Page 102 of Perfect Sin

“How are you going to handle the fact they’re expecting me?” A wall comes down, shutting off the emotions he was displaying so easily a moment ago. I nod. “You’re going to kill them.”

“Gerrick thinks he can turn on these people, squeeze them out of business and they are just going to run away and lick their wounds? What is he going to do when they come back seeking revenge? I don’t want a life spent looking over my shoulder. Especially now.”

“Why now?” I’m genuinely confused. He’s been treating me even more carefully than before, with the exception of our love making of course.

“You’ve been sick the last few mornings, more emotional than usual, tired all the time—” he trails off.

“You think— I’m on the pill,” I argue.

“Princess, it isn’t a hundred percent effective.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t missed—” My mind races. How long has it been since my last period. “Is today the third?”

He nods.

“November third, and my last period was. Shit!” I jump up and race to the bathroom. Underneath the sink is still fully stocked with my feminine hygiene products. Things I haven’t restocked since we moved in.

I start shaking. “How did I not realize how late I am?” My world is spinning off course, and my head along with it. I stumble, but he’s there to catch me before I fall to the ground.

“How are you so calm right now? I could be pregnant, and you are acting like this isn’t life-altering.”

“Of course it is. And I know we aren’t ready, but we will be. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. You need to take a pregnancy test, and then we’ll decide what to do next.”

“You’re right, though. I can’t go to the meeting.”

He kisses me on the forehead. “No, you can’t. And now you see why I can’t risk them coming back after you.”

“You could get caught. Please, I can’t do this without you,” I beg him.

He wraps his arms around me. “We don’t even know what this is exactly. Let me worry about what happens. I’m not going to go anywhere.”

30

Contingencies

Sin

The next fewdays are spent letting Tessa be seen hanging out with us. Ford is visibly uncomfortable every time she’s around, but Ted says this isn’t unusual for them after a fight. The girls seem to be thawing to her more naturally, and I wonder how much of it is for show. I don’t trust her, but there are few people who fit into that category anyway.

We’ve abandoned the ploy of making Jesse think she is making any headway with me, instead leading him to believe she’s becoming friends with Raven. I hate involving her at all, especially until we know if she’s pregnant. Who am I kidding? I’d never be comfortable risking Raven.

As far as finding out if we are going to be parents, it is proving to be more difficult than we thought. She took a home pregnancy test, which turned purple. Not pink or blue, but purple. She tried a digital one, but it didn’t work either. The school clinic recommended a doctor, but the soonest they could see her is later in the week.

The plan seems to be working if Jesse’s attitude is any indication. As usual he is smug in class, but he seems a little extra arrogant. By all appearances, he’s content to let Tessa make the moves for now and help him get Raven alone. He has more trust in her than we do, though. All of her communications are being monitored, and we’ve even taken to following her when she isn’t with us. As a precaution, she’s moved into Ted’s room at the apartment so Shane and Ford can keep an eye on her.

She joins us for lunch now, earning her the occasional glare from her new friends. Poppy rarely shows much lucidity, frankly I’m not sure how she makes it to class, but the few times she seems to register any awareness at all is when Tessa is with us. It’s just another indication of how far out of his depth Jesse is if he set up Poppy as the one to spy on us.

Toward the end of the week, Tessa sits down at the table with us for lunch. “Everyone is talking about the gym opening, Ford,” she says loud enough for the people sitting nearby to overhear. Particularly Poppy, who is once again paying attention to everything we do and say.

This is the signal we discussed. Once she managed to convince Jesse she could get Raven alone without trying to seduce me, she’d bring up the party. “Have you confirmed the date of the party yet?”

“Yeah, it’s this weekend. Did you want me to put you on the list?”

“This weekend?” Lucien manages to seem surprised. The man is a gifted liar, and yet I still consider him one of the few people I trust. Two people actually, with Raven being the only other one.

“Is that a problem?” Ford asks. He knows it’s a problem. There’s the matter of the fake appearance we have to make at a meeting with his father.

“Uh, yeah. Sin and I have to go back to Devil’s Crossing. My father wants us to be more involved with his campaign.”