Chapter 4 - Count Back the Months
Nobody moved.
Lena could hear her own heartbeat.
Adrian stared at her belly.
Then at her face.
Then back at her belly.
She had imagined this moment a thousand times.
In none of those versions did Adrian look broken.
“How far along?”
His voice was almost inaudible.
Lena swallowed.
“Adrian—”
“How far?”
“Thirty-two weeks.”
He calculated instantly.
She saw it happen.
The night in his office.
The weeks since she disappeared.
The impossible coincidence becoming certainty.
His chair scraped backward.
Victor appeared from across the restaurant, already moving toward them.
Adrian stood.
“Is it mine?”
The question hurt more than Lena expected.
She stepped back.
“That's what you ask?”
His jaw tightened.
“No. That's not what I meant.”
“Sounded pretty clear.”
She turned.
His hand closed gently around her wrist.
Lena froze.
Adrian immediately released her.
“Please.”
She had never heard that word from him.
Not once.
His gaze moved to her stomach again.
“Tell me.”
Lena's anger faltered.
“Yes.”
Something changed in Adrian's face.
The most feared man in the room suddenly looked as though somebody had knocked the air from his lungs.
He sat back down.
Victor stared at him.
“Boss?”
Adrian ignored him.
“My child?”
“Yes.”
“Boy or girl?”
Lena hesitated.
“A girl.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
For three seconds, perhaps four, he simply sat there.
Then Lena remembered why she had approached him.
“The wine.”
His eyes opened.
“What about it?”
“I saw someone put something in your glass.”
Victor immediately took the glass.
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Who?”
“I don't know. A waiter. Except he wasn't one of ours.”
Victor spoke into his cuff.
The restaurant transformed.
Doors locked.
Security moved.
Adrian stepped toward Lena.
“You're coming with me.”
“No.”
“Lena—”
“I warned you because I wasn't going to stand there and watch somebody poison you. That doesn't mean I'm returning to your life.”
“You're carrying my daughter.”
“And I've been carrying her without you for eight months.”
The accusation landed.
Adrian lowered his voice.
“I didn't know.”
“You made sure I believed you didn't want me around.”
“What?”
She told him what she had overheard.
Understanding slowly crossed his face.
“Lena, you left before Victor answered.”
“So?”
“I was arranging protection for you because someone had broken into your apartment.”
Her anger faltered.
“What?”
“The night before you resigned. Whoever had been watching you returned. I found photographs of us together.”
“You never told me.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“When I had somewhere secure.”
“You said I was leverage.”
“You were.”
His voice softened.
“Because I cared about you.”
Lena stared.
Adrian continued.
“I wasn't sending you away because I regretted that night. I was trying to send you somewhere no one could use you against me.”
“You could have asked what I wanted.”
“Yes.”
The immediate admission surprised her.
“I was wrong.”
Lena's eyes burned.
Eight months of loneliness could not be repaired with three words.
Then Victor returned.
“Problem.”
He placed a phone on the table.
Security footage showed the fake waiter entering through a service corridor.
The image froze on his face.
Lena stopped breathing.
It was the man from the Moonlight Café.
The stalker.
Adrian saw her reaction.
“Him?”
She nodded.
Victor swore.
“He disappeared eight months ago.”
Adrian's eyes went cold.
“Apparently not.”
Lena suddenly felt movement inside her.
A hard kick.
Her hand went instinctively to her stomach.
Adrian watched.
The fury vanished from his face.
“Was that…”
Another kick.
Lena hesitated.
Then something inside her softened just enough.
She took his hand.
Placed it against the side of her belly.
Adrian Voss froze.
Their daughter kicked again.
His eyes lifted to Lena's.
For the first time since she had known him, there was absolutely no armor left.
“She's strong.”
“She likes kicking ribs.”
A tiny smile appeared.
Then Lena winced.
Adrian immediately withdrew his hand.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Lena.”
“Braxton Hicks. Probably.”
Probably.
Ten minutes later, she doubled over beside the elevator.
Adrian caught her.
“Lena?”
Warm liquid ran down her leg.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Adrian's entire world narrowed to the terrified woman in his arms.
“What?”
“My water.”
“You're thirty-two weeks.”
“I know.”
Another contraction hit.
Lena gripped his lapel.
Adrian lifted her into his arms.
“Victor, car. Now.”
As they rushed through the restaurant, Lena buried her face against Adrian's chest.
“I'm scared.”
His arms tightened.
He kissed her forehead.
“I have you.”
But over Adrian's shoulder, Victor saw something neither of them did.
A black SUV pulled away from the opposite curb.
Inside it, the stalker raised a phone.
May you like
And said:
“The baby is coming early.”
