Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite 6)

Cole stares at me with that unnerving silence that nearly splits me open.

Nothing changes on his face.

Absolutely nothing. Almost like he’s in numb state of mind.

Out of all the times he could’ve been blank, this is the worst. Why does he have to be so unreadable?

I’ve known him forever, so I’m usually able to reach behind that mask and get a glimpse of what he’s hiding.

Not now though.

Peeking at him through my lashes, I watch with bated breath, waiting for his reaction.

He says nothing.

Not even a word.

Maybe he hates me. Maybe he’s disgusted with how I’m ruining his future with this news.

The flight attendant comes to our side again, her presence interrupting our non-existent conversation. “Are you okay, Miss? Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” I murmur.

“Water with honey,” he says. “Lime, too, if you have it.”

She nods before disappearing to where she came from.

So he does have a voice. He just doesn’t use it to speak to me. He continues observing me as if I’m an alien who’s come to occupy the planet.

“Are you going to say something?” I meant to snap, but my voice comes out quiet, almost scared. “Anything?”

“Did you go to the doctor?” he asks.

“No.”

“Then how do you know you’re pregnant?”

“I took a test.”

“You should go to the doctor.”

“I can’t just go to the doctor, Cole, okay? What if someone recognises me? Sebastian Quee

ns and Cynthia Davis’s daughter at the OB-GYN. Do you realise how scandalous that would be? I couldn’t even go buy the freaking test and had to order it online.”

“Would you stop thinking about the scandals and your parents and start thinking about yourself?” Cole snaps. Whoa. He never snaps. “This is your health, your life. You’re carrying a baby inside you. Do you think that’s a game? Or that they won’t eventually find out?”

Tears sting my eyes and it takes everything in me not to break down right then and there. I feel like a kid being yelled at for idiotic behaviour.

“You think I haven’t thought of that? I have. For weeks. I suspected this for damn weeks before I finally took the damn test, Cole. I’m the one living with this reality day in and day out, picturing all the possible scenarios and hating the fact that I might have to kill this life. So don’t sit there telling me I’m not taking it seriously, because I am. More than you’ll ever know.”

He narrows his eyes. “You’ve suspected it for weeks and didn’t tell me?”

I lift a shoulder, staring out of the window.

“Why?”

Because he could say the words that scare me the most. That I should abort.