Page 129 of Necessary Cruelty

Thirty-Nine

Vin must havethe charm of a demon, because every nurse on the staff seems to be complicit with his attempts to visit me.

The one who brings me my afternoon meds sounds gently chiding. “That poor boy hasn’t left the waiting room all day. Don’t you think you should at least let him visit, so you can tell him in person to piss off?”

I close my mouth on a recommendation that she do something similar. It isn’t her fault that Vin is really good at pretending not to be an asshole, at least for small periods of time. He is probably having a grand old time playing the worried husband, clutching his hands in the waiting room and refusing to leave until he gets the chance to profess his undying love.

More likely, he just wants confirmation that I’m going to stay pregnant long enough for him to get his inheritance, because he doesn’t know that there isn’t any baby.

And there never will be, at least not for us.

Fighting back sudden tears, I urge myself to focus on the anger and not the sadness. It actually would be nice to tell Vin Cortland precisely what I think of him before I make it clear that I don’t ever want to lay eyes on him again.

“Fine, send him in.”

The nurse pats me gently on the shoulder before whirling out of the room to deliver the good news.

But it isn’t Vin that peers around the doorway of my hospital room.

Iain watches me carefully, as if he isn’t quite sure I won’t try to jump out the nearby window.

Or throw something at him.

The first option isn’t possible, but I’m strongly considering the second.

“What the hell do you want?”

His expression remains placid. “Can I come in?”

I have a feeling that Iain could skin a cat alive and have that same blank look never leave his face for a minute. “It’s a free country.”

“Debatable. None of us is really free, even if we try to convince ourselves we are.” He pushes off the wall and comes to the edge of the bed, staying just out of reach. “But I think you already know that.”

“Did he send you?”

We both know who I’m talking about.

“Nope. He’d probably try to hurt me if he found out.” Iain tips over an empty blister package on the table with one finger. “They giving you anything good?”

“Magnesium to keep my heart from stopping again and diuretics so my kidney’s don’t have to work so hard,” I bite out. “That sound good?”

“Not really. It does sound like running into the ocean after dark is a pretty stupid idea. Do they think you still might die?”

“I’m getting discharged this afternoon, so probably not.” I roll my eyes as I shift uncomfortably in the bed. They did give me something for the pain in my chest where I got shocked by the defibrillators a few hours ago, and it makes my whole body itch. “Thanks for stopping by, Iain. Send my regards to whatever vampires gave birth to you.”

But he doesn’t move so much as an inch.

“I heard about the pregnancy.” At the look on my face, he quickly adds. “Vin tells me everything. The Deception gossip network hasn’t gotten ahold of that juicy bit of news yet.”

My hands clench into fists, imagining that I’m squeezing them around Vin’s neck. “You’re not going to congratulate me?”

He shakes his head. “It was my idea, you know.”

“What was?” I ask with an annoyed sigh.

“The whole poking holes in condoms thing.” He actually has the grace to look ever so slightly abashed. “I figured by the time the truth came out, you guys would have been together long enough that it wouldn’t matter.”

“You’re a dick.”

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