Page 37 of Forbidden Boss

Mari is on the paper-covered exam table, sitting upright in a loose gown, cheeks pale and eyes wide. A female doctor stands with a chart in hand. Mari stares at me, horror in her eyes. The doctor looks between us, then eyes me with anger.

“Sir, this is a private examination?—”

“Leave,” I say.

The doctor’s eyes flick to Mari. Mari swallows and nods once. The doctor slides past me, careful not to touch me. I wait until the door shuts. Then I look back at Mari.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Her chin lifts defiantly. “I needed to see a doctor.”

“You said you were going to the dentist.”

“I needed to confirm something.”

“What?”

She takes a shaky breath, her eyes never leaving mine. She’s pissed, that’s obvious, but I see something else underneath. She’s afraid of whatever she’s about to tell me.

“I’m pregnant,” she answers, barely audible.

The room narrows to almost nothing. I feel like I can’t breathe. This isn’t remotely what I expected her to say, and yet all the signs have been there. She’s been pale, withdrawn, and moody. She’s avoided me for days. All this time, she must have known.

“Would you have told me if I hadn’t caught you here?”

“I don’t know,” she says truthfully. I’m impressed by her honesty. “I didn’t know how you’d react, so I’ve been weighingmy options. I didn’t want to decide anything until I knew for sure.”

“And now you do?” I prompt.

“Now I do,” she confirms, pulling her paper gown tighter around herself. “Are you mad?”

I think this over for only a second.

“I’m angry about a lot of things,” I say. “But not this. I wish you hadn’t kept it from me, but I’m not angry we’re having a baby.”

“You want this?” she asks in an impossibly small voice.

Again, I only have to consider the question for a second. Years ago, I wanted this more than anything I could have expressed. Then the chance was stolen from me, and I didn’t think it would ever be given to me again. So I answer as truthfully as I can.

“I want both of you breathing and safe,” I say. “I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

Some color comes back to her face. She looks like she might cry, but she holds it back. I take the chair from the corner and set it by the table so I’m not towering over her.

“That’s good,” she sighs out, looking lighter than before.

“I am angry that you slipped your guards,” I add. “And I do need you to get dressed right now. We have to go.”

Her eyes go wide again as she reads between the lines. She hears the warning I don’t say out loud. She just nods and shoos me out the door so she can change.

I wait in the hallway, nodding to a very pregnant woman who walks by with a nurse. They both eye me suspiciously, but I don’tmind. Seeing the woman, it hits me how real this is. Mari is having a baby. My baby. I’m going to have a family. And losing them is not remotely an option.

17

MARI

We don’t talk on the ride back. Lev sits next to me in the SUV, his knee bouncing the whole way. His phone lies facedown on his thigh, like he’s forcing himself not to touch it. Yuri rides up front. No one says a word. I watch the buildings slide by and try to keep my breathing steady.

This could be bad. Catastrophic, even. I can’t read Lev at all right now, and it’s freaking me out. He said he wasn’t angry with me for keeping the pregnancy from him, but even that doesn’t stop the anxiety climbing in my chest. The tension in the car is palpable.