AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sasha
Ifound the drive uncomfortable. We were about to return to the woman he had loved once. I felt the irritation stir the moment we arrived in his driveway, and he slid his wedding ring on. Which Armon was pretending?
I didn't say anything, nor did he acknowledge that he'd done it. What would I say? Ask if he changed his mind? But I knew his plan to divorce Nikki once another man's baby was born. I knew nothing else, though. It felt like a time not to ask questions or comment.
When we were in front of the house, he grabbed the bags of my belongings and took them into the guest house where Katya and Cade were inside. Katya spoke in whispers to him, and with immediacy, he returned and said, "I need to see to something and will be back later." There was no kiss goodbye or explanation, just him out the door. And again, Cade wasn't leaving with him.
Once Armon was gone, I went into my room and tried to process the last few days. Happiness with him? Shock at how quickly he flipped his attitude with me? This coldness toward me wasn't an act in front of his wife, because this was Cade and Katya. Then again, they hated me. Maybe it would always be that way in front of anyone he knew. I was the enemy he wouldn't dare be seen with in a relationship, but behind closed doors he would care.
No longer interested in what he'd bought me, I went to bed. I couldn't sleep or relax and eventually got up to take a bath. In the bathroom, on the counter, was a used pregnancy test. And there were two lines on it.
It seemed Armon enjoyed these games he played to torment people. They might never end. But Katya had been the one who put it there, and she wasn't told to use it. Unless someone else had used it, she was still pregnant. The thought of how she'd gotten pregnant sickened me. Why would she even keep it? Assuming she was the one to take the test.
After my bath and I'd preoccupied myself well after midnight, I snuck into the dark kitchen and poured myself some cereal. I thought I was alone until the outside light shining in lit the movement of Katya at the table. It was too late to go rushing back to my room, so I sat at the far end, staring into the bowl.
"Nikki's in the hospital." Her voice was low, but emotion unreadable, much like her brother often was.
I nodded and muttered, "I hope she gets well."
"No, you don't," she quipped.
Already, I found myself sinking into the chair. Of course, I had a strengthening loathing for his wife with every moment I spent with Armon, but he made clear that he hated her. No one would say they hoped someone dies though, certainly not me. I let my spoon slide through the cereal.
"Miscarriage." Katya took a drink from a cup.
I took a deep breath, unable to eat. Armon went to Nikki to comfort her on the loss of her baby. And Katya's bitter tone made conversation difficult. I deserved this cold distance from Katya, but I could put out some effort to make amends. "I'm sorry for the way you were treated. And how much everyone in your family suffered."
She huffed in mock amusement before leaning back in her chair. "Armon said you let them die, so I don't need an apology." If I understood correctly, she wasn't angry. Snarky, but maybe that was her normal attitude.
I took the moment to ask. "Did you plant the test for her to find?" I realized then that it might have been the wrong way to turn the conversation.
An awkward silence fell. "Are you trying to ask whether or not I'm pregnant?"
Another long quiet. The woman was too straightforward for me to know what to say. And I wasn't comfortable asking some questions or bringing up Armon.
"It's Cade's. Happened before…" She readjusted in her seat. I knew where her mind went—to the time with my family. "Armon doesn't know that." She took another long drink and gasped. "I was planning to tell him when he returned."
"At least you won't have to hide your relationship once that happens." I finally took a spoonful of cereal—soggy.
"We don't have to act like you and Armon, you mean? I guess with the baby gone…" She readjusted in her chair and looked into the dark room. Something about the loss of Nikki's baby bothered her as well.
I put my spoon down. "Why did he want that baby?"
"It's our brother's child." Her tone turned bitter. "Nikki probably got pregnant with him on purpose to have a way of controlling him. Silent threats so he would be willing to do what she wanted."
The revelation made Armon's hatred of the woman all the more real. She truly was despicable if that had been the intent. It seemed his life had been falling apart since before I met him, but what did that make me? A band aid? A dumb girl who finally felt somewhat attracted to someone who just needed a pick-me-up? What would happen next? But I also knew now why he went to her with urgency.
"I don't know what Armon ever saw in that bitch." Katya pulled me from my reverie. She seemed to be spilling her thoughts without a need for response from me. "But I hope to God he's not stupid enough to feel sorry for her and wind up knocking her up and work things out for a baby's sake."
I pushed the cereal to the side, nauseated at the thought of food. I'd finally heard too much. "He would do that?" I asked.
But I knew he went to Nikki eagerly and willingly. He put on his ring for when he would see her. He left with an urgency to be there for her. He hadn't even bothered to say goodbye to me. It was her that mattered. Everything built the last several days shattered just as it had the other times I believed in more from him.
She shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time she found a way to guilt him into staying with her."
"Oh," I replied. There was nothing else I knew to say on the matter. And I probably would vomit up what little I ate if I dealt with the possibility much longer. "I need to get some sleep." At least that was what I told her, but what I really needed to do was hide in my room before anything else was spoken and I let my emotions get the better of me. No one would see me cry for something like this. I wasn't even sure why I'd hit this point emotionally.
