Tiger Mom (Killer Moms #4) - Eve Langlais Page 0,3
hot right now.
“No, you don’t.” She found her inner strength and defied him, bolstering her courage with the thought of what she now had to protect.
“Actually, I do. You carry something of mine.” He stood and placed his free hand on her belly, which contracted.
It almost occurred to her to declare that it wasn’t his. But that might be worse.
“I just found out. I was going to tell you once I confirmed it with a doctor. Make the announcement special.” She sought the words to diffuse the coldness in his gaze.
“I’m sure you were. But, my love, I can’t let you go through this alone. I will be with you every step of our child’s journey.”
The nightmare worsened. “We shouldn’t go crazy yet. I haven’t even seen a doctor or anything.”
“Nor have you replied to my proposal. You do want to marry me, right, my love?”
“This all seems so fast.” She wavered on her feet and could feel her heart racing, the panic very real.
“How is this fast? We’ve been together for a while. Marriage is the next step.” He stared at her, and she knew the correct reply.
But her stomach churned, and she couldn’t say it. The panic in her swelled, quick and uncontained.
Instead, she blurted, “I can’t marry you.”
“Why?”
If she listed the reasons, he’d kill her. And the baby. She placed a hand over her belly. “The only reason you’re marrying me is because you think I am carrying your child. What if you find out I’m not, and the test was wrong?”
“I would still marry you. Because I love you. Don’t you love me?”
There was a deadly dare in his stare. A challenge to reject him one more time and see what happened.
“Of course, I love you.” She faked the best smile of her life. The one that would win her awards if she acted. “It would be my deepest honor to marry you.”
“Only honored?”
She hid her swallow behind a smile as she said, “I meant pleasure. I can’t wait to be your wife.”
He clinked her glass with the other. “We will marry, and soon.”
“How soon?” she asked.
“Soon enough that no one will dare call my child a bastard.”
“Does it really matter in this day and age?” she said lightly.
“It does to me.” He gripped her chin, hard enough that she’d notice bruises the next day. “Now, toast with me. This is a wondrous day, my love.”
No, it was the start of a nightmare. That same evening, she became a virtual prisoner, only allowed to leave the house while with Ronin or under guard. Clearly, he was taking no chances with his new wife.
Yes, wife. He’d gotten his way within forty-eight hours. Mostly because the person officiating didn’t care if she actually mumbled an assent. She’d worn a white lace gown, and he a tux. The female guests scowled the whole time.
Within the week, Ronin had her seeing an obstetrician on a regular basis. At the first ultrasound, he left bragging of his virility when they discovered that Macey carried twins. He restricted her activities even further. Assigned a guard to her, then two.
It was during her second trimester, on her way to a doctor’s appointment, that it happened.
The doors to the elevator had almost shut when fingers slid between them and popped them apart. Chen bristled and made to act, only to settle down when a woman with dark skin, her hair tucked in a tight chignon, wearing a smart suit, entered the elevator with them. She held a phone to her ear and spoke in English, “Call you back, getting on the elevator.” She reached forward and pressed for the top floor.
Chen, behind and to her left, ogled her bum and mimed grabbing it to hump, while Tao, the other babysitting guard, smirked. And they wondered why they were single.
Pigs, both of them, but not when it came to Macey. While they might not like the fact that they’d been assigned babysitting duty, they respected Ronin’s wife—everyone remembered what’d happened to Kyle.
Kyle had only said something complimentary about her smile. Ronin didn’t handle his jealousy well. Rumor had it that when the police came to see him at the hospital, he’d written on a pad that he’d sewn his mouth shut himself.
Chen, in Mandarin, said, “Think she gags or takes it like a pro?”
A rude query, to which Tao chuckled.
The woman suddenly turned, her ruby red lips curving into a smile. “Is that any way to treat a lady?” she asked in perfect Mandarin before