The Boy Toy - Nicola Marsh Page 0,61
a child on her own without being married would plunge Kushi back into matrimonial machinations; and the rest of her cronies too. Not too many babies were born in the local community without both parents wed. And those who were would be gossiped about over countless cups of chai.
Interesting, that when the news of Avi’s infidelity had broken and she’d left him, it seemed like she’d borne the brunt of the gossip. Never mind that Avi’s first child had been born out of wedlock. His family had such a huge standing in the Indian community, they’d glossed over that salient fact and thrown a lavish traditional wedding the month after her divorce had been finalized.
Not that she cared what the local community thought of her, but Kushi did, and the fact her mom might be ostracized again after Samira left was a sobering thought.
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Pia breezed into the conference room and shut the door. “You look like this.” Pia pulled a weepy face. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Nothing like that . . . How did you know I’ve been with Rory again?”
Pia grinned and tapped her temple. “He called me this morning to thank me for all the dialect coaching and to tell me he got the job.”
“But how did you know—”
“I saw you two sneaking out of here yesterday afternoon, and I figured you ‘celebrated.’” Pia made cutesy quotation mark signs around the last word. “How’s it going with you two?”
“Good,” she said, nerves making her palms clammy. She needed to tell Pia about the pregnancy, but she knew firsthand how hard it was to hear about other women’s fertility when struggling with your own.
They may be cousins and best friends, but deep down, Samira knew this would test their bond.
“Good seems pretty tame considering how fast you two wanted to get somewhere more private yesterday.”
Samira’s cheeks flushed. “He’s great, actually. We have a lot of fun together.”
“So that’s what you’re calling it these days.” Pia snickered before nodding her approval. “He’s a nice guy. Perfect fling material while you’re in town.”
Samira had to tell Pia that Rory was more than a fling. He was the father of her child. She dragged in a steadying breath and blew it out. “Yeah, but is he daddy material?”
Pia’s eyes widened with shock before she gave a short laugh. “You’re crazy. Why would you consider trying to get pregnant with a guy you won’t see again when you head back to LA?” Her gaze slid away. “Not to mention the fact you had major problems conceiving years ago with Avi and you’re older now—”
“I’m pregnant,” Samira blurted, unable to keep the news in a second longer. “I know it’s madness because I rarely get periods and we used protection, but the condom broke, and I’m reeling from the shock, but I’m happy too, and I had to tell you.”
All the color drained from Pia’s face as she stood ramrod straight, her fingers curling into fists before unfurling, over and over, like she wanted to pump blood to the rest of her body.
Pia’s stricken expression and rigid posture made Samira wish she’d couched the news in better terms, but what could she say other than the truth? “I know it doesn’t make sense considering how hard I tried to conceive with Avi, but who knows, maybe there’s something to Mom’s belief in fate or karma or whatever, and this is the right time for me?”
Pia’s pallor hadn’t improved. If anything, she looked worse, and Samira took a step toward her. Her cousin flinched, and Samira stopped, unsure whether to approach to give her a hug or not.
“I know this is a shock—”
“What do you mean you’re pregnant?”
Pia spoke slowly, enunciating every single word with icy emphasis, her tone frigid. Her catatonic, unblinking stare unnerved Samira, but she’d had to do this, had to tell her cousin everything; it would be better than Pia finding out from someone else, and Samira had no doubt that could happen once she told her mom and the Indian grapevine got hold of the news.
“It’s nuts, I know—”
“No, you don’t know.” Pia stalked toward her on wooden legs, her steps jerky, before pulling out the chair next to Samira and collapsing onto it. “You have no fucking idea how nuts it really is.”
Samira startled and reached out to comfort Pia, only to have her scoot away like her touch was abhorrent.
“I know this must be tough on you—”
“Tough?” Pia snorted, an ugly sound ripped from deep