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Her confidence was staggering. “Well, let me see.”
I walked toward the pot and sniffed its contents. It smelled acceptable. I waved Roman over.
Sophia dipped the ladle in her stock pot and held it out to me. I eyed the contents suspiciously but slurped just a little. It was for Sloane after all. I wouldn’t allow my littlemalishkato eat an experiment again. We had a baby to protect.
The creaminess of the soup exploded on my taste buds, and I held back a groan of appreciation. She didn’t deserve it. None of my staff did. Instead, I gave her a small smile and backed away.
“Passable,” I told her.
Sophia scoffed, glaring at me. She showed me the vial she was holding.
“What did you hide in there?”Did she try to poison me?
“Fish oil.”
“I hate fish,” I snarled.
“We know,” she admitted. “We were alerted to all your likes and dislikes. But I knew if I could make this and you didn’t taste the fish oil in it, then it would hide any other tastes.”
I glared at her. “Don’t do that again.”
“I was just following orders,” she replied sweetly.
“Roman, taste this,” I said in English.
The kid came over a took a sip. “It’s good.”
“Can you taste fish?”
“No.”
“Put the drugs in,” I ordered, then restated it in Russian when my staff just stared blankly at me. They fled my presence, and I turned to leave.
“Are you sure you should give her more?” Roman spoke from behind me.
“Are you questioning me?” I warned, turning toward him.
“No, sir. I just thought it would be unwise since she’s already been sick. What if she was having a reaction to the drugs?”
I didn’t like that he was wondering about my methods, but I did like that he was standing his ground against me. A right hand needed to tell their Pahkan when they may make a mistake. It wasn’t a challenge. It was support.
“That is a good point.” I turned to the sous chef. “Give me two bowls, Sophia. One with drugs, and one without.”
“Yes, sir.”
I smiled tightly at Roman. “I’ll see how my pet is doing, and if she’s well enough, she can take another dose. If not, I’ll grant her a reprieve.”
Roman nodded his agreement. He would carry the tray up after all.
We headed back upstairs, slower this time as Roman was balancing the tray of food for Sloane. When we got to her room, I held a hand up for him to wait. I wanted to make sure Sloane was decent before he came in.
He nodded and leaned back against the wall on the same side of the door.
I appreciated his efforts not to peek at my woman. This kid had been a good bet. I hoped like hell he lived long enough to prove his undying loyalty to me.
Inside the room, Sloane was still sleeping. After waving Roman in, I sat on the bed and tried to rouse her. While she did have some of the drugs from the previous bowl of soup, it wouldn’t have been enough to keep her down for long. It was why I took the time to exhaust her in the bathroom while my men were cleaning the room. Satiation would make up for wherever the drugs failed.
“Wake up, Sloane. I want you to eat something.”
