Page 64 of Under Your Scars

After I wash my hands, I pull out my phone and dial the number for my gynecologist’s office. I explain the situation, and the receptionist tells me they have an opening in a month.

That’s the downside of living in a huge city. I can never get an appointment for anything in a timely manner. I tell her to get me on the books and let me know if anything sooner comes up.

I hang up with them as I walk out of the bathroom and Christian furrows his brow.

“What was that?”

I shrug. “Oh, you know. Girl stuff.”

“You look worried.” I shrug again. “Elena, tell me.”

“It’s really nothing.” I sigh. “I just…started my period early, which has never happened. I just called my doctor for an appointment to make sure everything’s fine. Especially since, you know, I’m…sexually active now.”

“You started your period early,” Christian repeats.

“Sorry, I know men don’t like to hear about the horrors of being a woman.”

Christian chuckles and throws his arm around my shoulder as he leads me back to the car. “It doesn’t bother me, I promise. It was just…unexpected.”

A few minutes later, as we’re driving back to his estate, he says, “I wanted your input on something.”

“Okay,” I reply, tilting my head in curiosity.

“This is going to sound weird since we haven’t been together that long, but since we are, your opinion matters to me.” He takes a deep breath. “The orphanage has a foster program sponsored by the state. It’s always been in the back of my mind, but I’ve never committed to it because of work. Caroline just…she got me thinking about it again and I want to go for it.”

“To foster? I think that’s wonderful.”

He chuckles. “Of course you do, because you’re perfect. I’m asking because you’re the most important part of my life and I want to make sure you’re okay with it. Don’t feel like you have to say yes. It’s a big commitment.”

“So what you’re really asking is if I’ll fosterwithyou?”

“We’re together, so it’s a decision we should make together,” he clarifies. “Caroline loves you.”

I laugh wistfully, my heart squeezing at the thought of everything Christian could give her. I take a deep breath. “Let me think about it?”

He nods and laces our fingers together, and once again, it feels like he’s promising me a future.

“Do you have a passport?” Christian asks while I’m typing away on my keyboard. It’s raining outside, the storm pelting against the windows of our office hard enough that it makes the glass of my desk vibrate.

“Yeah. Why?” I reply, not looking up from the rejection emails I’m writing to the candidates that weren’t selected for the Secretary of the Board position. It’s been a week since we conducted the interviews.

“I’m going to Greece to meet with some investors,” he says, walking across the office and moving my keyboard away from me so my attention is solely on him. I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, looking up at him with a defiant raised brow.

“What does that have to do with me?”

He growls and takes my jaw in his large, warm hand. “It is way too early in the morning for you to be so mouthy. Remember what happened last time?”

The corner of my mouth quirks up into a smile and I tug my chin out of his grasp with a laugh. “So you’re going to Greece? When?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll be gone three days, five if you count travel, and I want you to come with me. It’s not going to be stuffy board meetings like we have here. Mostly business dinners and yacht parties.”

With disappointment, I shake my head. “I can’t miss three days of work at the Lounge.”

Christian tightens his jaw in frustration, and his entire mood shifts. “That fucking club,” he growls. “You know what? No. You’re done working there. I’m going to go talk to Valenti and work out a deal.”

I scoff. “I assume by ‘deal’you mean you’re going to ask him to name his price for letting me go?” Hurt twists in my chest. “I’m not an object, Christian, you can’t just buy me.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You don’t seem to have a problem with other men throwing their money at you while you’re there, but when it’s me you suddenly have an issue with it? I’m trying to get you out of that place. If paying him is what does it, I’m not losing any sleep over it, and neither should you.” The backs of my eyes sting at his accusatory words. He doesn’t get it. I’ve been stuck there from the moment I walked through those doors. Leaving has never been an option for me. Christian softens and then rubs a knuckle across my cheek. “I didn’t mean it like that, Elena.”