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“Goodbye,” I whisper. I’m speaking for myselfandour unborn child.
Then I turn my back on him and walk away.
He doesn’t bother to say a word.
4
EMMA
“Are they gone yet?”
The sun is fifteen minutes from setting and Phoebe and I have been watching out of the windows for the past half an hour.
“Still there,” she sighs, letting the curtains fall closed.
“Do you think he knows?”
Phoebe’s eyebrow hitches up. “How can he possibly? Unless he’s been watching you the past few days…?”
Goosebumps prickle my skin. I collapse onto the armchair opposite the couch where the girls are currently sprawled out, tangled against each other and sleeping peacefully. Josh retreated to his room several minutes ago. I don’t want to intrude—until I have to, anyway.
“Ugh,” I complain softly. “We need to be out of here before Ben comes back.”
“There’s a Knicks game tonight. I think we’re good.”
I snort out a depressed laugh. “You never know. My luck hasn’t really been all that great lately.”
“Riiight… luck. That’s the issue at hand.”
I shoot her a look. “You really gonna make me feel bad about this? ‘Cause trust me: I feel bad enough as it is.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel bad, hon. I’m sorry—that came out wrong.” The thing with Phoebe is, if you stare at her long enough, she’ll crack. Sure enough, her mouth twitches, trembles, and then she blurts out, “It’s just I still can’tbelieveyou signed a contract exchanging money for sex!”
“I’m not proud of it!” I hiss back.
“Well, you should be,” she retorts, completely taking me by surprise. “It was ballsy. Hell, it’s the type of thing Sienna would’ve done before she had the kids. The only mistake you made was falling in love with him.”
And there it is—the undeniable fact that, for all his faults, Iamin love with Ruslan.
I’m also pregnant with his baby.
I’malsopraying he gets bored and drives off soon or else this whole thing is gonna blow up in my face.
I’ve got a lot going on these days.
Phoebe takes another peek out the window. “Still there, by the way.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “He suspects something. Why else would hestillbe here?”
“Maybe he’s trying to make sure you’re okay.”
“Please. He doesn’t give a shit about me. If anything, he’s here for the kids. Which is nice but extremely inconvenient. We need to get back to the motel and finish planning our escape out of this nightmare.”
“Give it a few more minutes. They can’t sit out there forever.”
I scoff. “You don’t know how stubborn he can be.”
She’s got her lips pursed and her head cocked to the side. A surefire sign that she’s thinking about something she’s not sure she should say out loud.
