Page 114 of Babies for the Big Shot

But I text back:Yeah. Let’s sort this out.

If that magazine is behind this, they’ve made one hell of a mistake.

Because I don’t care what it costs me anymore. My name. My job. My damn reputation.

They came for me?

Fine.

But now they’ve come for her.

And I’ll burn the whole damn building down before I let that stand.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Sara

I don’t go straight homeafter the appointment.

I walk for an hour, maybe two, around the block, through the park, past cafés I used to love and restaurants I can’t afford.

It’s sunny out, but I can’t feel it. The world is too loud, too bright, too much, and all I want to do is find a quiet corner and disappear into it.

By the time I reach my building, my legs throb with every step and my mind churns, raw, shredded, barely holding shape.

Triplets.

Three heartbeats.

Three.

I still don’t know how I made it through the appointment without passing out. I still don’t know how I’m standing.

I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this.

The second the elevator doors open to my floor, I walk straight past my apartment and knock on Laura’s door. I don’t think, I just knock.

She answers in pajama pants and a face mask, blinking at me as if she’s mid-nap and expecting takeout, not a hormonal breakdown. “Sara?”

“I need to tell you something,” I say, and my voice cracks so violently on the last word that she grabs my wrist and yanks me inside without a second thought.

I don’t make it past her couch. I sit down and pull my knees up, wrapping my arms around myself like I’m trying to stop the pieces from flying apart.

Laura peels off the mask and crouches in front of me, alarmed. “Okay. Deep breaths. Did Nick show up? Did someone die? Did Meatball choke on a sock again?”

I shake my head. “Worse.”

She stiffens. “Sara… it’s not twins, is it?”

I look at her. Eyes glassy. Voice trembling. “It’s triplets.”

She goes completely still. Then she laughs, one of those high-pitched, nervous sounds that don’t mean amusement at all. “Sorry. I thought you just said… triplets?”

“I did.”

Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. “Like… three babies?”

I nod.