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I hurry out of the clothing store, barely remembering to apologize to the disappointed clothing ladies on my rush out. Percy and Ace catch up quickly, and Ace grabs my arm, brows lowered. When he does that, he sort of looks like Nico. Maybe they’re related.
“Whoa. Where are you going? You feeling sick? If you are, we should let Boss know—"
“Lady stuff,” I blurt to stop him there. “It’s just your average monthly lady stuff, Ace.”
He makes a face. “Oh. Gross.”
“Shut up. What are you, twelve? Percy, can we—"
“Way ahead of you,” he grumbles, looking equally uncomfortable as he lumbers to the car.
Getting to the little gas station pharmacy shop is a blur, but when the guys try to follow me inside, I insist they wait in the car. Percy tries arguing that they’re supposed to stick right with me, but I snap that I probably won’t run into a Gatto while buying tampons. That shuts him up.
Of course, I’m not buying tampons. I grab what I need, looking over my shoulder and tapping my foot impatiently while the cashier rings me up.
“Want the receipt, hon?” the older woman asks. “Or a bag—"
“No, thanks,” I say before she’s even finished speaking, grabbing the box, and racing to the bathroom.
Peeing on the stick and pacing the little one-stall bathroom seems to drag on for an eternity. It could have been ten minutes or ten years, but the entire time, I hug my stomach and think and think. If the pregnancy test says what I already think it’s going to say, then shit.
What am I going to do?
I signed the contract. A fuckingcontract.It’s legally binding and I’m sure that smiley, crooked California lawyer knows how to minimize any loopholes. And I really need a loophole right now, because if I’m right and I missed my period because I’m pregnant?
Nico said I’d always have the option to be in the baby’s life. When he said that, it was a theoretical baby in a theoretical life. But now it feels real. And God, I don’t want to just be apartof my child’s life. I want to raise it and I sure as hell won’t let it grow up to be like Nico or Ace or anyone else tangled up in mafia connections. I wouldn’t be able to stand that.
After agonizing and pacing for a few more minutes, I take a deep breath and pick up the pregnancy test.
Two lines.
Holy shit.
Those two little lines just flipped my entire life over. It changes everything because Nico and I succeeded and I’m pregnant.Oh my God, I’m fucking pregnant.
I don’t know how long I stare at the test, but I finally throw it away in the bathroom, wash my hands, and try to compose myself. They can’t suspect anything—and Nico can’t suspect anything. I’m not ready to tell him. First of all, what if it’s a false alarm? What if that test was just broken?
It’s not. I’m reaching. I knew I was pregnant before the lines came up.
Just act normal. You’ll figure out what to do. You always do.
When I get back into the car, Ace is sitting shotgun. He leans over to look at me, frowning. “Hey, Sybil…without getting graphic, are you okay? That kinda…took a while. Is that normal?”
I let out a short laugh. It sounds a little hysterical, but I can’t help it—this little mobster thinks lady stuff isgraphic?But I shake my head quickly. “I’m okay. Percy, could you guys just take me back to the penthouse? I have…cramps. Yeah. But I’m okay.”
“You said that already,” he notes, but pulls out of the fateful little gas station parking lot to take me back.
I don’t talk to them the entire way there and give a weak goodbye before going up the elevator. Nico isn’t home, which is good because if he was, he would ask me why the hell I’m pacing so much. I try to relax and lay down on the bed, but it just reminds me of the many, many dirty things Nico and I have done on it—and how they’re the reason I’m pregnant.
Pregnant.
I almost want to call my mom or Krista, but I don’t know what I would say.You know that insanely attractive guy who insists he’s my fiancé? The one I refuse to tell you guys anything about? He knocked me up and he wants to keep the baby. Oh, and that baby is going to have to be a mobster someday. When should I visit the gynecologist?
Hours later, I managed to calm down a bit. The big TV in the living room of the guest floor of Nico’s apartment building is playing some old rerun of a sitcom. I haven’t managed to pay much attention to it, but I pretend it’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen when the elevator dings and Nico steps out.
“You know there’s a TV on your floor and in my room. Why did you pick this one?”
I was hoping you wouldn’t check this floor.I shrug. “I guess I just like the setup of this room.”
