“Are you certain you don’t need me to accompany you?” Sergei asked as he followed me outside the house. Now that I was in my second trimester, the urge to puke had lessened, but it had also been replaced by a persistent spell of dizziness as well as the occasional bodily aches. It had the billionaire paranoid, enough to have him filing a leave at work against my wishes. Unfortunately, his boss – a.k.a. his father, Fyodor – had wholeheartedly approved his request, also against my wishes.

Looking up at Sergei, I tried to sound casual, saying, “It’s just a silly reunion.” My voice squeaked in the end. This tended to happen whenever I was lying, which was exactly what I was doing right now.

“Then at least let me drive you.”

“I’m going to be fine, Sergei. Stop worrying.” Changing the subject, I asked in a rush, “How do I look, by the way?”

The billionaire frowned. “Since when did you start caring about your appearance?”

“Since, umm, lately?” I could feel myself paling as I struggled to keep up with the jumble of lies in my head.

“You’ve gone white,” the billionaire gritted out. “Are you feeling dizzy again?”

Appalled at making him worry unnecessarily, I shook my head firmly. “I’m okay. I just don’t, err, want to be late.” I gave him a tentative smile. “I’d take you with me if I could, but I don’t want you to feel awkward when they start fussing on you. I’m afraid they’ll take one look at your pretty face---” When the billionaire grinned, I realized what I had just said and shut my mouth.

“I understand now,” Sergei murmured silkily. “You’re embarrassed they’ll ask you questions about your future trophy husband, and you wouldn’t be able to hide how much you love me.”

A groan of embarrassment escaped me. “Your Ego-ness, please.” I stared at him pleadingly. “Will you please show some more self-respect and stop referring to yourself as a trophy---mmph!” Sergei’s mouth suddenly covered mine, cutting the rest of my words off.

But before I could kiss him back, he had already stopped kissing me and when I opened my eyes, he stared back at me with a mocking gleam in his dark gaze.

“I’d love to kiss you more, pchelka, but I don’t want you to be late.”

“Oh. Umm.” Staring at his lips longingly, I heard myself say, “I’m not, uh, really going to be late?” But he was already pushing me gently towards my car and helping me behind the wheel. Damn. Me and my big mouth.

“One last thing,” the billionaire murmured as he straightened.

I looked up at him hopefully.

“You asked me how you look and---” A devastating grin curled on his lips. “You look like a woman who knows she’s loved.”

Oooooh. Driving with toes curled hard inside my shoes was a challenge, but I had gotten used to it. Every little thing the billionaire said or did had the most powerful impact on me lately, never mind if I still wasn’t sure that admitting my feelings for him had been the right thing to do. It had been three days since then, and boy, those three days had been quite the emotional rollercoaster.

On the upside, knowing that we loved each other made living together a hundred – no, a thousand, a trillion times better. I had never realized how liberating love could be, but suddenly Sergei and I could tell each other everything, talk about anything.

And oh, the sex was over-the-top good. He was more dominant than ever now, and I loved it. Just the other day, he had suddenly commanded me to get on my knees and suck his cock while he attended to a business call. I had done so, of course, and he had returned the favor just when I least expected it, going down on me just when I was video chatting with Alyx and Anneke on FaceTime.

But then there was the downside. Last night, I had a nightmare about Sergei cheating on me, and I had woken up shivering and crying. If imagined betrayal could hurt me that much, how much worse would it be if it did happen in reality?

Sometimes, fear over the billionaire hurting me would get so bad I was tempted to just jump into my car and drive away. It didn’t help that just this morning I had overheard Sergei’s father warning him about Elsa Nilsson and how lies always had a way of coming out.

He was cheating on me had been my first thought, but somehow I had managed to control myself from going crazy. I had told myself that it was just a typical pep talk between fathers and sons, and that if I let it get to me then I would be committing self-sabotage again, just like Alyx had warned.

And now here I am, I thought, about to prove to myself that I wasn’t going to run away from my happy-ever-after, even if that was exactly what I wanted to do.

After handing the keys to the valet, I hurried inside the mall and headed straight to the jewelry boutique I had called earlier. A middle-aged brunette came to meet me right away, saying cheerfully, “Welcome, Ms. Spears. We spoke earlier on the phone.”

“Therese, right?” I shook hands with her. “Thanks for accommodating me even on such short notice.”

“Everyone in town bends backward at a Grachyov’s behest,” Therese answered candidly.

“I’m not a Grachyov.” I felt like I was honor bound to make this clear even as I handed the older woman the jewelry box I sort of “borrowed” from the billionaire.

“But you will be.” Therese checked her watch. “I will have this ready in about an hour.”

“Perfect.” I gave her a thumbs-up. After leaving the boutique, I randomly chose a café to kill time, and the first person I saw upon entering was none other than the professor. He was seated alone on one of the tables, a cup of coffee in front of him.

I was stunned speechless for a moment, and the professor appeared stunned as well. But he recovered far sooner than me, his still handsome face breaking into a smile as he got to his feet. “I heard you were back.” He moved forward, and I found myself thinking he was much taller than I remembered. And ridiculously good-looking, I couldn’t help noticing guiltily. And now I was beginning to remember just why I had hoped this man would be my first boyfriend. Fredericka Spears, you are one shallow woman!

And then Julian suddenly bent to kiss my cheek, and I drew away, startled. “You look radiant,” the professor murmured with a smile, looking perfectly at ease. “Join me for a drink, please.”

“I can’t drink coffee.” Shit. Why had I said that? I should have just said no.

Julian grinned. “Then how about lemonade? Would that do?”

I bit my lip, trying to think of a way to refuse him properly.

“If you join me, I can tell you stories about Sergei Grachyov when I was mentoring him.”

I brightened. “Yes, please.”

The professor laughed. “I’m glad to see you haven’t changed,” he murmured as he pulled out a chair for me.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment,” I told him, making a face. As the professor returned to my seat, my phone suddenly started to ring and I jumped when I saw it was Sergei. I answered it quickly, stammering, “H-Hello?”

“How are things there, pchelka?”

My mind completely went blank. “Great.” I looked at the professor and said lamely, “The reunion’s just…great.” I wanted to bang my head against the table as soon as the words slipped out. I knew I shouldn’t have lied, but I had panicked, thinking if he found out there wasn’t actually a reunion, he’d find out that I also kind-of, sort-of stole my engagement ring from him.

“You sound strange. Are you certain everything’s alright?”

“Da.” Then I said quickly, “I’m sorry, I have to go. Someone’s calling me, I think we’re, umm, about to play a game. Call you later, bye.”

Julian raised a brow when I lowered my phone on the table. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but did you just lie to Sergei about where you are – or who you’re with?”

“Sort of?”

“I hope you have a good reason for it.” Julian’s tone was careful. “I’ve known him for years, and he’s not one to forgive those who lie to him.”