Page 42 of Mile High Daddy

“No!” she shouts now, desperation rising. “He’s dangerous, Lila! You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

My entire body tenses. “How do you know who he is?”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, the silence stretching too long.

“It’s…complicated,” my mother finally says, her voice careful.

Complicated.

The word doesn’t sit right. It doesn’t answer anything. If anything, it makes my stomach knot tighter.

“Mom,” I press, my voice thin with desperation. “Please, just tell me. What aren’t you saying?”

Another pause. A sharp inhale.

“It’s better if you don’t know,” she says softly. “Just trust me when I tell you—Mikhail Ivanov is dangerous, Lila. You need to be careful.”

A lump rises in my throat.

Careful.

Because she knows Ican’tleave.

I swallow hard, pressing a hand to my forehead as nausea creeps back in. My stomach has been a mess for days, and I feel exhaustion weighing down on me like I haven’t truly rested since I was brought here.

My mother must hear something in my breathing because her voice shifts, laced with concern. “Lila, are you okay?”

I hesitate, my fingers gripping the sheets beneath me. “I don’t know. I’ve been sick.”

“Sick?” she repeats. “What do you mean sick?”

I sigh, my body curling in on itself as I press my palm against my unsettled stomach. “I don’t know, I’ve just felt…off. I keep feeling nauseous, and earlier today, I threw up.”

She’s silent for half a second too long.

“When was your last period?” she asks.

My breath catches. “What?”

“Your last period, Lila,” she repeats, firmer this time. “When was it?”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. My brain scrambles for an answer, for a memory, but I come up blank. The last time I remember tracking it was before…before the plane. Before my whole world changed.

The realization makes my chest tighten.

“Lila,” my mother says, softer now. “Did something happen? Between you and him?”

A wave of heat crawls up my neck.

I don’t answer.

But the silence speaks for me.

My mother inhales sharply. “Oh my God.”

I close my eyes, gripping the phone tighter.

“Lila,” she says, “tell me he used protection.”

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