Vicious Minds (Children of Vice 4)

“Vai, ora! (Go, now!)” I screamed in Italian.

His jaw tensed, but he shrugged out of his jacket and pulled off his tie. “Pull yourself together babe, it’s not very assassin-like.”

I grabbed the first thing I could reach, a small gold decoration, and threw it at his head. He ducked as he made his way over to the shower. He was mocking me? I was being attacked by his little spawn and he was mocking me. Didn’t he know how close I was to ripping his head off his nice broad shoulders? The mere thought of it, his body running around headless like a chicken, made me feel much better. It took a second until he stood under the water, but finally my punishment was over and I pushed myself off the ground, flushing the toilet.

I moved to the sink, and in the large framed mirror I saw him glaring at me from the shower. I grabbed my mouthwash, cleaning out my mouth before brushing my teeth, not once but twice, giving him time to finish as the mirror fogged up. He exited the shower with a large white towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets slowly rolled down his abs and dripped from his dark hair. If I didn’t want to kill him so badly, I would be tempted to join him.

He stood beside me for a second and I turned to him and smiled. “Better.”

“You’re pregnant,” he said again.

“Surprise,” I muttered taking the towel and wiping my mouth. “Please don’t ask me if it’s yours—”

“I doubt you would tell me or keep it if wasn’t mine.” He leaned against the sink. “You weren’t on something last time—”

“You’re asking now?” I laughed, and he frowned. “Of course, I was on something, a couple of somethings actually, apparently your sperm is a ninja warrior and didn’t fucking care.”

He laughed, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Maybe it was something biological but for some reason, men really loved knowing they could knock a woman up.

“So tonight was how you give me a pregnancy announcement? I say this without sarcasm; that was very original.”

Please lord almighty, don’t let me kill the father of my child. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself before turning to him.

“Tonight, I was working. Tonight, Miguel Munha of the Rocha cartel was supposed to be hosting the ambassador to China’s son, Chao Neng Chang. Instead of Chao Neng Chang, Ethan Callahan was there, out of the blue, ruining my plans, so I had to make new plans…to save you from dying from my own fucking original plan!” I hollered and then took another breath. “The pregnancy just slipped out because I was annoyed.”

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and before I could ask him what the hell he was doing he took a step over and walked behind me. I froze, somewhat stunned when his arms circled me, his hands on my stomach.

“You were swinging from the ceiling; my men shot at you...you tell me nothing else, just to meet you at the penthouse in the city. If you had done all that just to tell me you were pregnant—”

“I was never at risk.”

“You were in the eye of risk.”

I thought about it from his perspective. If I had done everything I did just to tell him, it would make me a fool, and there was nothing Ethan hated more than stupidity, planned or not. Nodding, I leaned back against his chest, shivering from the water soaking into my dress.

“If I was in the eye of risk, you were there too. You just drank without even testing to see—”

“Miguel is a coward. He wouldn’t risk k

illing me in his own damn club. Besides, the wine I picked usually changes color or bubbles if anything is added to it. I smelt the wine to make sure it wasn’t a different type, then I poured, and nothing was off. Neither he nor those around him have the mind to chemically alter it without leaving a trace. I was only in danger because it was you.” He placed his chin on top of my head.

I smirked at that, staring at our foggy reflection in the mirror. “That sounds like compliment.”

“It was.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear you admit it.”

He kissed the top of my head before rifling through his clothes to retrieve his phone.

“What do you want to eat?”

I couldn’t help it. First, the hug, then the concern, followed by a compliment, and a kiss to the head. This was him being tender, sweet even. However, if I pointed that out, he’d get defensive and retreat within himself to reset to his default mood: cold and emotionless.

“A medium well-done barbecue bacon smokehouse burger with extra onions and no cheese…as well as side of fries, one vanilla milkshake, and a bottle of sparkling water…I’m watching my weight.” I replied, and he nodded, dialing.

As he spoke on the phone, I reached up to touch my hair only to remember the wig I was wearing. Bending over, I wiped the steam from the glass to look at myself. For a woman who had just spent the last fifteen minutes puking, I looked surprisingly beautiful.

“I make one hell of a ginger,” I said when he his attention was back on me, twisting the red baby hair by my earlobe. “I’m keeping the look for the night, it took me so much effort to get ready.”