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“She’s safe,” Mikhail says.
Alex frowns. “Are you going to let her answer? And who are you anyway?”
I clear my throat, forcing my lips into something that barely passes for a smile. “Uh…Alex, Maggie—this is Mikhail.”
Mikhail takes a step forward, and with a perfectly straight face, he adds, “I’m the husband.”
Maggie chokes on absolutely nothing.
Alex’s expression tightens, his gaze cutting to me so fast I feel whiplash.
I groan internally, closing my eyes for half a second before forcing another awkward smile. “It’s…um, complicated.”
Maggie recovers first. She blinks, eyes wide. “I—sorry,what?”
“Husband,” Mikhail repeats smoothly, slipping a hand into his pocket, like this is the most natural thing in the world. “You know, marriage. Vows. Legally binding commitment.”
Maggie gapes at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. “When were you planning to tell me that?”
“Well,” I mutter, shifting uncomfortably, “I was going to…eventually?”
She narrows her eyes, pointing a finger at me. “This is because I made you go to that party, isn’t it? You’re getting back at me for that.”
I let out a strained laugh. “Yeah, Maggie, I totally went and gotmarriedjust to teach you a lesson about dragging me to college ragers.”
Alex hasn’t spoken yet. But when I look at him, his face is tightly controlled, his jaw tense, like he’s trying to figure out what the hell he just walked into.
“You’re married,” he finally says, voice carefully neutral.
I exhale, rubbing my temples. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Youguess?” Maggie hisses. “Leah, that’s not how marriage works.”
Mikhail smirks, clearly enjoying this way too much.
I shoot him a side glare, but he just arches a brow, likethis is amusing, keep going, I’m entertained.
I turn back to Maggie, ignoring his smug expression. “It’s complicated, okay?”
“Clearly!” she exclaims. “You were single two seconds ago!”
Mikhail, because he is incapable of letting things be, leans against the doorframe, arms crossed, smirking like the devil himself. “You never questioned the pregnancy?”
Maggie’s eyes flicker between us, her expression suddenly more thoughtful than surprised. “Well,” she says, dragging the word out, “I’m pretty open-minded. I figured it was a bad relationship she didn’t want to talk about.”
The air shifts.
Alex stiffens.
Maggie winces as soon as she says it, realizing too late that she’s just stepped into something she shouldn’t have.
A heavy silence settles between us, thick and uncomfortable.
Mikhail’s smirk falters, just slightly. His eyes darken, his fingers tapping once against his forearm as he watches me.
I force out a strained laugh, shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, well. It was…complicated.”
Maggie nods quickly, clearly desperate to move past the awkwardness. “Right, yeah. Totally. Makes sense.”