It wasn’t until they were boarding the plane that it occurred to Eloise that she still had options. Masoud would obviously object to Patrick’s tactics just as much as she did. Even if he didn’t have the same feeling of protectiveness toward the babies, even if he wasn’t at all concerned about her wellbeing, she could count on the fact that he wouldn’t want to be blackmailed. She knew he would be an ally in this.

She had to figure out a way to get a message to him.

She couldn’t call him from the plane, but there was Wi-Fi. She could try again to send an email.

She would have to wait, though, for Patrick’s attention to be diverted. At the moment, he was positively reveling in the success of his plan. He ordered glasses of champagne for himself and Eloise and lifted his when they arrived.

“To mutually beneficial business arrangements!” he said.

“Mutually beneficial?” she raised an eyebrow. “You’re playing him.”

“It benefits him in the long run.”

He drank half his champagne in one swallow, then picked up her glass and chugged that, too.

“You don’t mind, right? It’s not like you can drink it. Thanks. So. Khan Capital has to get over their stupid moral hang-ups and join the twenty-first century. It’ll be good for them. And then they’ll be able to turn their money into more money. Also good for them.”

He gulped down more champagne.

“And it’s good for me, because we’ll hit our profit goals. And it’s good for our people. I’m a job creator, Eloise.” He pointed his now-empty glass at her, then waved it at the flight attendant for a refill. “Gotta do what’s gotta be done.”

“And what about my job?”

“You’ll be fine. You’ll have the kind of severance money people fantasize about, Eloise. You won’t have to work again until the kids are in school.”

She doubted that very much. Patrick didn’t have children. He didn’t know how much they cost to bring up. Eloise wasn’t certain either, but had gleaned enough from her friends who were parents about the cost of daycare and diapers and the fact that kids seemed to outgrow their clothes every five minutes. Then, there was the matter of health insurance for the three of them. Would that be included in her severance? And she would have liked to start a savings account for their educations. She felt sure that wouldn’t be an option with the money Patrick would allot for her.

After about half an hour, Patrick started to doze, no doubt lulled to sleep by the champagne.

Perfect.

Eloise opened her computer and pulled up a fresh email. This time, she typed in Masoud’s email address first thing. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Now, what should she say to him? It had been hard enough to script the bombshell that she was pregnant. How could she tell him that he was on the verge of being blackmailed?

She began by copy-pasting her original message. She still wasn’t sure if this was the best way to tell him the news, but she couldn’t stand the thought of starting from scratch. It would have to do. Then, she hesitated. How to build on this?

Unfortunately, Patrick knows about our situation.

Would that be enough? Could he infer from that everything that was coming his way?

The plane lurched, and Patrick’s tray table bounced, slopping some champagne onto his hand. He startled awake. Eloise tried to turn her computer away, but Patrick must have seen Masoud’s name on the open email because he reached over and yanked it away from her.

She watched him reading, terrified.

He looked up. “You’re going to warn him? Seriously, Eloise? What did we agree on?”

“We…” We didn’t agree on anything.

“Of all the stupid things you could do.” He deleted the email and shoved the computer back at her. “Can’t you see you’re only hurting yourself here? He’s not going to help you, Eloise. He’s never going to admit publicly to being those babies’ father. How could he? The man is all about morality. You think he’s going to tell everyone he got a woman pregnant on a one-night stand?”

“I…I think he’ll do the right thing.”

“Yes, but which right thing? The right thing for you and the babies? Or the right thing for his image and the company he’s trying to maintain? Do you think he’s going to sacrifice that whole company’s reputation as do-gooders for your sake?”

Eloise had to admit it sounded unlikely.

“And when he rejects you,” Patrick said, “you’ll have nothing. You won’t have him. You certainly won’t have his money. And you’ll have stabbed me in the back, so I’ll have no choice but to let you go without severance. Come on, Eloise. That’s not how you want this to go, is it?”

“No,” she whispered, defeated.

He patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. MAFA Financial will take care of you, just as long as you take care of us.”