Page 16 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 2

I was falling for Amai, and I liked Kaisen too. Amai was so hot and cold that it drove me insane. One minute we were connecting, and the next, he was ghosting me. Meanwhile, Kaisen checked on me, called and texted consistently. I couldn’t miss out on a good man, hoping Amai would choose to toss this contract and make us a family. I mean, it would be an unorthodox one, but a family nonetheless.

All of it sat heavy in my chest, but I wasn’t ready to talk about any of it yet.

“So,” Raven said, sectioning my hair with practiced efficiency. “You look better than last time I saw you. Less like death.”

“The morning sickness is getting better,” I said carefully.

“Mm-hmm.” She sprayed my hair with water, her movements quick and precise. “And how’s the baby daddy?”

I tensed.

“He’s fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Raven—”

“I’m just asking.” She met my eyes in the mirror. “You been real quiet about him lately. That’s all.”

I didn’t respond.

Couldn’t.

Because if I started talking about Amai, I’d have to talk about everything else, and I wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.

Raven seemed to sense it because she let it drop.

For about five minutes.

“You eating?” she asked, combing through a section of my hair.

“Yeah.”

“You lying?”

“A little.”

She laughed—a sharp, knowing sound. “At least you honest about being a liar.”

I smiled despite myself.

This was Raven. Sharp-tongued, skeptical, always ready to call bullshit. But underneath all that hardness was someone who cared more than she wanted to admit.

We fell into a comfortable rhythm after that—her working, me half-dozing in the chair, the salon noise washing over us like white noise.

I was almost relaxed.

Almost.

Then I saw it.

Through the salon window, Raven’s white Tesla was pulling out of the parking spot.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

With no one in the driver’s seat.