Suzette pinched my forearm. “Are you going to tell me? Either you’re dying, and that’s why you can’t tell me or…” Her face lit up. “Oh, my God. Are you?” She yanked me to a stop on the streets of Paris. “You’re pregnant?”

Tears swam in my eyes, making her dance. “I—I—”

“Oh, you are. You are!” She grabbed me in a massive hug. “Wow, this is…wait until Q knows. Oh my God, Tess, he was right. What he’s done the past few weeks.” Her face fell. She knew how tame my love life had become. And I understood her conclusion. “This will kill him. He’ll never touch you how you want again. He’ll think everything he needs is even more wrong.” She squeezed my hand in consolation. “I’m sorry, mon amie.”

My face split into a large smile. “I’m not. He had it wrong.”

He was wrong when he said it was his fault. Wrong that his savage love meant he wasn’t a worthy father.

I’d proven him otherwise and couldn’t wait to tell him.

And this time, I’d win and get my beast back.

She frowned. “What?”

“Five weeks, Suzette. I’m five or six weeks pregnant. I’m going to say five because it fits better with my story.” I laughed. “What happened five weeks ago?”

Her forehead furrowed, doing her best to think back that far. “Um…” She shrugged. “No idea.”

“Q came home drunk…”

Realisation entered her gaze. “Oh…you guys left the pool room in a mess. Clothes everywhere…your sliced-up yoga band. When I went in the next day, it looked like a water polo fight had happened in there.”

“Exactly.” Smugness filled me. “The one night he thought he was hurting me so he could protect me from himself was the night he got exactly what he wanted.”

Happiness blossomed on her face. “So… the past few weeks of boringness are over?”

I took her hand; full of ideas of how I would tell Q and what I would make him do to me to make up for the past few weeks. “They are. And thank God for that.”

Happiness I’d never felt before blossomed.

I’m pregnant!

With Q’s child.

We’re a family.

I’d been pregnant for weeks and not known.

According to Dr. Fellows, my system had become fertile far sooner than most women who’d been on the injection. She said the blood-work would give an exact conception date but anywhere from seven to five weeks was a good guestimate. It was great news all around. For me, Q, and our marriage.

There wouldn’t have to be tests or consultations. We’d conceived naturally, and Q could finally have something of his very own.

Including me, of course.

The healthy meals Mrs. Sucre had plied us with had given my body a great foundation to form our little monster. And I no longer had to bore myself stupid with vanilla.

I was surprised Q hadn’t noticed anything different about me.

Then again, I hadn’t noticed, and I was the one changing. Q wasn’t that observant when it came to my time of the month. He wasn’t a husband to count my days and inform me that any second now I could start bleeding. So my secret would be all the more precious to share.

“I’m the first to know,” Suzette said. “I’m honoured.”

“Second.” I smiled. “I was the first. Now, go home. I’m going to stay and plan something in order to tell Q. I’ll be safe.”

“Can I tell Mrs. Sucre?” Suzette hugged herself. “She’ll burst into tears, I guarantee it. Our master is finally getting a family.”

I shook my head. “He’s always had a family…you guys.”

Suzette blushed.

Clapping my hands, my head raced with ideas for tonight. “Anyway, hold the secret…for now. I want to tell.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t dare.” Suzette pecked my cheek. “Let me know if you need any help with tonight.”

“I won’t. I’ll call Q and tell him I’m alone in Paris. He’ll come running.”

Unfortunately, today was Monday, and that meant a big day at work, even though Q was supposed to hand most of the operation to Frederick. He was tied to his business, and I doubted he’d ever be totally free.

A small wash of nausea rolled through me, reminding me I was lucky to avoid morning sickness up till now. When would that start? Would I have a hard pregnancy or easy?

So many questions and so much to learn.

But Q would be there with me every step.

“WHERE THE FUCK are you?”

Her voice echoed down the line. “Don’t have a heart attack, Q.”

I’d worry about my heart while she worried about her backside because once I caught her, she’d be punished. Hard.

You’re not allowed to touch her like that.

An oath was an oath, no matter how fucking difficult it was to keep. “I asked you a question, Tess. Where abouts in goddamn Paris are you?”

“I’m safe if that’s what you’re asking. I had an errand to run.”

Tess never went to Paris without telling me first. She was safe now after I’d slaughtered the bastards from her past, but I never relaxed. Shadows and devils lurked everywhere, and Tess was such an enticement. I hated the fact she’d gone on the train without me. I loathed that she’d enlisted Suzette’s care rather than my own.

We’d had a few problems the last few weeks.