Page 74 of SINS & Riley
Maybe I should convince him this baby is his?
How, Riley? Immaculate conception?
I’ve had baby-making sex exactly once and it wasn’t with him.
The doctor’s words seep into every crack of my insecurities, lodging where I’m weakest. My baby.
I press a hand to my temple. I can’t lie to Zver. He’ll see right through me. And if words can’t save me—can’t save my baby?—
…maybe my body will.
Maybe the only way we live is if I don’t just tell the lie.
I sell it.
Make Zver believe this baby is his by crawling on all fours straight into his bed.
Riley, Riley, Riley… how exactly are you pulling that off when his bedroom’s in the East Wing and you’re basically on the no-fly list?
The doctor shifts, suddenly uneasy. His eyes dart across the graveyard.
He’s so jittery, you’d think he was the one knocked up.
“Come with me. I can take you somewhere safe.”
Safe? I almost laugh. There’s no safe. Not with this necklace shackled to my throat, GPS included.
Not with Zver.
“I’ll be fine.” The words come out too easy and practiced. Maybe because I’ve whispered them to myself more times than I can count.
Will my child have to learn that too?
The subtle art of lying.
“You sure?” Suddenly, he’s pacing, boots crunching over dead leaves, shoulders twitching like he’s about to crawl out of his own skin. “Come on.” He’s one breath away from begging.
What he doesn’t get is, it’s not an option.
I shake my head.
Now, he’s towering over me, finger stabbing at my face. “If you don’t come with me right now, you’ll be sorry.”
I can’t tell if it’s a threat or a warning. Both piss me off.
“No.”
“Zver’s crazy. He killed Dante D’Angelo.”
The world stops. What did he say?
Zver.
Killed.
Dante.
Why would he do that? I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it.
