Page 26 of Let Vengeance Be Mine

“What’s fuckin’ wrong?” I stare back at him, wondering if he really is that stupid. “Are you forgetting what happened the last time I took a girl to a sonogram appointment?” My hand slides through my hair as I blow out a frustrated breath.

“Matteo, that is not gonna happen again. The car has been checked, rechecked and triple-checked, and I will personally stay with it the whole time.”

“It’s not just that. Her being out there is a risk, what if she’s seen? What if…?” I stop myself because saying the words out loud will remind me of how wrong they are.

“Matteo.” Demitri gives me that look that reminds me nothing I say will faze him.

“What if a glimpse back into reality makes her realize how fucked-up all this is?” I say the words that have been going round and round in my head for weeks now.

“Matteo, my friend…” Demetri shakes his head and laughs at me. “...I don’t know how you did it, but that girl is in love with you. I don’t think there is anything that can change that.”

“There are plenty of things that could change that,” I point out, tensing my fists in frustration. “Her feelings for me are delusional. I’m not the man she thinks I am.”

“Youarethat man for her.” He shrugs, taking a seat on the opposite side of my desk. “I’ve known you for twenty-five years and that girl has brought out a side of you I don’t recognise. I don’t need to tell you that she’s changed you. This plan of yours has gone far beyond vengeance. You’re in lo–”

“Stop right there.” I cut him off. “I care for Aria, deeply. She fascinates me, in a way I don’t understand, but I donotlove her. You and I both know I am incapable of that.” I make that point very clear.

“Okay, but just to let you know…That girl, you don’t love, is really excited to see that baby, you knocked her up with, today. Fabier has closed his practice for the morning and I will have two other cars with guards in to escort you there.Nothingis going to go wrong.” He wears a clever smirk as he gets up from his chair, and after he’s headed out the door, I rest both my palms flat on my desk and take some steady breaths.

It’s a few minutes later when the door creaks open and Aria steps inside.

“You ready?” She smiles at me, confirming that Demetri’s right, she is really excited about today, and I won’t let my anxieties ruin it for her.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I pull myself together and go to her.

“Let’s go meet our baby.” The smile on her face is so genuine it reminds me, again, that I don’t deserve it, and as I take her hand in mine and lead her out to the car, I wonder how far I’d go to keep it there.

* * *

Fabier has stuck to his word, his practice is empty when we arrive. He doesn’t even have another member of staff here. Then again, I had no reason to doubt him, not for the amount of money I’m paying to get him out of the shit, he’s in.

Aria lies on the bed beside the screen, while we wait for him to come back with her blood results from last week. She’s looking a lot more nervous, now we're here; the way she keeps flattening out the tissue paper, she has tucked into the top of her jeans, proves that.

“It feels really real being here doesn’t it?” She tries to make conversation while her eyes wander around the room.

“Yeah, it does.” I smile back at her, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, while we’re here.

“Are you nervous—?”

The door, opening, interrupts us before I can answer and when Fabier walks in he smiles at us both before sitting on the stool, in front of the sonogram machine.

“You’ll be pleased to know all the blood work, I took from you last week, has come back normal,” he assures us, and I nod my head feeling relieved. I made sure every test available was carried out in case there was any extra care Aria needed. She’s been so tired lately, and although Fabier said that is normal in the early stages of pregnancy, I have been worried about her.

“All that leaves for us to do, now, is have a look and see how things are developing.” He smiles as he picks up his instrument and covers it in a clear gel. Aria reaches for my hand, squeezing it tight as she looks up and the ceiling and takes a breath.

I watch the screen, intently, as he moves the thing over her stomach, and when the image on the screen becomes clear, I clench her hand a little tighter.

“There we are.” Fabier gestures his eyes at the screen and when Aria eventually turns her head to look for herself, her eyes fill up with tears.

“That’s our baby?” she checks as if she doesn’t quite believe it.

“It sure is, and this…” Fabier presses something on his computer and the sound of galloping horses fills the room. “...is your baby’s heartbeat.”

Aria makes a cute, relieved laugh as she stares at the screen and listens. And Fabier explains that he has to take some measurements while she remains transfixed.

“This all estimates that you're around 11 weeks and 2 days along,” he confirms, once he’s done. Then placing the instrument back in its holder, he leaves the image of our child on the screen and gives Aria more tissue to clean herself up.

“So, what now?” I ask, rising to my feet and watching him move over to the printer, on the other side of the room.

---