Chapter Seven
1230 Words
Chapter Seven
(Adrian’s POV)
Nia’s question followed me out of the hospital.
‘Why didn’t you ask, Adrian?’
I heard it again when I got into the car. I heard it when Sienna slid in beside me and rested her head against the window. I heard it when Callum’s face came back to me as he stood beside my wife.
Nia had been in the hospital twice within days.
The first time, she’d come home pale and guarded, hiding something in her purse. The second time, she’d collapsed at work.
I should’ve asked what was wrong.
Instead, I’d looked at Reed.
The thought left a sour taste in my mouth.
Sienna turned toward me. “You’re quiet.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About Nia?”
Her question was gentle, but I heard the edge beneath it.
I looked out the window. “She didn’t look well.”
Sienna sighed softly. “She’s not used to this life Adrian. The galas, high society and the business, it can’t be easy. I’ll help her out more, don’t worry.”
Maybe that was true.
Still, I remembered the way Nia had pressed her hand against her stomach. The fear in her eyes had been real.
“Take Sienna home,” I told the driver.
Sienna frowned. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
“I have work.”
She didn’t argue, but disappointment flickered across her face before she turned back to the window.
At Blackwood Group, I went straight to my office. Daniel was waiting outside with my afternoon schedule, but I barely glanced at it.
“Cancel everything after three,” I said.
He blinked. “Yes, sir.”
I closed the office door behind us.
“Find out why Nia has been going to the hospital.”
Daniel hesitated.
I looked at him. “Is there a problem?”
“Mrs. Blackwood’s medical records are private.”
“She is my wife. You know what to do.”
“I understand, sir.”
I turned toward the windows as he left.
I told myself I needed the information because Nia was my responsibility. Because whatever was happening could affect both families. A husband should know if his wife was ill.
But the truth was different.
I wanted to know what Callum knew. And find a way to get rid of him.
(Sienna POV’s)
Adrian had barely looked at me since we left the hospital.
He’d been beside me physically, but his mind had been somewhere else.
I knew where.
I’d seen his face when Nia stood in that corridor with Callum.
Jealously.
It was faint, almost hidden, but it was there.
That frightened me more than his anger ever could.
Adrian had spent years protecting me. He’d always been there when I called, always been the person I could rely on when I needed him. Nia had his name, but I had his childhood.
Or at least, I used to.
Now she was changing him.
I asked the driver to stop with an excuse, then walked back toward the Blackwood Group building and waited near the private entrance. Daniel arrived about an hour later.
He looked surprised when he saw me.
“Sienna?”
I smiled. “I was hoping I’d run into you.”
His face changed immediately. It always did around me. Daniel was easy to read. He tried to hide it, but he watched me too carefully and answered too quickly whenever I spoke.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I’m worried about Nia.”
That wasn’t difficult to say. I was worried about her. Just not in the way he believed.
“Adrian seemed concerned after seeing her at the hospital,” I continued. “Did he ask you to look into anything?”
Daniel’s grip tightened around a folder.
So, he had.
“I shouldn’t discuss Mr. Blackwood’s business,” he said.
“This isn’t business.” I lowered my gaze. “Nia is my sister. If she’s seriously ill, I deserve to know.”
He looked torn.
I stepped closer and touched his sleeve. “Please, Daniel. I’m scared something’s wrong.”
His throat moved as he swallowed.
“Mr. Blackwood asked me to find out about her recent visits,” he said quietly.
“But you found something.”
He nodded once.
“She saw an obstetrician. She is pregnant.”
For a second, I couldn’t make sense of the word.
An obstetrician.
Nia couldn’t be pregnant.
She was supposed to be infertile. The doctor had said the accident had damaged her body. It was the one certainty I had clung to, the one thing that kept Nia from becoming completely untouchable in the Blackwood family.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Daniel looked uncomfortable, but he nodded.
My fingers curled at my sides.
Nia had returned to the Caldwell’s and taken everything with the ease of someone who’d never had to fight for it. Victor had given her the company. Heather had started looking at her with guilt in her eyes. Adrian had married her because the contract demanded it.
And now she was carrying his child?
“No,” I whispered.
Daniel’s expression softened. “Sienna, I know this must be difficult.”
He had no idea.
I forced myself to look at him. “What else did you find?”
He hesitated.
“Daniel.”
“There were two heartbeats,” he said.
The world went still.
Twins.
Nia was carrying twins.
Two Blackwood heirs. Two reasons for Adrian’s family to pull her closer.
My chest burned.
I had spent my whole life beside Adrian. I knew the shape of his silence, the way he took his coffee, the look he got before a deal went wrong. I’d been there before Nia had ever entered his life.
Yet she had his name.
And now she had something I could never compete with.
His children.
Daniel watched me carefully. “Sienna?”
I lifted my eyes to his.
“Adrian can’t know yet.”
His face drained of color. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“He told me to investigate. He’ll ask for the report.”
“And you’ll give it to him when I tell you to.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can.” I kept my voice soft. “You’re good at your job, Daniel. It would be a shame if Adrian found out you’d mishandled confidential company information.”
His eyes widened. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“I know.” I smiled faintly. “But Adrian doesn’t forgive mistakes easily.”
He looked down at the folder in his hands.
I let the silence stretch.
Then I brushed my fingers over his chest. “Help me. You know I’d never forget it.”
His breathing changed.
But the man was more terrified of Adrian than I thought.
He shook his head and looked resigned.
I stepped back, keeping my smile in place. “On second thought, go ahead and tell Adrian. There is something else I need you to do for me.”
Daniel looked relieved and nodded before turning around and walking into the building.
Nia believed the twins would make her safe.
She was wrong.
I’d spent too long protecting my place in this family to surrender it now.
Adrian Blackwood was mine.
- Writer
