Page 52 of Toxic Salvation
“Good. Because that’s the only way I’m going to forgive you for dropping off the face of the earth without explanation. I want details and I want them face to face. Meet me for lunch at Giovanni’s today.”
“Whoa, hold on, Char. I’m not sure I can make it?—”
“Is your mother currently stable?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Then you’re coming. Unless you’re telling me our friendship is over?”
I whistle long and low. “You sure know how to guilt trip a girl.”
“I learned from the best. My grandmother would be proud. Don’t be jealous—I can teach you the technique. If you show up for lunch, of course.”
“So many conditions.”
“You have only yourself to blame.”
I glance upstairs toward the bedrooms, then toward the kitchen where Pavel disappeared. Getting past Kovan’s self-appointed security detail won’t be easy, but I need this. I need to talk to someone who isn’t a Krayev brother or my dying mother.
“Fine. I’ll be there. No matter what I have to do to get there.”
“That’s the spirit! And Vesper? Whatever’s going on, we’ll figure it out together. That’s what best friends do.”
After she hangs up, I stare at my phone for a long moment. Charity has no idea what she’s promising to help me figure out. How do you tell your best friend that the father of your unborn child might be a criminal mastermind? That your dead father was apparently a monster? That you’ve turned into the kind of person who falsifies medical records and hacks into hospital databases?
I shove the phone into my pocket and head for the front door. I’ll deal with everything else when I get back.
“What the hell are you doing at this table?” Charity demands the moment she spots me tucked away in the corner booth. “We’re basically seated in the bathroom. I can literally hear every flush.”
“Hello to you, too.” I stand to give her a hug, and she squeezes me so tight I can barely breathe.
She pulls back but keeps her hands on my shoulders, studying my face with the intensity of a detective. “But for real, though, do you want to eat here when we’re going to be serenaded by bathroom acoustics?”
As if on cue, we hear the distant sound of a toilet flushing. Charity arches one eyebrow at me. “See? Number one or number two? Place your bets.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” I gesture for her to sit. “I don’t want to be overheard.”
Immediately, her expression changes from annoyance to alarm. “Oh, boy. This sounds serious. Should we wait for breadsticks or are you about to drop a bomb on me?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Charity’s jaw literally drops. “Okay, fuck the breadsticks. Are you serious right now?”
I nod, suddenly nervous. “Guilty as charged. I’m going on four months, actually.” She grabs my arm, her nails digging in so hard I yelp. “Ow! Easy there, tiger.”
“Sorry, sorry.” She lets go of me but doesn’t stop staring. “I just wasn’t expecting that. Four months? Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?!”
“Because I didn’t find out until a month ago. With everything that happened between Kovan and me, and then Mom being hospitalized, I didn’t even realize I’d missed my period.”
“Several of them, apparently.”
I sigh. “I know it’s insane. I’m still processing it myself.”
“Kovan’s the father, I’m assuming?”
“Mhmm. That’s where I’ve been the past few weeks. I’m living with him again. Actually, the whole family is. Waylen and Mom moved in right after I did.”
Charity blinks slowly. “Um… might I ask why?”
