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“Why do you have them anyway?” I ask. She’d been a virgin.
“So I won’t get pregnant.”
Smartass. “You’d already been taking them when you were at the college.” Sister Catherine had mentioned it, but I’d told her to let it be.
“I get bad periods. They help manage the pain,” she says quickly, averting her gaze. She’s lying.
A knock on the door interrupts the moment.
“Yes,” I say.
The door opens and the housekeeper glances at us and smiles a good morning. “Mr. De Léon is here to see his sister.”
“Odin!” Madelena starts for the door, but I catch her around her middle.
“Have him wait in the living room. My wife will be right out.”
The woman nods and leaves, and the soldier closes the door. I turn to Madelena. “Get dressed first, then you can see him. We leave for the airport in an hour. Clothes will be arranged for you, but if there are any essentials, pack those. We’ll be gone for a few days.”
“I get an hour? I haven’t seen him in two years.”
“He walked you down the aisle.”
“You know what I mean.”
“We’re on a tight schedule. But if you’re good, when we’re back, he can visit again.”
“You’re going to dangle that like a carrot to get me to do what you want, aren’t you?”
“I’m not your enemy, Madelena.” She snorts at that. “You just need to get used to me. Go get dressed. We leave in just under an hour. How much of that time you spend with your brother is up to you.”
“You’re a jerk.”
I grin, check my watch, and turn to walk away.
“I’m not having a baby,” she blurts just as I get to the door. It’s so unexpected that I stop and turn. “Not with you, not with anyone. Ever. If that’s what you’re thinking.” I expect to see defiance on her face, and I do, but there’s something else too. Fear. True fear. “I’m not that stupid,” she adds more quietly.
I consider what she said, the way she said it, but I decide to shelf it. Now is not the time for psychoanalysis. “Tick tock, Little Kitty.”
