Page 29

But I never got that.

As I watch them, I imagine the expression on my face must be much like my stats professor when he stares at my belly. The Barons are creeps, but they love their Baroness. They caress her, hold her, devour her.

And when my eyes drift from the Baron’s hand upwards, suddenly catching Regina’s eye, her expression must be what mine is like when I’m gawked at by ex-Princes: sour, offended, and full of irritation.

Since I’m not in the mood for whatever bullshit she’s ready to dish out, I turn and head for the staircase. The door is heavy, and when I enter the stairwell, it’s quiet and secluded. Still, I climb a full flight before allowing myself to take a breath, trying to shake off this sudden electricity beneath my skin. My heart is racing, saliva pooling in my mouth, and between my thighs…

Slam.

I jolt at the sound of the heavy door below closing, fretting that a Baron has followed me. Sy had sat me down my first night back in West End and warned me that a true Princess—one who wears the Princes' ring and bears their child—is in more danger than any other Royal woman.

Worried, I begin climbing, but the sound of rapid footsteps behind me makes me push harder, faster, my calves burning as I rush to outrun the intruder.

I’ve just reached the next floor, panting, hand extended for the doorknob, when a hand slams against the surface. My shocked yelp is owed just as much to the force as it is to the large, masculine form boxing me in from behind.

A low, gruff voice speaks into my ear. “You’re not using the heart monitor.”

I gasp, turning to meet amber eyes. “Lex! Jesus, you scared me!”

If Iwerewearing the heart monitor, he’d know the panicked gallop of my pulse because Lex’s face is stony with anger. For a moment, I’m convinced he knows about the meeting in the boiler room, and every cell of my being is preparing for the punishment.

His tense jaw clicks around his gritted words. “I left instructions.”

I twist the knob, but his palm still holds the door shut. “Seriously?” I growl, giving it a futile tug. “You get one examination with me a month. No more, no less. I’m not strapping on some device just to feed your obsessive need for control over my body.”

He pushes me into the door, his body a brick wall against my back. “You seem confused,” he hisses into the side of my head. “Just because you get to spend three weeks in the gutter doesn’t mean your body doesn’t belong to us.”

My nostrils flare. “Let me go.”

“Not until you obey.”

Unbidden, his words from my last night in the palace float back to me.

“I don’t need you to trust me. I just need you to obey me.”

Jaw clenched, I insist, “I’ve been obeying.”

He grabs my shoulder and spins me around, pushing me into the hard surface. It’s only then that I catch full sight of his incensed face. “Is that what you call gulping down metric fucktons of caffeine? Because I’m pretty sure my specific instructions were to never drink coffee.”

Caffeine?

He doesn’t know about the meeting, I realize.

The relief is short-lived as my jaw drops. “How do you know about that?” I’ve been so careful about getting coffee these past couple of weeks, not even buying it myself but instead having it delivered like some illicit, criminal thing.

“We know everything.” Lex scoffs, eyes dipping down to my chest. “The same way I know you’re horny right now. You broadcast it like a billboard.”

“What?!” I gape at him, hot anger rising to the surface of my skin. “Am not!”

Mechanically, he begins listing off, “You’re flushed. Sweaty. Rapid pulse. Dilated pupils. Plus,” he reaches between us to flick me, “your nipples could cut glass.” Sputtering, I slap his hand away, but he goes on. “Pregnancy hormones, Princess. They’re going to do a lot more than make you salivate over watching while the Baroness gets fingerbanged in the corridor, so listen the fuck up.” He punctuates this by gripping my chin, forcing my eyes to his. “You need everything I send you, up toand includingthe vitamins I had made specifically for you at the compound pharmacy. They contain folic acid, iodine, and vitamins D, C, A, E, and F, which stands forfucking take them, or else.”

I gnash my teeth against his grip. “Since you know everything already, you should be aware that the pills make me nauseous. I can barely keep anything down.”

His thumb digs into my cheek, eyes hardening. “I don’t care. You find a way to keep them down because, in seven months, the baby that comes out of that toxic waste dump you call a body had better be so goddamn healthy, he defies science.”

“Why do you care?” I snap, planting my palms on his shoulders and shoving him. “You couldn’t even fuck me right. It sure as hell isn’t yours.”

Lex almost stumbles but quickly corrects, grip tightening, and I see the words land as the barbs they were meant to be. His eyes flash hot, and he jerks me close, sneering, “It’s not yours, either. The sooner you realize that, the better it’ll be for all of us.”