Page 155 of You Betrayed Me (The Cahills 3)

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Heart pounding, Sophia waited for the results of the pregnancy test. Her hand was shaking, her stomach in knots as she stood in the bathroom of her apartment.

What if she was pregnant?

What if she wasn’t?

She didn’t know what to wish for.

Heart beating like a jackhammer, she was totally alone, waiting for her sister to return.

Julia had been acting strange lately, had been jumpy, and Sophia really couldn’t blame her. Everything was weird. Sophia had seen on the news that that reporter woman, the one she didn’t like, Charity Spritz, had been murdered in San Francisco.

The thought of it gave Sophia a really bad feeling when she’d seen it on television.

And that wasn’t all of it.

First off, Gus had been involved in a freaky accident with a saw at the shop. He’d torn up his hand so badly that he might never have full use of it again. But then, Gus was an idiot. He might have done it on purpose and blamed James, looking for a lawsuit and a huge settlement.

Then Phoebe Matrix—that old busybody of an apartment owner/ manager—had suffered some kind of allergic reaction or diabetic seizure or something and had been rushed to the hospital. Sophia had seen the EMTs arrive and had talked to her neighbor, the older guy who was always cleaning up around here, in unit 5, Phil Something-or-Other. He’d said the old bat had made it to his door, and he’d called 9-1-1. According to him, Phoebe might not make it, was in a diabetic coma. He was pretty upset about it as he’d ended up with Phoebe’s miserable little dog.

Sophia couldn’t help but feel bad for the older woman, even if she was a pain in the ass.

But she couldn’t be distracted.

Bad shit happened.

Occupational accidents and comas occurred all the time.

But a murder? Of someone she knew? That was different.

She closed her mind to all those things and stared at the pregnancy test stick. Even if the world around her was spinning out of control, this—a baby—could change everything.

She felt her teeth sink into her lower lip.

Sitting down on the lid of the toilet, she knew she’d made a mistake. She’d lost her heart. To James. That hadn’t been part of the plan.

And now . . . God, and now, she was losing him, feeling him slip between her fingers. Because of Rebecca Travers. Her heart ached at the thought. How could it have happened? Why would he take up with Rebecca again? It just wasn’t fair.

Sophia had thought—no, prayed—-that he would fall in love with her, really fall in love, and that no other woman could turn his head.

And then Rebecca had shown up.

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bsp; Sophia’s blood began to boil at the thought of it. Because it was her own damned fault. But she wasn’t alone in that screwup; Julia had been involved too. In fact, the whole Megan going missing thing had been her idea.

Life was so damned unfair!

She squeezed the stick in her hand so hard that she caught herself, noticed the impression on her palm, and reminded herself that she had to stay calm and keep her temper under control.

It wasn’t as if the unfairness of the universe were a new thing.

It always had been unfair.

She thought of her years growing up, alone and isolated, an only child of cold-hearted parents who eventually divorced and shuffled her back and forth like some piece of unwanted furniture.

And then . . . and then, miracle of miracles, through a genealogy search company, she’d connected with Julia and learned a whole lot about who she really was. The first time she’d seen her twin, Sophia had been stunned. It had been like looking into a mirror. After connecting on the Internet and, yes, seeing pictures of each other, they’d finally met face-to-face at a little bistro in San Mateo. Sophia had watched as Julia had locked her car and walked into the outdoor area of the restaurant, which faced the street. Sophia couldn’t believe it. They were so much alike! From the blue of their eyes to the white-blond of their hair to the same dimple. Julia’s hair had been a couple of inches shorter, and she’d dressed with a little more flash, but they were definitely identical. They’d eaten Italian food and talked and laughed, and the hole that had been in Sophia’s heart began to slowly close. Finally, after years of loneliness, Sophia felt connected to someone who was truly like her—so much like her that it was a little eerie. At first, they became friends, learning all about each other, each explaining how they’d felt incomplete. It was as if Julia had insight into Sophia’s mind, and they started hanging out, talking about the future, and within a week or two, Julia had explained that she’d done more research on their family, their biological family, and had discovered that they were related to one of the richest families in the Bay Area. They were, by rights, heirs to the Amhurst fortune, and as they spent more time together, Julia hatched a plan to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. However, it involved a “little bit” of deception, Julia explained. Well, it had turned out to be more than a little bit, and Sophia had resisted, didn’t like lying or “playing” a guy the way Julia had suggested in order to get to James Cahill, but then Julia had said it was fine, she would go it alone. She really didn’t need Sophia to be a part of the plot.

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