Consent (The Loan Shark Duet 2)

“We’ll have to do some shopping,” he says.

I pull the T-shirt over my head hastily. Thankfully, the hem reaches my knees. I motion at the cupboards. “I don’t understand.”

“I had your things moved over.”

“Why?”

He takes down a shirt and drops the towel. I have to look away as he starts to dress. “We’ll rectify the clothes situation as soon as possible. I apologize about that.”

More confused than ever, I say, “You couldn’t know. That I’m still pregnant, I mean.”

The look he gives me is a strange one. A shadow invades his eyes. He pulls on a pair of slacks, not bothering with underwear.

“How did you find out?” I ask carefully.

“Rhett was worried about you.”

“Ah.” It’s a nice way of telling me Rhett ratted on me without blaming Rhett.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, I find a pair of panties and borrow one of Gabriel’s sweatpants with an elastic waistband that accommodates my rounder waistline. I have to roll the pants up several times.

“Back to bed,” he says with a dark expression.

I can’t stand the tension, any longer. “Gabriel…”

He turns to me. “Valentina?”

“Just take me to the gym and get it over with.”

For one second, two seconds, three seconds he stares at me, then he crosses the floor and puts his hands on my shoulders. “I’ll never hurt you while you’re pregnant.”

The air leaves my lungs in a gush. I’m relieved, but not reassured. “Only after?”

He doesn’t answer. He only points at the bed and makes me get back in.

“Don’t move.”

“Charlie?”

“Later.”

He kisses my forehead and leaves the room. What am I supposed to do? Sleep? Not ready to test Gabriel’s patience, I stay put. The door opens not five minutes later, and Marie enters with a tray. She gives me a scowl and dumps it on the nightstand. There are eggs, bacon, toast, baked beans, and coffee. The smell of the food makes me feel sick, but I fight it down. Before I can say thank you, she’s gone.

Gabriel doesn’t leave me alone for long. When he returns, it’s with Dr. Engelbrecht. A frown runs over his features when he looks at the untouched food, but he doesn’t say anything. The doctor runs tests similar to the ones I took in Durban and notes everything on his computer.

“I know it’s hard when you’re feeling sick,” the doctor says, “but if you don’t want intravenous feeding, you’ll have to eat something.”

“She’ll try,” Gabriel says.

Once the doctor is gone, Gabriel gives me a piercing look. “Put on your coat and shoes.”

“Where are we going?”

He takes his jacket off the clotheshorse, but doesn’t answer.

I don’t have a choice but to obey and follow him to his car. Before starting the engine, he kisses the knuckle of my amputated thumb and places my hand on his thigh. We drive in silence. It’s only when we park outside a redbrick building that I dare to question him again.

“Gabriel, what’s going on?”

He turns off the engine and faces me squarely, his body a block of hard muscle that takes up all the space on his side of the car. Tightening his fingers on mine, as if he’s expecting me to pull away, he says in an unwavering voice, “We’re getting married.”

4

Valentina

“What?” I cry.

I try to pull away, but he holds fast, a silent warning creeping into his eyes.

“We’re getting married,” he repeats.

“Now?”

“Here, now, today.”

If he punched me in the stomach, he couldn’t take my wind out harder. “Why?”

He gives me an even look. “You’re pregnant with my baby.”

I’m feeling more hysterical by the moment. “That doesn’t mean you have to marry me.”

He lets go, opens his door, and comes around the car to open mine.

When I don’t move, he puts his head in. “Get out of the car, Valentina. Now.”

Kicking and screaming won’t do me good. He’ll carry me into the building if he has to. My only chance at getting out of this is to reason with him.

I step out on shaky legs, holding onto the door for stability. “You don’t have to marry me just because I’m pregnant.”

He narrows his eyes. “Do you think I won’t man up to my responsibility?”

“I told you, I don’t expect anything from you.”

He puts his nose a hairbreadth from mine. “Has the thought that I’m doing this to protect you crossed your mind?”

The sucker punch he dealt me earlier is nothing compared to this knockout.

“Do you know how many enemies I have?” he continues, grabbing my arms. “Do you know what they’ll do to you to get to me? The only thing that makes anyone in the business untouchable is being family.”

Everything he says is true. I know how the business works. My child hasn’t been born, yet, and there’s already a sword hanging over his head. The fact that he’s Gabriel’s child is enough to put both our lives in danger. I understand what he says, but marriage isn’t what I want. It’s not what Gabriel wants. Not like this. Marriage is for love.