Page 92 of Resurrection

“When you chased me off seventeen odd years ago, I actually thought you were right. I wasn’t any good for her. My temper almost got her killed. Her dad, I thought, he’ll watch out for her. If he realizes I’m no good, he’ll be able to recognize terrible men coming and protect her.” I raise my eyebrows. “Instead you not only condoned butsupporteda womanizing, lying piece of shit who murders pregnant women.”

“Murders pregnant women?” Charles scoffs. “Sounds more like you than him.” He gestures wide with the hand holding his mug, and the coffee trickles down the side of the cup.

“The whole time he waited for your grandchild to be born, he was fucking Valeriya Kuznetsof who, it turns out, became pregnant with his child. Guy’s got magic sperm and probably a host of venereal diseases.”

Charles scowls. “I couldn’t care less if Valeriya was pregnant. I’m not sorry she’s dead—she betrayed us. He had nothing to do with her murder.”

“Well, it must be true if you say so.”

“She was selling company secrets to a third party. She was caught. Fled Russia and went to Ireland to meet up with whoever had been bankrolling her. We think it was the PLA. Eric and I flew to Ireland to head off the meeting, but we arrived too late. She was dead, but Carys was in trouble. We stayed to make sure she was okay.”

“You knew this about Valeriya before you flew to Ireland?” He doesn’t realize I was listening to his conversation with Eric. He didn’t know shit about her or why she died until Eric told him.

“Yes.” Charles gulps his drink.

Is there anything this man won’t lie about? A waste of breath to talk to him. Eric probably fed him enough lies to cover up his own crimes.

Without saying another word, I grab my phone off the counter and drop it into my pocket. My coffee is only half full, so I refill it and turn to exit the kitchen. He’s too deluded to deal with rationally.

“If you don’t leave, he’ll take Lucas and run. Carys will never see him again.”

I half turn back and eye him over my cup before taking a drink. “Oh? Is that what a good man does? Forces a woman to abandon her child so she can be in a relationship with him?” I feign thoughtfulness as he flushes red. “Oh, no. Wait.” I point at him. “You. You did that. What Eric’s doing is so much better. You’re right. He’s such a good man. He doesn’t force women to make impossible choices. That would be wrong.”

Considering how red he is, Charles doesn’t miss a beat. “I’m sure you’ve never forced a woman to make an impossible choice—human trafficking is such a decent way to make a living.”

I clench my jaw. Guess he’s been conducting his own research, but I’m not letting him rub my past in my fucking face. “I’ve never told a woman I loved her and then asked her to make a choice meant to break her. Say whatever the fuck you want about me. But that’s the line I won’t cross.” I start out the door and then turn back. “If I thought you and Eric engineered this baby to make her happy, your actions would be a lot easier to swallow. But you didn’t. This baby is about control, about figuring out a way to force her to bow to your wishes.”

I leave the kitchen before Charles responds. Jay is getting a wake-up call, and he can get his own fucking coffee. We’ve got work to do.

Eric won’t get a chance to run with Carys’s baby. If anyone will run, it’ll be me and her with Lucas. All I need to find are shackles for Eric, and right now, I’ll take them literally or figurately, whichever I can find first.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Carys

Iwake up to find Finn gone. At first, I panic and circle the bedroom, accounting for his things. Then I decide that maybe he didn’t return after he got himself a drink. It’s only eight in the morning. But that’s late for me. Yesterday was exhausting.

After I’ve showered and dressed, but before I go downstairs, I creep down the hall to Lucas. In the rocking chair in the corner is Galina with Lucas, and she’s attempting to burp him.

“Want to try?” she asks when she spots me hovering in the entryway.

“Oh, um, yes.” I take the armchair next to the rocker. She passes him to me, and I mimic the movements I saw her doing. An awkward silence settles between us as I try to get a burp. After a deep breath, I say, “Is this your first time being a surrogate?”

Her face fills with surprise. “No, my third. Eric picked me because he wanted someone with a record of success.” She hesitates and then says, “He said this was your last shot. None of the implantations in other surrogates took.”

I absorb this information in silence. It’s been so long, and I don’t recall how many eggs I harvested when Eric and I started searching for a surrogate. A lot. I remember that much. More than we ever thought we’d need. I was worried about being too old. A laugh threatens. Now I have no choice. Too old or not, I’m a mom.I’m a mom.I focus on Lucas, letting the realization wash over me one more time.

My brain ticks to Galina’s comment. He was trying to secure a baby from the moment we split. The deception is overwhelming. How many surrogates? How many attempts? Throughout, he was still sleeping with, and impregnating, other women. God, he’s such a sleaze.

“I, um.” Galina fiddles with the baby blanket in her lap. “He gave me the impression you and he were together. He said you didn’t want to meet me because it was too hard to know someone else would be carrying your child. But it seems like you’re with Finn? Did you and Eric split up during the pregnancy? Is Lucas going into a good situation? There’s so much tension in the house.”

Lucas burps, and I take the blanket she offers to wipe his mouth and then cradle him in my arms. The weight of him is still surreal. A baby.Mybaby. I scan his tiny face and try to block out Galina’s questions. Her worry is sweet, even if I don’t understand how to ease it.

“He’ll be fine,” I say.

Eric’s deception, how wrong this whole situation is for Lucas, for me, for everyone, shouldn’t be her concern. I’ll do everything in my power to do right by my baby. None of this is his fault.

Jay appears in the doorway. “Ah, here you are. First stop was your room. This was my second choice.”

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