Chapter 5

My throat started closing up, and red hives broke out across my bare forearms.

With trembling hands, I hit the emergency call button by the bed.

Cassian finally pulled the earpiece from his right ear and glanced at me.

"What's wrong now?"

Paige spoke up before I could. "She probably drank it too fast and choked. Or her stomach's acting up. I'll go get a nurse."

As she backed toward the door, static crackled in Cassian's earpiece. Someone was calling in an attack on our turf.

He glanced down at his watch, then at the nurse pushing the door open, and casually set down the container of soup.

"Keep an eye on her. I have to go handle something."

I tilted my head back, watching him slip that black earpiece right back into his ear.

"Cassian."

He stopped and looked back, his thumb distractedly brushing my burning cheek.

"I hate you so much."

My throat was already so swollen I could barely form words, my voice reduced to a harsh rasp.

"I never want to see you again."

He nodded absentmindedly.

"Alright, be a good girl. I'll come back and make it up to you once I handle this mess."

The bodyguards outside urged him on in low voices. He immediately pulled his hand back and walked out with Paige without a second look.

A weak, bitter smile touched my lips as hot tears soaked into the pillow. The nurse leaned over and pulled down my collar to check on me. The color drained from her face.

She grabbed her pager and called a code for the attending doctor.

Wheels rattling against the floor, the nurses rushed my bed down the hall toward the ER.

Before I blacked out, the last thing I saw was the two of them walking away side by side at the end of the hall.

When I woke up in the ER, the doctor told me that while I'd survived the allergic reaction, I had lost the baby.

I looked down, staring blankly at my flat stomach, and didn't say a word for a long time.

The nurse said softly that they'd called my emergency contact, but someone hung up on them. Right after, they got an automated text: "For urgent matters, contact Paige."

Forcing myself to hold it together, I grabbed my phone and dialed my mother's number.

Hearing her familiar voice on the line, the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over.

"Mom, take me home."

My mother panicked at the sound of my voice. "What happened? Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'm coming to get you right now."

As my mother's car pulled out of the clinic gates, Cassian finally sent a text.

"What do you want to eat tonight? I'll have the chef make it and bring it over."

I didn't reply. I just blocked every single one of his numbers.

Cassian, I'm never seeing you again for the rest of my life.