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“Yours.”
“Talia, enough. Let me speak to him,” a soft feminine voice calls from somewhere farther inside the room. A voice I have heard before when she referred to him as sir.
Tegan.
I feel the pressure of my hand against my chest. It’s as if I was unknowingly protecting my heart from the blow. Paisley hangs on my arm as if I’m her lifeline, but what she doesn’t realize is that she is mine in this moment. Silently, she stands by me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“Do the right thing, Demetri.”
“If you know what is good for you, Talia, you’ll shut your mouth and leave.”
The door flies open and smashes against the wall. Talia, I now know for sure is Antonio’s manager, comes flying out of the room so fast she doesn’t even notice us standing on the opposite side of the door. Her steps are heavy and harsh as she hustles down the hallway to the elevator.
I try to make sense of it all. I can’t help but wonder how far along Tegan is. If it was before he and I started dating, then there is nothing I can do about that. Though, I don’t know how well I will be able to handle my new husband having a child with another woman as we settle into newlywed life. All our firsts would run parallel to all their firsts in her pregnancy and birth. But then I think, what if she is only a few weeks pregnant? That would mean he was sleeping with her while he and I were seeing each other. Am I the privileged wife and she his girl on the side? Thegoomahas he called it. I won’t stand for that. What happened before us is one thing, but during our time together is another.
“Annul your marriage, sir. Be with me. With us. We can be a family. We’ll be so happy.”
I hear the rumble in Demetri’s chest. “What are you doing? I made it perfectly clear that you and I were not a couple when we started. We had an arrangement. That arrangement ended. I thought you would have understood that when you saw my wife and I in club Abyss.”
“Wife,” she laughs in a mocking tone. “On paper she may be your wife. Not one that you wanted, I might add. You and I have something special.”
“Had. Past tense. We had an arrangement. Don’t make it more than what it was. If you are pregnant, I’m happy for you, but I am not the father.”
“You are.”
“Tegan, I always wrap. Don’t play these games.”
“Except for that one time, sir. That one time when I drove you crazy you couldn’t wait to be inside me. Remember that night?”
I freeze when I hear footsteps. My heart is in my stomach knowing they had something special together.
“Please don’t walk away from me, sir. I need you. We need you.”
His weighted steps stop before I hear. “How far along are you?” he growls.
“Six weeks.”
Six weeks?
I wait with a held breath to see if Demetri will dispute the timeframe.
He doesn’t.
I think back. Six weeks ago would have been our first date. The night before he took me out, he told me he had a willing body waiting for him while messaging me. I wonder if it was her. The next day is when the red dress showed up for our date. It seems like forever ago, but in reality, it is such a short period of time. What was I thinking saying yes to a marriage proposal so soon? I know what I wasn’t thinking with… My head. Why would my brother not put up a fight when he found out Demetri proposed, and I said yes? Why wouldn’t he have one of his brotherly talks, telling me how stupid I was for marrying a man so soon when I called him first thing this morning after trying on the dresses. Especially a man like Demetri. Six weeks means we were already seeing each other. He was actively pursuing me. It changes things for us.
“What did she mean when she said, ‘Not one that you wanted?’” Paisley whispers next to me.
I almost forgot that she is here. I shake my head in a frantic manner because my head is spinning, and I don’t know the answer.
“How long have you been seeing each other?”
“I met him eight weeks ago. Close to nine. Six weeks ago was our first date.”
“Oh.” Her voice falls flat.
“Yeah.”
“Honey, I’m sorry.” She lays her head on my shoulder. “But it was right in the beginning.”
