Noire Comme la Forêt (Tous Les Limiers de l'Enfer, Tome 1)

Kendall's POV

"Kendall, I can explain! I warned her not to run her mouth, but she insisted on..." Kieran Steel leaned over, attempting to hold my hand.

But I raised my leg, placed the tip of my shoe against his shoulder, and gave him a gentle shove in the young lady's direction.

Talulah Clive took the opportunity to link arms with him, lifting her chin and grinning triumphantly. "Why are you so nervous? You kept warning me not to cause a scene in front of her, so I thought she'd be a tough nut to crack."

She tilted her head and sized me up with pure disdain. "Look, she's easy work! Even after everything I've done, she hasn't made a peep; she's such a wimp!

"Come on, baby daddy. Let's go home so you can cook for me."

Kieran didn't budge. His dark, brooding gaze locked onto me.

Perhaps my indifference had displeased him. Was he hoping to find some kind of emotion on my face?

I slowly raised three fingers and jeered. "Who told you you could leave? The game's not over yet. First of all, I have a marriage certificate; I'm no mistress."

Talulah stopped in her tracks, and the smile on her face stiffened.

"Secondly, I actually have plenty of wedding rings. He bought all the rings I laid eyes on in the jewelry store so I could wear them on rotation. The one that was stolen was my least favorite and the cheapest of them all."

Her expression hardened, and a dangerous gleam flickered in the depths of her eyes.

Kieran's friends hurriedly intervened. "That's enough, Kendall! Talulah's a total psycho. If you piss her off, there's no telling what she'll do!"

A soft smile played across my lips as my gaze landed on her lower abdomen. "Lastly, he has actually tried a labor pain simulator before. He told me it was unbearable, and he couldn't bear to see me suffer, so we agreed on going childfree or adopting one down the line. It makes me wonder, though... Could he have gotten someone else to carry a baby in my stead?"

Talulah's expression abruptly became grim.

I lowered my fingers and smiled at her. "In any case, you lose."

A pin-drop silence hung heavy in the air.

It took everyone a long while to snap out of it and talk over one another to diffuse the tension.

"Kendall still can't bear to part with Kieran. Isn't this her way of attempting to win him back?"

"That's enough. It's just a game. Don't read too much into it. Kendall, Tal, let's call a truce and drop it..."

Kieran visibly breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately let go of Talulah's wrist and walked toward me, smiling.

However, I shook my head and smiled at Talulah. "You can have Kieran. As for your punishment… I'll take your child."

"Do you have a death wish, bitch? I endured all that pain to bring my baby into the world. Naturally, they'll only recognize me as their mother—"

I rested my chin on my hand and smirked, cutting her off. "I mean, I want the child right now."

Right after saying that, I gently pushed a fruit knife toward Talulah. Its blade reflected her furious, incredulous face.