“I have to admit, I’m shocked you’re back,” the doctor said.

“Plans change on a dime with me,” I said. “Thank you for seeing us.”

“Not a problem. Let me ask momma here a few questions. Miss Leone, how are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” Joanna said. “Very tired. Nausea’s still persistent.”

“Any bleeding?” the doctor asked.

“No,” she said.

“Any pain?”

“Lots of pelvic pain.”

“Back pain?”

“Nope.”

“Abdominal pain?”

“A little twinge here and there, but nothing major. Is that a bad thing?”

“Only if it’s bothering you chronically. But if your hips are giving you pain, I would like to take a look at them. Is that all right with you?” he asked.

“Do whatever you have to do,” she said.

I left the room so Joanna could strip down and put on a gown before the doctor took a look at her. He tested her reflexes and drew a bit of blood to send off for testing. I could tell Joanna was distracted. She was zoning out and seemed more tired than usual. Her voice didn’t have that distinct lilt to it I had come to be so fond of. The doctor laid her down onto the table and moved her knee to her chest, then rotated her hip joint so he could feel what was going on.

“Did any of that hurt?” the doctor asked.

“No,” Joanna said.

“Not at all?”

“Nope.”

“Then you don’t have any hip joint issues. During pregnancy, women experience what’s called ‘round ligament pain’. It’s when the muscles begin to stretch for the first time, causing sharp pains to ricochet into the hips. It feels like hip pain, but it’s not the hip causing the pain.”

“Is that normal?” I asked.

“It is. And for someone with her condition, it’s common to see it this early. At ten weeks and a child only growing in half a uterus, she’ll be stretching more than the female body should at this point. Miss Leone, I would like to do another ultrasound to see where the baby and placenta are positioned.”

Joanna was staring at the ceiling, and I wasn’t sure if she had heard the doctor.

“Miss Leone?”

“Joanna,” I said as I touched her arm. “Did you hear the doctor?”

“Hmm?” she asked.

“I want to do an ultrasound. Is that all right?” the doctor asked.

“Oh. Yeah. That’s fine,” she said.

I furrowed my brow as the doctor prepared her for the ultrasound. The gel was squirted onto her stomach and the doctor spread it over her skin, my hand gripping hers as she started staring off again.

She didn’t even turn her head to look at the screen.

“Well, good news. It’ll take one more ultrasound to be sure in about a month, but it seems like both baby and placenta are in the right side of the uterus.”

“That’s good news,“ I said. “Isn’t that good news, Joanna?”

But she was in another world and I was starting to worry.

The doctor cleaned her up and printed off pictures for us before I helped her up. I stepped out so she could get dressed, and it took her fifteen minutes to emerge. She had the pictures in her hand and her eyes were bloodshot.

She had been crying alone in that ultrasound room.

“Joanna, talk to me,” I said.

“I’m tired. That’s all.”

“No. This is more than that. I know you.”

“You know me,” she said with a snicker. “We hardly know one another.”

“And if you believe that, then I can’t get to know you any better unless you talk to me.”

I watched her sigh as doctors passed us in the hallway, giving us quizzical looks.

“I miss Lacey,” Joanna said. “And part of me wishes I was with the company and not here. And that makes me feel guilty, because now I feel like a terrible mother and this child isn’t even here yet.”

I wrapped my arms around Joanna and pulled her into my chest.

“I was getting used to the idea of living abroad and performing,” Joanna said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I feel responsible for you going through this.”

“You are responsible,” she said as she shoved me away. “You seduced me. You took what you wanted knowing you were in trouble and now I’m locked away in some minimalistic palace pining after something I love because I had to make a choice. A choice based on your choice.”

I put my face in my hands and sighed as Joanna cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That… that wasn’t fair for you.”

“But a fairly accurate account, if you boil it down.”

“I won’t unpack that statement,” she said. “When will I be able to go home?”

The question hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Where is home for you?” I asked.

She sighed and looked up at me before her eyes fell to my chest.

“North Carolina,” she said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think you guys had to wait here,” the doctor said. “We’ve got our labs running tests now on her blood, but we won’t have them back in for at least twenty four hours. I’ll call Miss Leone on the number in her file if anything’s abnormal. You guys are free to go.”

“Thank you,” Joanna said. “For everything.”

“Don’t feel bad for sleeping all the time,” the doctor said. “Your body is changing every single second of the day. That would take a toll on anyone. Allow yourself to rest, even if you sleep fourteen hours a day.”

“I’ll remember that,” she said with a grin.

But I could see in her eyes how badly she wanted to get out of here.

I placed my hand on the small of her back and led her out of the office. I hadn’t even thought of her home not being in the same city. North Carolina? How the fuck was I supposed to support her and protect her when she was in fucking North Carolina? Who the hell wanted to live there? How had I not yet considered the fact that maybe Joanna didn’t live in the same state I did?

My mind was racing, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it.

We stepped out onto the sidewalk and Maynard drove up with the car. I opened the door for Joanna as my eyes scanned the block we were on. Every time I took us out, I was on high alert. Looking around for Slate and wondering where the fuck he was.

But today, I didn’t have to wonder.

Because he was standing right across the street.

I felt Joanna duck down beneath my arm and slide into the car. My gaze held Slate’s, a shit-eating grin crossing his cheeks. His stale gray eyes were looking back at me. Holding my gaze as I felt a tug on my arm.

“You getting in, Robert?”

“I’ll be along in a second,” I said. “Right now, I want you to get back to the apartment.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

I watched Slate disappear into the alleyway behind him. I dipped into the car, taking in Joanna’s wondrous eyes. Her curious, beautiful, electric eyes. Even with her guilt and her fear and her rampant emotions, she tugged at me. Called to me in a way no other woman had.

But the look in my eye must’ve given me away because she started darting her head around.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“Joanna-”

“Robert, get in the car. We’re going,” she said.

“Joanna, listen to me.”

“Stop being an idiot and get in the damn car!”

I silenced her words with a kiss, feeling her body press into me. Her hands cupped my cheeks before falling to my shirt. She was tugging on me. Doing everything she could to try and get me into the car with her.

“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. Just… get in the car with me, Robert. Please. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll be along in a second,” I said. “Maynard, get Joanna back safely.”

“You got it, boss,” he said.

“Robert. No. Get in the car. Don’t do this.”

“I love you,” I said.

Her eyes whipped up to mine as her lips parted in shock.

“I love you, and because I love you this will all be over soon,” I said.

Tears crested Joanna’s beautiful eyes as I took her in. Flushed cheeks and thick thighs and honey blonde hair flying around her face. Red, pouting lips that beckoned to me and a voice that soothed the deepest, darkest demons I held.

“No detours,” I said. “Straight back.”

“Robert, no!”

Then I closed the door, watched Maynard pull away from the curb, and started across the street.

Slate knew I was coming.

And this time, I was ready for him.