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“I’m so sorry I’m not there for you right now,” Cassidy whispered, wiping at her eyes. Francesca was out in the sitting room, waiting for her to get ready for breakfast, and this was the sort of news the woman didn’t need to hear so soon after the night’s revelations.
“Étienne is here,” Samantha said. “He’s an enormous help.”
Something about the way Samantha said his name made Cassidy smile despite the grim conversation.
“He was with me when we found Ryan in the hot tub this morning.” A shaky inhalation full of emotional struggle. “He slit his wrists. The note he left said he wanted to die where Natalia had died.”
Oh God, Cassidy thought, closing her eyes. The despair the man must have felt circled her like a black hole.
“When she died, he died, too. These last couple of days, he was just an empty shell. Just sat and stared into space.”
Empty the way I will be empty if anything happens to Dominique.No, nothing and no one would keep her from going back to that cavern of horrors with him, least of all Dominique. She’d hitch a ride in that RV, even if she had to zip herself into that body bag with him. He could hardly argue during the daytime. And by sundown it would be too late.
Voices in the sitting room brought her out of her dark plotting. Jackson, their security detail, had arrived to escort them to breakfast. “I have to go, Sam. Please call me if there’s any more news.”
Cassidy splashed enough cold water onto her face to wash away the redness, finished dressing, and tied her hair into a ponytail. But when she stepped out of the bedroom, Jackson wasn’t fooled.
“What’s wrong?”
She glanced at Francesca. The pinched eyes and thin mouth betrayed a quiet storm of anxiety. “It’s been a long night for all of us,” Cassidy said, silently begging Jackson to leave it at that.
He did. “You’ll both feel better after you eat.”
“Will Garrett join us?” Francesca asked.
“He’s out getting the RV he found us last night. We’ll need to take off as soon as we can if we’re going to make it there by nightfall. Are you all packed?”
“Oui, I am.”
“Cassidy?”
“Sure.” Several cases and bags were lined up in the bedroom, ready for transport to a new, undisclosed location. Among the planned precautions was that she and Francesca should book themselves into another hotel during the day, using cash and fake ID’s, then call in two of Isao’s younglings tonight to stand guard.
Dominique was with Isao and Kostya in Isao’s downtown lair, awaiting pickup when the RV was ready to go. She smiled to herself as she considered her own plans. As the only one who knew where the vampires were hiding—not to mention the holder of the key and security codes required to access them—there was no chance that RV was leaving town without her.
“I was thinking we should try to get an appointment at a clinic for you today, my dear,” Francesca said.
“What? Why?”
“You are pregnant,” she said as if Cassidy had gone daft.
“For two weeks,” Cassidy protested. Hell, her only symptom so far was an increased appetite—for everything.
“The sooner you receive prenatal care, the better for you and the baby.”
“Good point,” Jackson seconded. “Given the circumstances, you need to stay on top of this.” Seeing Cassidy’s irate glare, he quickly amended, “But I’m sure you can wait until we get home. Ollie can set you up with her doctor.”
“Ollie?” Francesca asked.
“Olivia, my fiancée. She’s pregnant, too.”
“Merveilleux!”She clapped her hands in delight. “Cassidy,chèrie, you will have a friend to share this journey with you.”
Cassidy refrained from mentioning that she had yet to meet this Olivia. “I’m sure we’ll be besties,” she murmured.
Francesca carried on for a while longer, completely enchanted with the idea that both her son and his friend should become fathers at the same time. Within seconds, she had moved on to the children growing up together, attending school together, and everyone visiting on St. Barth, the parties she would host, and the meals she would serve. Even who she would invite.
Cassidy and Jackson exchanged a look, both of them recognizing the babbling for the desperate hope for happier times to come that it was.
