Page 126 of Cashmere Cruelty

Two fingers catch my sleeve, butterfly-light.

I turn. “Yes?”

April’s eyes are shining again. It’s not the sun-bright glow she usually has, but it’s still a spark. It’s still more than she had with Eleanor in the room.

“Thank you,” she breathes, stunning me.

For once in my life, I don’t know what to say.

Luckily, it seems that April does. “See you at dinner?” she asks, all hopeful.

I should tell her no. I should nip whatever the fuck this is in the bud—thiswarmththat has nothing to do with the fire of sex and passion. Instead, I tilt my head in acknowledgement. “See you at dinner.”

Only then does April let me go.

When I climb into the car, I practically slam the door off its hinges.

Fuck.

This shit is getting out of control.

37

APRIL

I wasn’t looking to find myself in this situation again so soon: legs spread, eyes fixed on the ceiling, someone moving about between my thighs.

Correction: someone who isn’t Matvey.

“A little wider, please.” Dr. Allan taps my knee.

With an inner sigh, I obey.

It really couldn’t be helped, though. After my mom’s class act this morning—a memory I wish I could scrub from my brain—Matvey made an executive decision: an emergency check-up for my baby.

This time, I didn’t put up a fight.

Luckily, Dr. Allan was available and dropped everything to come. After hearing the gist of my mom’s antics, she spent the first five minutes of the check-up muttering “Unbelievable” under her breath. She’s been extra gentle with me, too.

It still feels a bit surreal, being treated like this. Like I’ve just been through something awful. That was a regular Tuesday night back home. Sure, I wasn’t pregnant back then, but Dr. Allan hasn’t only been asking pregnancy-related questions; she’s been asking aboutme.HowIfeel.

Like I said: surreal.

And Matvey…

I still can’t wrap my head around it. How he defended me. For over half the conversation, I was terrified Matvey would hold me responsible for making a scene, terrified he’d act on it. He’s never raised a hand on me before—he never struck me as the guy who would—but there’s a first time for everything.

In the beginning, Tom never hit me, either.

But Matvey stepped in without hesitation. Even after I begged him not to, after I failed, he still took my side.

No one has ever defended me like that before.

“Ew,” Petra gags from the couch. “Keep your gushing to yourself.”

I roll my eyes. “Emergency check-up” also meant an assigned Bratva babysitter. And since both of my bodyguards were taken away by Matvey for “urgent business,” someone had to cover the shift.

Unfortunately, that someone turned out to be none other than my baby daddy’s fiancée.

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