Page 39 of Cashmere Ruin

Well, not alone exactly. May is still snoozing in her crib, the cat curled up around her like a dragon with his treasure. Only, it’s nothistreasure.

It’s mine.

“So you’re still set on this?” April asks eventually. “Family dinner?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I take my place at the table. “Sit.”

“Matvey—”

“I saidsit.”

After a beat, she obeys.

We dine in silence. I watch her push the food around on her plate, but I don’t have a good excuse to force her to eat. After all, she’s not carrying my child anymore.

She could still do that, that annoying voice whispers.She could carry all your children if you’d just?—

“Are you going to stay here?” April breaks the silence. “At the penthouse?”

Like I’d ever let you out of my sight again.“Someone has to make sure our daughter doesn’t disappear into thin air.”

“I thought that’s what the guards were for.”

“The guards are there to protect her against Carmine.”

“And you’re here to protect her from me?” she fills in bitterly.

“Your words, not mine.” I take in the hurt on her face. I try to pretend it doesn’t touch me.

I fail.

After our torture of a meal, I pick up the baby from the crib, dodging a swipe from April’s hellspawn of a cat. By contrast, May is pliant like a doll, only cooing in protest for a second before I place her against my chest, trading warmth for warmth.

When I go to put her back, my shoulder smarts with pain.

I head to the guest room. “Going to bed already?” April asks me.

See? She can’t get rid of you fast enough.

“Yeah. Goodnight.”

“Wait.”

When I turn, April’s face is a mask of concern. For a second, I’m stunned. “What?”

“Let me check your stitches first,” she requests. “You haven’t let anyone else see, have you?”

Something thick settles in my throat. Something dangerously close to a lump. “I’m fine.”

“Please,” she insists. “Just one look. I promise I’ll be quick.”

“So you can slip me a sedative and run?”

“So I can make sure our daughter still has a father in the morning, actually.”

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