Page 17 of Black Mark's Heart

I cleared my throat, tears threatening to spill. "These are my friends. I lost my husband only a few hours after we were married."

The sonographer looked shocked. "I'm so sorry." She packed everything away. "I guess it's kind of nice though, that part of the man you love will live on in your child. You'll always have a part of him with you now," she smiled gently.

I looked at her and started crying. Zander hugged me, holding me close.

The woman gave me a sympathetic look and held out a picture to me. "Your first picture of your baby." She wiped her own tear away and stepped out, closing the door.

I sucked in a deep breath and looked at the picture. There was a baby inside me. I had the proof now.

"Aww, look how cute it looks," Sophie clucked.

I laughed. "You are so clucky."

Sophie smiled. "I like babies, as long as I can give them back."

"Let's go." Zander stood up. "We have to go and pick up the keys to your new place."

"Our new place," I reminded Zander. He smiled.

"I still can't believe you two are moving in together, but not getting involved." Sophie shook her head. "I mean, you are going to be helping raise a child that is not yours and not getting any of the benefits."

Zander looked at Sophie. "The child belongs to two of my friends who I care deeply for. I think one of those friends is the biggest moron God put breath into, but the child needs a good father, so I'm stepping up."

"What happens when Mora finds another man and he doesn't want you around anymore?" Sophie raised a brow as I stood up and opened the door.

I looked back at them, and Zander looked to me. I shook my head. "There will never be a permanent man in my life again. I might fool around, but my heart belongs to Darius. It's unfair to lead another man on when they have no chance of me ever loving them."

I walked out to the waiting room where Jeremy and Cassandra were waiting. "So?" Cassandra asked.

"I'm not as far along as the doctor thought, only twelve weeks at most. Too early to tell yet," I replied.

"So, it was the wedding as you expected?" Cassandra asked.

"Cass!" Jeremy scolded. "You know I can't hear her answer that." Jeremy kissed my forehead in apology. "Is it healthy?"

"Yes." I looked at Cassandra. "Is it normal to be really randy when pregnant?"

Cassandra and Jeremy laughed. "Yes," they answered in unison.

"This sucks," I grumbled. "I think I'm the horniest I've ever been in my life and should be able to bang my husband regularly, but..." Everyone was quiet, watching me. I took a deep breath. "It just sucks."

Zander put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm happy to help, Mora. You know that."

I smiled and shook my head at him. "Not going to happen."

"You say that now, but a few weeks of me walking around the house naked, and you may change your mind," Zander teased.

"I'm so coming to visit daily," Sophie murmured.

"Let's go. I want the keys to my new place," I smiled.

Zander drove Sophie and I to the southern end of Saint John Street in Clerkenwell. Not far from Lynwood's location, but far enough that I shouldn't run into Darius randomly. It would be nice and close for Zander to get to work, and wasn't very far from Jeremy's recording studio for me.

I'd been house hunting while away and found this one a few weeks back. I asked Sophie and Zander to check it out for me. It was almost a divided apartment formed from the renovation of two neighboring warehouse buildings.

The kitchen, lounge, dining, and guest bedroom with en-suite were at one end, three other bedrooms with en-suites at the other, all connected by a wall to ceiling glassed walkway that looked over an atrium. It was a second-floor apartment, so I didn't have a lot of stairs to climb, and it came with two underground parking spaces, so Zander had somewhere to park his car.

We arrived at the address at the time I'd arranged to meet the real estate agent. The apartment had been empty for months, and the previous owner was desperate for a quick sale. I waived my cooling off period with an agreed one week turnaround. Today, the apartment was mine.

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