Page 136 of Thorns of Lust
“You’re pregnant.”
I stared at the ultrasound monitor, watching the small dot in amazement. The words that I craved to hear for so long. Yet, now it brought anxiety. Shock mixed with another feeling I hadn’t felt in such a long time.Happiness.
My hand reached to the monitor where the dot moved around, my fingers tracing it.
“A baby.” A hoarse whisper.
Something inside me shifted. Or reset. Things inside my soul have been shredded to pieces with Adrian’s death, but slowly pieces started to come together. Until now.
This revelation clicked it all into place.
Isabella printed out the ultrasound pictures and handed them to me, her eyes watching me with worry. I took them with trembling fingers.
Putting one hand on my belly, over the cool liquid that Isabella put on there prior to the ultrasound.
“Is everything okay with the baby?”
Isabella smiled, checking the information. “Yes. We’ll have to draw blood but so far everything looks right. You’re between five and six weeks.”
“Six,” I muttered.
Isabella’s eyes snapped to mine with surprise. God, he must have knocked me up right after his brother’s funeral. I couldn’t decide whether that was morbid or inspirational.
One life ended; another started.
“Please don’t say anything to Vasili,” I croaked, meeting her soft brown eyes. We have been through so much. Our college years. Her heartbreak. Mine. Our fucked up family history. “Not yet.”
Isabella gave me a curt nod. “You kept my secrets,” she murmured softly. “This is the least I could do. Besides, doctor-patient confidentiality forbids me from sharing anyhow, so I’m safe from Vasili and so are you.”
Taking her hand into mine, I squeezed it tightly. “You don’t owe me anything,” I rasped. “We were friends first, then more. Family.”
Isabella smiled, then hugged me. “Nikola and Marietta love you. You will be a wonderful mother. God I can already see it. Nikola will be protective of his cousin. He’ll drive us nuts.”
“He will,” I mused. “He’ll drive his sister and younger cousins crazy even more.”
She helped me off the table and then handed me a change of clothes. A pair of jeans and a loose pink Valentino blouse with sheer sleeves.
“This doesn’t look like your style,” I commented as I put it on.
She chuckled. “It’s not. It’s yours. One of those deliveries that came here while you were in Russia with–”
With Adrian. When we eloped.
Rather than commenting on it, I switched subjects. “Any chance it came with matching shoes?”
Isabella shook her head, laughing. “As a matter of fact, they did. They are in your old room.”
“Thank you, Bella. You better go back to Vasili. I’m going to grab those shoes and go back home.”
Once Isabella left, I headed for my old room. My heart tripped as I marched down the hallway, then opened the door. Everything was still just the way it was when I left for college.
The bed was the same, the king size canopy with all the white ruffled sheets. Pink plush rug at my feet. White dresser and nightstand. The box with my pink shoes sat at the foot of the bed, like I had only stayed here last week when in fact it had been a long time.
I sank onto the bed, still gripping the ultrasound pictures. Black and white, showing the new life we created.
It wasn’t how I imagined creating a life.
The tightness spread from my throat to my chest. Marriage to Illias was out of the question. Not after that video I witnessed. Frustration welled through my veins. I had nobody to blame but myself for my current predicament.
