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“Orion authorized an agent to go to Austria the day before you did. It doesn’t say in the logs what he went for. But he had a two-day turnaround and returned after a trip to the embassy. Very likely, he went for a diplomatic pouch.”
“So he did send someone else. Okay. So if Orion had the diamond, where would it be now?”
“And that’s the real question. Whoever’s got it obviously knows its worth. They would’ve paid Orion only a fraction of it. But they’ve dug in deep and have it hidden. And they’re not telling anyone that they’ve got it.”
“Okay, keep digging. Because Diana isn’t going to be safe until we catch those assholes. And there’s an account number I need you to check into while you’re at it.”
“You got it.”
After we hung up, I leaned back in my seat. Okay, with Matthias on the diamond, I had to figure out a way to stop Klinkov and the Vandergraffs. Because there was no way I was letting them get anywhere near my woman.
* * *
Diana
I woke with a start, the contents of my stomach roiling in my belly. My first instinct had me checking for Rafe, but he wasn’t there. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the sliver of light coming from down the hallway. My stomach pitched again, and I groaned. Frantically I kicked the sheets off my legs, but my foot caught at the end.
When I finally managed to get them off, I lumbered toward the bathroom like a drunken water buffalo. Once my feet met the cool tile, I stumbled in, only just managing to kick the door shut and lock it before I embraced the toilet.
I had my hair up from around my face in the nick of time before my stomach had enough and released the contents of last night’s dinner.
Oh God. Why was this happening? All the usual thoughts ran through my head. The kind people have when they were sick and suddenly found religion. Oh God, what did I eat? Oh God, did I drink something? Dear God, is it the stomach flu?
After each heave, more and more contents came up until there was nothing left but bile. And even then, my body had zero interest in stopping. For the next several moments, I dry heaved over and over again until finally my body had nothing left to give.
When I laid my head on the cool porcelain tile, I curled myself into a ball, wondering what I did to deserve this.You know what you’ve done. You know how this happened.
No. It couldn’t be. Please God. But I knew it was true. It was certainly possible. And then to screw with my head even more, I felt a low flutter in my belly. But it was too early for that, right? It was amazing how the mind could play tricks on you. I clutched my belly desperately wanting itnotto be true. But there was also part of me that craved this. I wanted a piece of Rafe.
But how? Stupid question really. If I was pregnant, then it had for sure happened that day I came back to Rafe. That day that I had come back to help him, or save him. The day I’d come back because I missed him.
We’d both been angry and scared. And we’d both been desperate. He’d hooked his hands into my leggings and ripped them down like they were gossamer. And then he proceeded to fuck me up against a wall.
It was the hottest thing I’d ever done in my life. The two of us had gone after each other like animals.
He’d said he wanted to mark me that night. And he had. He’d come inside me. Neither of us had been thinking about condoms.
At the time, I thought it wouldn’t matter. There was no risk. But given everything I’d been through lately, I might’ve missed a pill or two. Matter of fact, I knew I’d missed one when I was at Charisse’s. But I’d taken them diligently since then. That had to count for something, right?
No, it doesn’t.
I finally managed to push myself up and over to the sink. Halfway through rinsing my mouth there was a knock at the door.
“Hey, baby, you okay in there?”
Shit. I took a deep breath to steady my voice. “Yeah. Fine. I’m just going to take a shower.”
“Let me join you. I can wash your back.”
No. I was not letting him in here. If I did, he would see something was wrong. And then he would be all over me until I told him. And there was that weird flutter again. It was too soon for that. If Iwaspregnant, and I didn’t know anything for sure—yes you do—Whatever.IfI was pregnant, I couldn’t be feeling the baby yet. And also, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I knew I didn’t want to tell him yet. We needed to work out what we were doing. Things were far too rocky with our relationship. Between everything, my lying to him, his lying to me, my brothers trying to kill me, the FBI… No, we needed to be on solid ground first. Then I would tell him. But for the time being I would keep it to myself.
“No. You’ll get distracted. And then you’ll try to make me dirty all over again.”
“I fail to see the problem,” he said with a chuckle. But still, there was a hint of concern in his voice. I could hear it.
And that,thatwas the reason I wasn’t telling him yet. He was so caught up in worrying about me it would be too much. I would tell him. But not until we were more steady in the relationship. I glanced at my belly. Too bad we were on a ticking time clock.
“Very funny. And you hog all the hot water. I’ll be right out, I promise.” I deliberately injected some levity into my voice, hoping that worked.
