King Maker (King Maker 3)

“Okay,” I said. She’d seemed sober when we’d spoken. I’d give it a few more minutes before I changed course of action and headed to the hospital.

Bailey spoke. “Kalen… what happened?” Her hand found her forehead and held it like she had a headache.

“How do you feel?”

“Okay, I guess. I remember talking to you, then nothing.” Her voice was a little on the raspy side.

I forgot the doc was still on the line until he spoke. “Ask her if she’s been ill lately.”

“The doctor wants to know if you’ve been ill.”

“Doctor?… No… Well, I’ve been feeling sick off and on,” she said. Her expression was pinched and her eyes closed tight.

He began asking me a series of questions that I passed on to her. “Did you vomit after eating today?”

She shook her head slightly. We went through a few more questions until we came back to the one I dreaded.

“He wants to know when your last period was.”

“A few weeks ago.” She sounded annoyed. “I’ve been a little too busy to keep track of those dates lately.”

I passed on the information.

“Make sure to get her hydrated. Alcohol tends to cause dehydration. She’ll probably just need rest. Call me back if her symptoms change.”

We clicked off and my legs felt weighted as I clomped back to her. I helped her sit up before giving her the water bottle I’d taken from the mini fridge.

“I think you should go,” she said softly. “This can never work between us. I need you to stay away.”

The doctor had cleared her. She didn’t need me, I told myself. I’d yet to meet her eyes. My heart was no longer solid in my chest. How had I allowed myself to fall in love with the wrong woman?

“Here,” I said, finally facing her. I produced an envelope out of an inside breast pocket of my coat. “It’s payment for your work on the audit. I won’t trouble you again. Griffin can get you wherever you need to be.”

I set it on the bedside table and moved in the direction of the door.

“Kalen,” she said so softly I almost turned to face her. There had been such a plea in my name it almost swayed me. “Please don’t have me followed.”

There was conviction in her tone.

I continued to face the door, because if I saw her beautiful face, I might beg.

“I won’t if that’s what you want.”

“I do.”

There was just one more thing I had to say. “Miss Glicks, I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve what happened between us tonight.”

She was the first one to break. I could hear her quiet sobs, which I’d caused. If I saw them, I would crumble. I moved forward, opened the door, and stepped out knowing that might be the last time we saw each other. And after a final moment, I let the door close forever between us.

Thirty-One

Even I heard the finality when the door clicked shut over my tears. If we’d ever had any shot of reconciliation sometime in the future, it was gone now.

I’d lied, and convincingly. Now that the question had been posed, I realized I hadn’t had a period, nor had I taken a pill in a while.

Being kidnapped could take the smart right out of you.

I didn’t need a test to know the truth. I’d been feeling lousy and sick for a couple of weeks off and on. I’d been irrationally teary-eyed all the time, crying for no reason.

There was no need for calculation. Only one night could I have gotten pregnant.

And the father was gone out of my life.

Life was funny like that. I’d lost the two men I loved because I couldn’t make the right decisions. And now, fate had dumped a child in my lap.

Tears lulled me into sleep. Their warmth was like a blanket of defeat. I’d done everything wrong and lost everything. Those were the words that played in my head before I drifted into sleep, ruled by nightmares that still plagued me.

At first light, my eyes opened, heavy with lack of sleep. I didn’t bother closing my eyes again. It was a lost cause. Between the past and my undetermined future, there was no way I was getting any rest.

With a list of things to do, I packed and slipped out of my room when the maid came to clean. I knew my door was somehow being watched.

I took a cab to the train station and found my way to the Glasgow airport for my multi-leg trip to Washington, D.C., which was all that I could afford.

It wasn’t until I slipped into the small bathroom on the plane did I open the envelope that Kalen had given me.

I did a double take when I saw so many zeros. Then I read the attached sticky note.

I played by your rules. This is what we usually pay for an audit.