Page 49 of Depraved Royals
“Are you feeling better?” I ask. “Pippa brought coffee. I didn’t tell her you might be too sick to drink it.”
Dani turns and smiles at me. She looks pale, and I frown. I put the cups on the floor and go to her, pressing my hand to her forehead.
“You’re not feverish, but you look like hell. How many times have you thrown up?”
“Twice. It’s alright, Kal. I’ll be okay. But you’re gonna have to chill out a bit.”
“Why do I have to do that? I’m worried about you. There’s no fucking air in here.” I pick up her paint can, sniffing it. “And what’sinthis shit, anyway?”
“It’s water-based. And it’s not as though I’m drinking it,” she laughs. “I don’t want the coffee either. Not a good idea in my condition.”
What?
“Wait a minute,” I say, grabbing her hand. “You’re…?”
“Yep,” she grins. “At least a couple of months. I did a test yesterday and another this morning to be sure.”
My heart is pounding. She’s caught me totally off guard, and I don’t know how to feel.
I’m gonna be a father. Me. The most dysfunctional asshole ever.
“I don’t know how to be a parent,” I say. The words come out of me without a thought to how it sounds. “I’ve never known a happy family. What if I fuck it up?”
Dani turns my hand over in hers and brings it to her face, resting it on her cheek.
“We’rea family now,” she says. “You and me and the baby. We’ve brought a poisonous vendetta to a peaceful conclusion, and now it’s about the future.” She kisses my thumb. “I promised I’d help you heal, Kal. I believe in you.”
I take her waist in my hands and pull her body to me. She wraps her arms around my neck.
“What do you need?” I ask. “Tell me how I can help. Nothing is too much to ask.”
Dani laughs. “I don’t need you to walk over water for me, but if you could go get me some peppermint tea, I’d be grateful.”
Peppermint tea. Something Dani and Idina both like.
They could have gotten along in another life, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
When Vera showed signs of spirit, my mother soon stomped that out. Dani would get the same treatment.
* * *
I’m still thinking about my sister when I see her on the corner of the street. It’s as though my thoughts summoned her.
She’s standing there as though she’s waiting for someone. It can only be me, but seeing as I wasn’t expecting her, I figure she’s been there a while.
“S’up, bro,” she says as I reach her. “How’s domestic bliss?”
“So I guess word travels fast,” I say.
“It can travel a lot fucking faster. But the headline is that you sold us out for pussy, and I thought I’d come and see for myself.” She smirks. “Luckily for you, Idina doesn’t know yet. What’s it worth to me to keep my mouth shut?”
“You don’t know what’s happening, so what are you even gonna say? Plans have changed. I’ll tell her the whole story when I’m ready.”
Vera lights a cigarette, blowing smoke into my face. “You’ll destroy her, Kal. All that time and energy wasted on you. Years and years. She drilled it into you - you have a job to do. You have to avenge our father—”
“Erik was not my father,” I say, “and I’m glad. The cunt did some terrible things, Vera. Don’t you remember what he was like? Why did we let Idina peddle these lies about him being a great man? He was a piece of shit.”
Vera slaps me across the face.