Oh, she’s talking about my period.
I finally understood what she was saying. But as I thought about it, my smile slowly began to vanish. I realized by my calculations that I was almost two weeks late.
What the hell?
My eyes widened in shock, and panic crept in, reminding me of her previous statement.
Exactly. That’s why you’re so calm.
Shit.
This can’t be happening. Fuck!
I glanced around cautiously and lowered my voice. “Hilda, you don’t really think that I am….” My voice trailed off, too scared to say the word.
She looked me straight in the eyes and nodded. “You are.”
In denial, I shook my head, refusing to accept it. “No. You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do,” she answered. “When you’ve lived long enough like I have, you tend to pick up a few skills along the way.” She waited for her words to sink in. “For instance,knowing when a woman is carrying a child, even if she doesn’t know it herself.”
My hand instinctively flew to my belly as I stood before her, frozen in place. My heart was pounding, and my emotions were going haywire. I wished this were some kind of dream and that the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
In my head, my thoughts were a tangled mess, my vision was blurry, and the world around me was swirling. The thought of carrying Artur’s baby terrified me in ways I couldn’t explain.
A part of me wanted to believe that Hilda was mistaken, but the signs were glaring. At this point, I didn’t need a doctor to break the news to me.
I was pregnant. And the baby belonged to Artur Tarasov.
Yep. I’m fucked.
Chapter 18 – Artur
These past few weeks had been blissful. Everything was great. We enjoyed each other’s company more often, indulged in silly banter, and spent most nights tangled under the sheets.
It was as though that rough sex in my room had opened a window to a different reality. One neither of us knew was possible. Over time, I started growing fond of her.
Whenever I was away, I would always look forward to coming home to her. It was something I tried to put an end to, but failed woefully. I’d never had any reason to think of home while working until now. And it was a strange feeling.
Home.
My mansion used to be just a magnificent building inside and out. It was a house, a place where I lay my head and hosted my visitors. The space was my safe haven and my fortress. But it was never a home. At least not recently.
Everything just seemed a lot easier these days. My burdens were lighter. Even the problems I used to think were gigantic turned out to be pieces of cake after being intimate with her.
Making love to her seemed to always help me organize my thoughts afterward. It somehow refreshed my body and rebooted my mind. I often saw things more clearly the morning after. And every deal I was to handle within that period would always end up a success. Always.
It didn’t take long for me to understand that she was my good luck charm. Whatever positive energy she had was rubbing off on me in the best ways possible. Now, I could only hope and pray that my negativity wouldn’t get a hold of her.
She was too innocent for that.
It gladdened my heart to know that she smiled more often and mingled more with the staff. She moved about freely like sheowned the place, like she belonged. And little by little, she was already gaining the trust of some of my men.
Most of them hadn’t liked her at first. But lately, I noticed the change in their attitude toward her. They looked at her in a different light, as though she was someone deserving of their respect, loyalty, and protection.
This had nothing to do with me or the fact that I’d made it clear that she wasn’t to be joked about. Her actions had convinced them that she wasn’t the loser they thought she was.
I wasn’t entirely sure what she did to get more than half of them on her side. But I was proud. Each time she passed by, they would nod in reverence, and she’d beam at them.