Selene's POV
The drive back from the clinic was suffocating.
Neither of us spoke a word to the other. Carlos kept his eyes fixed on the road, hands tight on the steering wheel while I stared at my own hands in my lap—fingers still trembling from the ultrasound gel and from the doctor's calm words that had landed like a bomb.
"Peak ovulation is today and tomorrow. I'll advise intercourse in the next forty-eight if you want to have your baby soon."
I had forty-eight hours!!
Two days to conceive a child I would carry for nine months and then hand over like a completed transaction.
The manor gates slid open silently as we approached. The car rolled up the long driveway, tires crunching over gravel. Carlos parked in the garage beneath the house and killed the engine. The sudden quiet was worse than the silence in the car.
He didn't move to get out and neither did I.
After a long moment, he spoke without looking at me.
"We don't have to do anything tonight.Hope you know that?"
I let out a short, bitter laugh. "But we have to do it soon right?."
"Yes."
I turned my head to look at him.
"So what now?" I asked. "We just… wait until I'm ready? Or until the window closes and your patience runs out?"
Carlos finally met my gaze. "If you want to wait, we wait. But you only get tonight to prepare yourself.I can't afford to miss the cycle.There is too much at stake Selene."
I looked away. "I hate this."
"I know but it's what must be done."
The words were quiet but his tone was dismissive .He obviously didn't want to listen to my complaints.All that mattered to him was the heir I'm supposed to bear.
He opened his door and I followed suit
Inside the manor, Carlos led the way upstairs without a word. At the landing, he paused outside my suite.
"Dinner is at eight," he said. "If you want to eat, don't be late."
I nodded.
He walked to the master suite and closed the door behind him.
I stood in the hallway for a long time, staring at the connecting door between our rooms—the one he had left unlocked last night when he slept on the couch to guard me.
I finally went inside my own suite, shut the door, and locked it.
I showered again, even though I didn't need to. Hot water couldn't wash away the doctor's words or the memory of Alejandro's smirk or the way Carlos had looked at me when he indirectly gave an ultimatum to have sex with him.
I changed into soft gray pajamas from the closet. It was an expensive, buttery fabric that made me feel even more out of place. I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the connecting door.
At 7:55 p.m., I opened it.
Carlos was already in the dining room when I arrived.
He stood when I entered. It was an old habit of his that I had noticed.A tactic with which he uses to present himself as a gentle man unknowing prey. He was in a black button-down, his hair visibly still damp from his own shower.
He reached out and pulled the seat beside him.I sat and he did same.
The butler served grilled salmon, roasted vegetables, a light salad and then vanished again. It was almost as if he hated being seen. On different occasions he had exchanged glances with me but he quickly pulls away before Carlos would notice.His eyes were always written in pity as if he had something to tell me.
We ate without speaking for several minutes.But this was no surprise,it has become the norm ever since the doctor broke the news to us.
Finally Carlos set down his fork.
"We don't have to do anything tonight," he repeated.
I looked up. "You already said that."
"I'm saying it again. In case you didn't believe me the first time."
I studied him. "Why not?"
"Because the first time I wasn't totally honest with you and I took something from you that you didn't want to give." His voice was low. "I won't do it again."
My throat tightened. "You didn't take anything. I gave it."
"You gave it because you had no choice."
I looked at him menacingly."And I have a choice now?"
Another silence.
I pushed food around my plate. "If we miss this window… what happens?"
"We can't and we won't."
"And there goes my point. It doesn't matter if I want to wait or not so we might as well just get on with it.Don't you think?"
Carlos didn't answer right away.
When he did, his voice was quieter than I'd ever heard it.
"It's your body, Selene. Your choice. I won't touch you tonight but you have to be ready by tomorrow."
The words landed heavy.
I stared at my plate.
He continued, softer still. "I need you to understand something though."
I looked up.
"I'm not asking for your heart," he said. "I'm asking for your trust. Just for the next forty-eight hours. After that… we can go back to being housemates and it's not exactly like this the first time we're having sex."
I swallowed hard.What was I expecting from a narcissistic bastard? The only reason he was offering me a one night window was to give himself something to feel good about.
"There is no point in procrastinating till tomorrow if that's the case" I finally found the words to reply.
"Then we do it tonight and get it over with."He replied firmly.
My pulse thundered in my ears.
I looked at him.He was watching me sternly,waiting for me to decide.
I stood up,walked around the table and gently pulled him up from the chair.
I stood inches from him,our eyes locked.
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Maybe tonight… we don't have to wait."