Page 59 of No Merciful Corruption

“Laundry room’s downstairs.” I rinse my hands out in the sink. “She was washing some heavy quilts, why don’t you go down and help?”

Diego meets my gaze and acknowledges me with a tilt of the head but that’s it. His behavior stings a little. We haven’t been in the best place this past year but he’s acting so strangely. We’re in my home and he hasn’t said a single word in greeting.

“Brrr,” Lyss shivers and rubs her arms. “Feels like the North Pole in here.”

I open my mouth to respond when Alejandro enters the room.

“Thank God,” my best friend says in greeting. “I was really hoping this morning would get worse!”

I know the second I look at him that something’s wrong.

Lyss crinkles her nose. “Gee, tough crowd.”

She snatches a banana off the counter and walks out.

“I’m going upstairs, call me when breakfast is ready!”

Alejandro wanders further into the kitchen but waits until Lyss is gone before closing the distance between us.

“What—”

He takes the spatula and frying pan out of my hands and sets them down on the counter.

“Oh—oh! Alex!”

He sweeps me off my feet and into his arms. He holds me so tightly I can feel his heart rioting inside his chest and with every beat, it crashes into mine. My slippers fall off and he buries his face in my hair, inhaling deeply, as one arm tightens around my waist and the other cradles the back of my neck. After a moment he finally sets me down and before I can get a word in, his lips are on mine. The kiss is deep but gentle and still manages to take my breath away.

He kisses each corner of my mouth, both cheeks, the tip of my nose, and each eyelid as they flutter close.

“Um, Alex,” I whisper. “There are other people here.”

“How long have you known?”

Delirious from the heat of his kiss, I struggle to get my wits about me. “What?”

His voice is strained; as callused and gentle as the hands he uses to hold me. “How long have you known?” his arms tighten around me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you?” I echo. “Tell you what?”

“Oh my God,” he cups my face between his hands and tucks stray curls behind my ears. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, the last thing we’ve been is careful.”

I frown and shake my head. “I’m so confused.”

“The pregnancy test, Dahlia. I found it in the bathroom. Well, not found.” He corrects. “I was looking for you and I accidentally kicked over the little trash can you have near the sink.”

The romantic bubble I was floating around in for the last two minutes pops instantly.

“Pregnancy test?” I pull away to look at him. “Alex, I’m not pregnant.”

His arms weaken around me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that test wasn’t mine. I’m not—I mean, I can’t be, I’ve been on the pill and—” I wince. “God this is so uncomfortable.”

Alejandro leans against the kitchen counter for support. “Oh…”

My stomach twists into knots. “Alejandro, you know, even if I was, because of the timing there’d be a possibility…a small, very small one of course because I…Rian he always…and with you, I never…” I drag a hand down the length of my face. There is no humiliation greater than this. I want to crawl into a hole and die. “All this to say, if I was pregnant, which I am not, there’d be a chance it wasn’t yours.”

Now this whole conversation has me paranoid because even though I take my birth control pill religiously at the same time every day, it’s been made very clear that one can never be too careful. I wasn’t with Rian and Alejandro at the same time but the window between them was a small one and while I’m embarrassed to admit it, I have to be realistic. Nothing outside of menopause is a hundred percent at preventing pregnancy and even that has its exceptions which means I have to be far more careful going forward.