65

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE
GABRIELLE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Positive!
It read for the third time, there couldn't have been any mistakes.
I stared at the plus sign on the small pregnancy test.
Pregnant!
My hand unconsciously reached to touch my stomach, caressing slowly. I didn't feel any change, was I really carrying a life inside of me? One that was created by Lucian and me.
After several weeks of morning sickness, I decided to take a pregnancy test to confirm what I had already suspected when I realized that my period was about two months delayed.
"I'm pregnant! " I repeated aloud, this wasn't a dream, my eyes teared up as I realized that this was reality!
Lucian and I are going to have a baby! Would it be a boy or a girl? Excitement slowly warmed through my body, my heart had never felt so full. I smiled through the tears that stung in my eyes.
Oh my God! This was unbelievable! Lucian would be so happy!
I couldn't wait to tell him the good news, after that fake baby prank, I must admit that I still felt guilt in my heart towards him. Even though we never broached that topic again, I could tell that experience had scarred him deeply.
The news of our baby might be able to heal him from that damaging experience.
I dashed out of the bathroom in search of him.
Just as I started to enter his study, the door opened and he stepped out. Our gazes met briefly, he wasn't alone, Devin was beside him, wherever they were heading to, they seemed to be in a hurry.

"I will go get the car ready." Devin excused himself, he walked past me and I returned my stare to Lucian's. Blurting out the news that I just confirmed a few minutes ago was at the tip of my tongue.
"Are you going somewhere?" I couldn't hide my disappointment when he nodded.
"I need to attend to an urgent business matter, I'll be back in an hour or two, is there something that you want?" He leaned over to kiss my forehead and caress my back.
I chewed on my bottom lip wondering if I should just tell him, I quickly decided not to. He would be gone for only more than an hour, I could surely wait until he returns. "It's nothing too important, I'll tell you when you return, it's going to be a surprise!" I whispered mysteriously.
His eyes flickered with amusement as his lips curved into a smile. When his thumb caressed my lips, I suckled in a sharp breath.
"You should know that I don't like surprises, just tell me what it is."
"You're going to like this one, trust me on this." I smiled. He started to speak when his cellphone vibrated.
"I'll be back soon." He planted a full kiss on my lips, my lips parted and he deepened the kiss hungrily, knocking me breathless. His hands started to encircle my waist when he suddenly backed away.
"Fuck, I really need to leave. We will finish this when I return." The darkened intense look in his eyes made my stomach flutter and my knees felt weak, it was a feeling I would never get used to, he always had this effect on me.
"I'll be waiting...I love you." I whispered softly, but he was already gone.

~~~~~
LUCIAN

Some of our shipments had been stolen. This was about my reputation in the business.
If the persons or whatever groups they were weren't caught and made example of, other rivals would start attacking us too.
I already gave Devin before the end of today to investigate the whole situation and report back to me. Even though my guess was that Vladimir had carried out the attack, I still needed concrete proof and then it would be fucking time for payback. My thoughts wandered to Brie and a smile managed to pull across my face despite the current shitty situation. The only reason I had to get the inspection done quickly was to return to her. I didn't think it could be possible to need a person so immensely, her absence always made me feel like I was a starving man, I couldn't concentrate on work like I should. She was going to be my downfall, but I still couldn't control these insane feelings that seemed to be permanent inside of me.

My cellphone vibrated and I expected Devin to have gathered all the information. However, it wasn't his name that was displayed across my phone screen.
Julia?
My brows drew slightly as I wondered why the doctor would call me. I clicked on the answer button, ignoring her pleasantries, I wanted her to get straight to the point.
"The pill you sent over last time." She spoke and I instantly recalled.
That had been right before Brie and I traveled to California. If Julia didn't call me, I might have completely forgotten about it. I still recalled how weird Brie had behaved when she saw that medicine.
The terror had been naked in her eyes.
There had been something about the way she had run off as though I was going to murder her in cold blood. Thinking about it now, maybe it was me who had seen wrong.
"What about it?" I replied gruffly, unknowing of what to expect.
"You asked me to find out exactly what it is, it's a form of contraceptive pill."
I was too shocked to say anything as Julia continued to speak.
Why would Brie need a birth control pill? She'd told me the doctor had prescribed that medication for her injuries!
I inhaled deeply and exhaled shakily, I didn't want to listen to the answers the voices in my head, the doubts were taking over and I was desperately trying to cling on to reasoning.
I shouldn't allow the doubts to settle in, we already progressed so far, I wouldn't allow my trust issues to fuck this up for us.
Maybe those pills didn't belong to Brie? it could possibly belong to someone else. But who!?
Or perhaps, it was hers. After her miscarriage, she probably didn't want another baby, so she took those? My stomach churned as though it had been sprinkled with acid. The only person who could provide the answers to the questions was Brie.
"I found out something different in the pill, it was contaminated with arsenic, which means that even if a woman manages to get pregnant despite taking the pill, the arsenic present would ensure a miscarriage."
Her new revelation turned me to ice. Miscarriage?
Arsenic?
Was Brie's miscarriage caused by those goddamned pills?
' What if she had intentionally taken it to kill the baby, YOUR baby!" A voice whispered in my head.
No! Stop it! I tried to make the voice disappear.
My bastard cousin had harmed our baby because I arrived too late to save her and that was it.
It had to be...
My Brie would never do something so terrible.
She wouldn't.
Even if she hated me then, there was no way she would kill our child and lie about it.
There was just no fucking way!
It turned out that my next question broke a new revelation I never would have thought was possible.
"When I brought my wife that day for a pregnancy check-up, you couldn't have by any chance could any trace of the medication in her system?"
There was a very brief pause before her next response.
"You see, for a non-pregnant person, the effects are usually quite less, the drug has to be taken for a very long time before it could be tested in their blood. If your wife had been pregnant, it could have been easily detected."
...
"What do you mean by if she had been pregnant, you fucking carried out the test!" I was getting agitated, and I didn't care.

"And the results had turned out negative, your wife was never pregnant!" Was the last words I heard before I completely lost it.