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There is a strong possibility he could try something while we’re distracted with the whole getting married thing. I’m not naïve, though. No chance in hell Kato won’t have a small army at his disposable to make sure the day proceeds without any bloodshed.

Or at least no blood shed from any of the four of us.

I refuse to dwell on any of that for now. I have enough on my mind to keep me pissed for a while. No reason to throw in the whole asshole parents crap to go along with everything else.

Turning my attention to the bedding and sheets I bought for the massive bed that will be delivered before the new massive bedroom is complete, I pile it up in the corner of my room. It’ll need to be laundered before we use them.

I don’t even care if they’re enclosed in plastic – nothing touches my body before it’s washed. The thought of what could be on the fabric has always given me the heebie jeebies. Hey, we all have something weird about us.

Light tapping on the doorframe has me glancing over my shoulder before turning back to my task.

Just because they finally came clean and made an appointment for me to choose whether or not I actually want to try for another baby doesn’t mean I’m any less angry with the giant standing in my open doorway.

“Madd’s looking for you,” he says.

I sigh heavily. He’s looking for me because he apparently has a present for me that required assembly, or at least that’s my assumption since it wasn’t ready yet when I got home.

“Did something happen during the meeting with the Pakhan?” I ask, barely gracing him with a flick of my eyes in his direction.

“Why do you ask?”

Now I fully turn toward him, tossing the throw blanket I picked for the living room couch onto the pile of things to be laundered, then cross my arms over my chest.

“Kato was acting weird. I mean…more distracted than normal, and he pretended I didn’t buy a Porsche on his dime.”

“He told you to buy a car and whatever else you wanted,” Brix says, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging.

“Because you’re all trying to buy me off. You realize that won’t work, right? That’s not how you earn forgiveness.”

A muscle jumps in his jaw and I can tell he’s clenching his jaw to keep from shooting something back at me. I almost dare him at this point. I have this weird energy flowing through me and I could really use an outlet.

I mean, a hard hate fuck would definitely work, but a screaming match could suffice if I had no other choice, I guess.

None of them have even asked how my appointment went. Of course, I won’t know until tomorrow or later whether I’m pregnant from the blood test, but there are other things we need to discuss – like how I’d opted not to go back on birth control.

You know what? If they can keep shit like that from me, I can do the same. Maybe I’ll wait a few weeks like they did before I come clean.

Although, I suppose it’s not technically coming clean since it’s exactly what all three of them wanted anyway.

I wasn’t lying when I said I would have agreed had they simply come to me about wanting to try for another child. And sure, I understand their original plan was nothing short of a punishment, a way to entrap me, a way to force a child on me since they’d believed I had voluntarily killed our first baby.

“At least tell me if the meeting went well? Any bloodshed?” My attempt at humor falls flat. Neither Brix nor I so much as crack a smile.

“Went as well as to be expected, and no bloodshed.”

I turn my back on the ridiculous number of items I purchased – in hopes of pissing Kato off to no avail – and cross my arms as I stare at Brixton. “Is this gift from Madd supposed to earn my forgiveness?”

Am I being petty? Maybe I am. They’ve apologized, and they were right – they didn’t know the truth.

Doesn’t mean they should have kept the information from me for so long. If Maddox hadn’t blurted it out, would they have waited until I was legally bound to Kato? Or maybe they would have simply waited until I was officially knocked up.

Oops. Forgot to tell you we removed your birth control.

“It’s just a gift, E. From both Maddox and Pakhan Roman. And…us. All three of us, I guess.”

I tilt my head and frown at Brix as he pushes a hand through his long hair, his eyes only ghosting over my face before he pretends to survey the damage I did to Kato’s credit card.

Something is definitely up. He looks uncomfortable, but I can’t tell whether it’s because he’s not sure what to say or because, like Kato, he doesn’t quite approve of whatever gift is waiting for me.