“Jesus Christ, do you think I’m an imbecile? I know I’m not the bloody father!”
She narrows her eyes. “Exactly. You’re not the father, you’re going to be sending me home soon, and I’ll be out of your hair forever. So what are you getting so excited about?”
I flail around for something that would explain my bizarre emotional turmoil over this news. All I can come up with is, “I don’t believe in abortion.”
“Congratulations. Still not your business.”
I start to pace again. Sloane watches me with eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.
“If you’re thinking that you’re going to keep me chained up in your home indefinitely to block my reproductive rights, I’ll tell you right now that won’t work.”
I wasn’t thinking that, but it does make me curious. “Why not?”
“Kieran and Homer would never let you do that to me.”
I gape at her, astounded. “Spider told you his real name?”
“Of course. Why is that so shocking?”
“He doesn’t tell anyone his real name. I didn’t know it until we’d known each other for more than ten years. And he was only in the room with you for three minutes.”
She gives me a look. “The wee homely camel princess is good at getting dogs to do her bidding, remember?”
When I glare at her, seething, she sighs.
“Can we please not fight? I’ve got a splitting headache, my brain might be about to kill me, and I might be—but I’m not—with child. I don’t have the energy for verbal combat.”
She slumps back against the pillows and pulls the covers over her face.
I pace for a while longer. My mind is the smoking aftermath of a nuclear bomb.
Pregnant. The woman I kidnapped is pregnant with a Bratva baby?
Holy fuck. And I thought things were bad before.
From under the covers, Sloane says, “If I ask you a personal question, will you answer?”
“No.”
Naturally, she ignores that. “Did you have a girlfriend who terminated her pregnancy against your wishes?”
I drop into the chair beside her bed and exhale. “No.”
“Oh. Okay. Sorry, that was none of my business. It’s just that the topic seems like a trigger point for you.”
“If I tell you it’s because I believe all life is sacred, you’ll laugh at me.”
“Of course I’ll laugh at you. Would you like to know why?”
“No.”
“Because you kill people for a living.”
I don’t know why I bother answering her questions. All she does is ignore me. I grumble, “That’s not all I do.”
She flips the covers off her face and stares at me with her brows drawn together. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot extortion, racketeering, gun running, human trafficking—”
“No bloody human trafficking!”
“—drug smuggling, forgery, tax fraud, stock manipulation, corruption of public officials—”
“Where are you getting this information? Google?”
“Are you saying you don’t do those things?”
I say through gritted teeth, “You have no idea what I do, lass.”
“Don’t glower at me. And why are you so upset? I’m the one with the brain damage and the maybe-baby.” Her eyes go wide. “Oh god.”
Alarmed by her expression, I say, “What now?”
“The ketamine you gave me…” She stares at me in horror.
My stomach rolls over. My voice comes out gruff. “It was only one dose. One low dose.”
“It was enough to make me lose my memory. Imagine what it could do to a fetus!”
“That could’ve been the fall.”
She says sarcastically, “The drop, you mean. And it might not have been.”
When I don’t say anything, she covers her eyes with a hand and whimpers.
I stand, take her hand away from her face, and lean over her, gazing down into her worried eyes. “The baby will be fine,” I say with more conviction than I feel. “You’re young, strong, and healthy. You’re both going to be okay.”
I don’t add Unless die from that brain clot, because that would just be rude.
She stares up at me, panicking, but managing to despise me nonetheless. “Declan, if it turns out that this kid that I’m not having has anything less than a genius IQ, I’ll kill you. And I don’t mean that figuratively.”
Bypassing the threat on my life, which I’m sure she’s sincere about, I smile. “Deal.”
“Why are you smiling? I just said I’d kill you!”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t get it.”
“If you want to slit my throat, you must be feeling better.”
She purses her lips, considering me. “It wouldn’t be throat slitting. Too bloody.”
“Gun?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Too messy.”
“Ah, I remember. Something slow and painful involving flesh-eating bacteria.”
She nods. “So I could sit in a chair in the corner and watch as you’re consumed inch by inch over the course of days. No, weeks. Months.” She smiles. “In agony.”
I chuckle. “You actually like that idea. What a little monster. And you look so sweet.”
After an odd pause, her voice comes out tentative. “You think I look sweet?”
“No. I think you look like a camel. You’re revolting.”
We stare into each other’s eyes. I become aware of her breathing, the flush creeping over her cheeks, and that I’ve leaned closer, so close, our noses are only inches apart.
She says softly, “You don’t think I look like a camel.”
I have to moisten my lips before I answer, my mouth is so dry. “A hyena. A warthog. A kakapo.”
“I don’t know that last one.”
“It’s a giant flightless parrot.”
“A parrot? So it’s cute.”
I shake my head slowly, fighting the urge to lean closer and press my mouth to hers. My voice is husky when I answer. “No. It’s disgusting.”
After a moment, she whispers, “Liar.”
She pushes me away and rolls over onto her side again.
I straighten and blow out a slow, silent breath. I pass a hand through my hair. Then I take my cell phone from my pocket and send a text to Spider.
I’m coming there now. Make sure he’s ready to talk.
With one last glance at Sloane, I leave the room, nodding at the armed men in black suits Kieran has installed on either side of the door while I’ve been inside.
I head out for a chat with Stavros.
I wonder if Sloane would ever forgive me if I went back on my word and killed him.
Only one way to find out.
18
Sloane
The instant the door closes behind Declan, I push the call button for the nurse.
Sixty seconds later, Nancy arrives, looking like she’d rather be eating a bowl of razor blades than visiting me.
“Hi, Nancy. I apologize for being a witch to you earlier, but I’m not feeling that great at the moment. Aside from my brain bleeding all over itself, I’ve been kidnapped.”