“She drugged me,” I snarled through gritted teeth. “She planned it after she heard me speak with Damien.”
Rurik didn’t flinch. “You underestimated her.”
“No,” I snarled. “I trusted her.”
And that was what made it different.
I had trusted her even when my instincts kicked against it. I allowed her to touch places that no one else had ever touched.
She abused my trust.
And then she left.
***
The house still spiraled around me by nightfall. Even the walls creaked with tension. The staff moved more quietly, and the guards stood farther away.
No one spoke without being spoken to.
I barricaded myself in my office. I hadn’t been able to eat or drink since I woke up earlier today. I didn’t have an appetite for anything, not even water.
I paced my office, replaying every second of last night and trying to come up with an idea of where Zoella had gone.
It was definitely not her dad’s estate, and Kirill had confirmed she hadn’t gone to any of her friends either.
On the screen of my computer, I pulled up city maps. Notated every path she could’ve driven through, and I pried open security tapes, sorting through timestamps.
She was smarter than I gave her credit for. She’d managed to evade the security cameras outside.
Rurik was right. I’d underestimated her.
I lifted my head when a knock on the door reverberated through my office, pulling my attention for a second.
It was probably one of the maids coming to ask what I would like for dinner, but that wasn’t important now, so I ignored the knock.
Whoever it was knocked again, a little harder this time.
“Come in!”
The door swung open, and the chief maid, Ana, slipped inside the office. She’d worked for my mother for years, and now she worked for me too. She was the most loyal person in this household.
I didn’t look at her. “I’m not interested in dinner.”
“I know,” she said softly. “But…I need to show you something.”
Leaning back, I peered at her through furrowed brows, prepared to yell at her if whatever she had to show me wasn’t worth my time—until I looked at what she was holding.
A white stick. Thin. Plastic. I knew what it was.
She walked over to me and carefully put it on the edge of my desk. “I gave her this two days ago. I’d noticed she wasgetting sensitive to the smell of food. After she ran away…I found this in the trash can. I thought you’d want to know.”
She took a step back, wringing her hands nervously. “I didn’t want to keep it from you. I thought maybe she didn’t want to tell you.”
I looked at it, at the bright pink lines that confirmed everything.
She was pregnant.
I blinked at the test strip, air draining from my lungs as I stared in disbelief. I couldn’t muster a single word.
