He brushed her off. Lazarus couldn’t stand her touch, and yet at the same time he wanted to pull her into his arms and believe everything she was saying. It was so fucked up. He couldn’t think straight.
“I was going to tell you.” Alexandra’s voice was shrill. “I swear.”
“When?” He growled. Not sounding nearly as in control as he had before.
She shrugged. Fucking shrugged.
“You had every opportunity!” He roared. Alexandra flinched and he tried to calm the fuck down and failed.
“At first I couldn’t because I was afraid of getting kicked out and then I was afraid of losing you. It’s been a stressful day…I would have…soon. I swear.” Her lip trembled and he had to resist the urge to run the pad of his thumb along its seam.
Lazarus swallowed hard. His throat felt clogged. It was like he was choking. “I don’t know if I can believe you. Getting close to me was all about the story…the exclusive.” His hands were shaking so he clenched them. “You might be carrying my child. Do you want to do a story on that too?”
“What?...No…no I don’t.” She put her hand to her belly.
“Did you even mean it when you said that you wanted to keep him?” His voice cracked. “Don’t even answer…I wouldn’t believe you anyway.”
Her face crumpled. “Please…Lazarus…give me a chance to—”
Thank fuck the door was open or he would have torn it from its hinges. Lazarus practically ran from the room. He took the stairs four at a time. He ran and ran, until the sweat dripped off of him, until his chest burned. Until his legs gave out. He couldn’t escape the pain. It stayed with him, its claws in deep.
Chapter 16
Alexandra tried to stop the tears. Dammit! She didn’t want Brant to see her like this. Weak and broken. If only this had gone down another way. Why had she been such a damned coward? It wasn’t like her. Maybe because for once, she had so much to lose. The story…the exclusive…it didn’t matter.
She’d become the center of Lazarus’ world. Seeing the look of utter devastation written in his eyes was enough to bring her to her knees. Alex covered her face and made a sobbing noise.
“Please spare us, Miss Stone. Lazarus is gone so you can stop with the theatrics.” Brant sounded bored.
Fuck him! “I’m upset about this, okay? I’m allowed to cry. You don’t have to be such an asshole about it.”
“You’re upset because you were found out.” His voice hardened up.
“Bullshit. I love Lazarus.” Her eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. “I fucking love him,” she said louder as she wiped her tears away. “I came here to get an exclusive, one way or another. It was never my intention to hook up with anyone. I used Lazarus…at least it started off that way but I fell head over heels in fucking love with him. I’m more than likely pregnant with his child.”
Brant clapped. The sound reverberated around the room. “You should be an actress instead of a journalist. Save your speeches…I’m not interested.” Brant thrust a thick document into her hands. “Here…if you care anything for Lazarus then you can prove it by signing this.”
She looked down at the contract and non-disclosure agreement. The documents she should have signed before entering vampire territory.
“I will have some drugs delivered to you shortly. Progestin-only EC most commonly known as the morning after pill. You must take the pill immediately.”
What the fuck!
“The drug is ninety-five percent effective in preventing pregnancy. We can only hope that it is effective if a female is pregnant by a vampire. The specialist I spoke to feels that it should be the case.”
She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “You can forget about it. No damned way. If I am pregnant, I am keeping this child and that’s final.”
Brant gave a disappointed shake of the head. “So you plan on milking us for child support?”
“I don’t want anything from you. Not a damned thing.” She threw the documents on the bed and turned to Allison. “Please, can you pass me a pen?” Then she looked back at Brant. “I will sign your documents as proof to you that this isn’t about the story anymore. I stand by my advice that you should find a good reporter to tell your side of the story.” She paused, but Brant kept his mask perfectly in place. “Then I will pack my bags and leave…you never have to see me again. I don’t want anything from you.” She repeated the last because she could see that he wasn’t buying it.
Brant removed a pen from his pocket and handed it to her. It was gold and heavy. Probably real damned gold. “A wise decision. As for leaving vampire territory, we will wait until we know for sure if you are pregnant.” He paused. “If you are with child then I am going to have to insist that you stay as a guest. It wouldn’t be safe out there. This would be your new home.”
“You’ll hold me against my will?”
“Take the damned pill.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Fuck you!” It came out as a hard whisper. “I won’t.” She was shaking, she was so angry.
“Then we wait and see. If anyone finds out that you are carrying a vampire child…” He shook his head. “You would be murdered. Your baby kidnapped…is that what you want? There are no human doctors out there that can give you the care that you would need. What about the birth? Had you even thought that far?” His eyes blazed. “No, Miss Stone, we would not hold you against your will, but due to the circumstances you would be forced to stay nonetheless. Please let us know if you start to crave blood. We’ll give it ten days before you will be free to go if there is no sign of a pregnancy.”
He held her gaze for a few seconds before turning to his PA. “Make sure that she signs the thing and then bring it to me. Put a guard at this door twenty-four fucking seven. She is not to go anywhere unattended. We can’t trust her for shit.” Brant gave her a curt nod and walked out.
Allison sighed. “That went well considering.”
“Well?” Alexandra choked out a humorless laugh.
“The room is mostly still intact. Brant and Lazarus didn’t tear into one another. For what it’s worth.” She locked eyes with Alex. “I think I actually believe you. I’m glad I’m not the one in your shoes though.” Allison shook her head. “You are going to have an impossible time convincing Lazarus. We’re an honest bunch. We don’t know how to handle deception.” She stuck the tip of the pencil she was holding into her mouth for a few seconds. “That’s why I believed you so easily at the gate. I didn’t think for even a second that you were lying.”
“I’m really sorry, Allison. It was never my intention to get you into trouble. I’m not normally such a…” She couldn’t say it.
“A liar?” Allison raised her brows.
Alex cringed and nodded her head. “I messed up.”
“Yes, you did,” Allison said. “I will have to remember going forward how deceptive humans can be. It was a lesson learned.” She smiled. “Brant is issuing condoms to all the males still left in The Program.” She smiled even bigger. “They are going to be pissed. Going forward, no rutting without a cover. I believe your human saying is - no glove, no love.”
“Oh shit. This is all my fault.”
Allison nodded. “You played a part in it but it isn’t all your fault. We should not have been so trusting. Things do go wrong. The intention was to have mated couples have offspring, not single females. We do not want this to happen again in the future for whatever reason.”
It made Alex want to bury her head and cry. She would give Lazarus some time to cool off and then she was going to find him. He had to talk to her…give her a chance to explain without Brant twisting everything.
****
Lazarus dragged his sorry ass back to his suite. His shirt clung to him. Sweat dripped down his forehead. His body ached but it didn’t come close to reflecting the pain inside. He kept on seeing Alexandra’s face. The way her eyes lit up when she looked at him. The little sounds of contentment she made when he kissed her. How fiercely she held onto him when he had made love to her over and over, like she never wanted to let go, like she wanted to crawl inside him and become a part of him. It had all been a lie. A ploy.
The only reason she was with him was to get inside information on The Program. That’s why it had often felt like she had an agenda. He’d asked her more than once why she was even here. More damned lies. Lazarus had thought that this baby was a blessing, a gift. A sign of their love. He scrubbed a hand over his face. The child was a mistake. An accident. It hurt him even to think those words.
Lazarus grit his teeth to keep from roaring again. He flung his door open. Brant sat on the sofa. The male gave a nod. Lazarus shut the door. “You look like shit,” Brant said.
“It’s fucking nice to see you too,” Lazarus growled. He wasn’t in the mood.
Brant rolled his eyes. “Let’s cut the bullshit. I’m sorry this happened to you. We have made changes within The Program to prevent something like this happening again. Alexandra was an oversight. We trusted too willingly…it’s not going to happen going forward that’s for fucking sure.”