Page 87 of Twisted Kings

“She’s not a teenager yet!” I retorted, but Eden ignored me.

“Anyway, that’s not why I brought you here.” She pulled me through a spacious kitchen kitted out with modern appliancesand cream cabinets, and down a small inner hallway. We passed a couple of bedrooms strewn with store bags, clothes, and other female detritus, and then entered the main bedroom.

Like the other bedrooms, bags, discarded clothing, and shoes littered the floor. Every other surface held an assortment of sketchbooks and pencils, books, makeup, and hair accessories.

“Jesus, has there been a home invasion?” I asked, not even joking.

“Very funny.” I’d always assumed Eden’s messy dorm room at Abernethy was because she lacked space. Her room had been smaller than mine, with barely enough space to swing a cat. But it was clear to me now that ‘mess’ was her default setting.

Eden dragged me into the adjoined bathroom, where I admired the white marble floors and counters, sea green tiles, and a lovely copper soaker tub.

The tub was gorgeous. I’d not had time to check out the apartment Declan had graciously lent our motley crew of fugitives yet, but I hoped it had a soaker tub as nice as this one.

Eden shut the bathroom door and turned to face me, a serious look on her face for once. Was she gearing up to force me into trying 50 million outfits on for tonight’s party? I hoped not. It had been a long drive from the coast and I desperately needed a nap.

“I bought some tests for you.” Tests?Oh.

“One is plenty, thank you. Pretty sure I’m not pregnant,” I lied through my teeth.

“Did you get the curse?”

“Well, no—”

“Then you’re probably knocked-up.” She opened a cabinet and pulled out a paper bag. “Here, use one or all of them. If you’re preggo, we’ll know in a few minutes.”

I opened the bag and stared at my doom. Denial had been my friend for the last two weeks. I would miss her sweet voice in my head, telling me there was no way I was with child.

Once I took a test, I’d know for sure. Still, it was early days. I had plenty of time to decide what came next. Once I’d eliminated the threats against me, that is. Until Dad was dead, figuring out what to do with a baby bratva heir was firmly on the ‘too difficult’ list.

I waited for Eden to leave, but she perched on the edge of the vanity unit and stubbornly refused to move.

“I’m not peeing on a stick while you watch.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly. I don’t mind watching you pee.”

Did she have some kind of pee fetish?Gross. “Well guess what, I mind!”

That did it. She threw her hands in the air and huffed with annoyance at my refusal to let her watch me take the test.

“OK, fine! I’ll be in the bedroom. Shout me when you’re done.”

Once she’d left the bathroom, I locked the door and pulled out a box from the pharmacy bag. The instructions were simple. Pee on the stick and wait three minutes for a result. One line: not preggo. Two lines: very preggo.

I prayed for one line as I peed. Praying had never worked for me in the past, but there was a first time for everything. Perhaps God was in a listening mood today.

After flushing and washing my hands, I sat on the toilet lid and waited.

It really was a lovely bathroom. Declan must have paid a shit-ton of money for the marble tiles. Like thousands. Sadly, not even expensive marble tiles proved enough of a distraction, and no matter how hard I admired the lovely detailing and workmanship, all I could think about was how the fuck I wasgoing to cope with being a mother when I could barely take care of myself and my sister.

All too soon, three minutes had passed.

It was time to learn my fate.

39

Milo

The apartment Declan assigned us had four large bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms, a kitchen/diner, and a living room with double doors that led out onto a stone terrace. Declan had made it clear this was only a temporary arrangement. He said we could stay until after New Year, and then we were on our own.

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