never leave.
Her jaw slowly falls open as she listens.
When I finish, she sits in stunned silence.
“After I finally told Nico the truth,” I say quietly, “he still wanted to marry me. He still wanted children.”
I shake my head.
“That was never part of my future.” I lift the cup to my lips and take a sip, the bright taste of oranges swirling over my tongue.
I gesture around the bridal salon. “Now look at me. Nico offered my father the one thing he could never refuse. The territory he’d lost. Now I’m walking into an arranged marriage.”
I let out a humorless laugh.
“Here’s the kicker. I have to get pregnant within the first year of marriage. This man moved our wedding date up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he moves up the timetable to have a child.”
My stomach twists.
“I don’t want my children to go through what I have.”
