Midnight
While everyone slept, Amelia paced her room like a caged tiger. Just hours ago, she hadn't even been able to walk without wincing, but after Eliana massaged her swollen feet, she felt better. Not that she'd said thank you. Gratitude didn't live in Amelia's chest.
But that wasn't what kept her awake.
No, this was something else. Something burning deep inside her ribs.
The memory made her want to scream. The way they kissed. The way he touched her. It was like a scene from a dream she wasn't invited to.
And the worst part? It made her horny. So badly she wanted to pretend otherwise, but she couldn't. Her skin itched for touch. Her body begged for release. But who would want her like this—with this giant inconvenience of a belly? Her words. Not even the club was an option. Donald was watching her like a hawk. She had to behave, at least until the paternity results confirmed Kieran was the father.
"That old fucking bastard," she hissed, sinking onto the bed. Her legs spread to accommodate her swollen stomach.
"It's been months," she cried, yanking at her hair. "Months…"
Then she paused.
An idea sparked.
She looked down at her belly and smirked.
"Wait a minute. I didn't knock myself up. Why should I be the one searching for satisfaction when my baby daddy is right next door?"
She grinned, twisted and gleeful.
"I'll go to him. He has to fuck me."
The words sounded insane because they were. But that didn't stop her.
Barefoot, she crept into the hallway, one hand under her belly, the other clutching her robe. The mansion was silent. Her heart pounded harder the closer she got. When she saw the door wasn't locked, her breath hitched.
He trusts her.
He sleeps beside her.
She gets everything.
Amelia's lips curled.
She pushed the door open slowly and slipped inside, careful to close it behind her with a soft click.
Moonlight bathed the room in silver shadows.
There he was.
Kieran.
His strong arm curled tightly around Genesis, face buried in her neck. Even asleep, he looked protective… possessive of her.
It should've been me, Amelia thought.
She stepped closer, breath shallow, heart pounding. Just one touch, she told herself. One reminder of what they once had. Maybe he'd finally see her again.
But just as her hand reached for him…
Click.
She was slammed against the wall.
A scream tore from her lips as cold steel pressed into her temple.
Knight's gun.
Knight's hand around her throat.
Knight's voice, dark and low in her ear.
"What the fuck are you doing in my room?"
Amelia trembled, breath coming in frantic gasps. "It's me! Kieran—it's me!"
He didn't move the gun.
Didn't flinch.
"I know exactly who the fuck you are." His voice was a quiet kind of fury. It was worse than shouting. His eyes flicked toward Genesis on the bed, confirming she was still asleep, then returned to Amelia with venom.
"You thought I wouldn't hear your pathetic breathing the second you stepped inside?" He pressed the barrel harder to her skull. "You thought you could sneak in here. Touch me. While my wife is in that bed?"
"I… I'm pregnant with your child," she gasped, clutching her stomach as if to emphasize the truth. "I deserve attention too. You should touch me, just once. The doctor even said sex during pregnancy helps, it relieves stress, improves blood flow…" her voice dipped, "…and it helps loosen the vaginal muscles. Makes it easier when it's time to give birth."
She stepped closer, lowering her tone to something almost pleading.
"It's good for me. For the baby. Isn't that worth something, Kieran?"
Knight let out a laugh. A hollow, sound.
"That's why you're here?" He dragged her forward and shoved her into the hallway. His gun remained raised, his expression murderous. "You thought waddling in here like some desperate, hormonal breeding cow would change something?"
Amelia stumbled. "Please, I just need.."
"Don't beg." His voice cracked like thunder.
She fell silent.
He looked her up and down like she was a stain on his boot. "You're disgusting."
Then his gaze shifted, just for a second, back to the bed. To Genesis.
She was still curled in sleep.
Amelia saw the soft look in his eyes and seethed.
Knight noticed. He turned on her in a flash, gripping her jaw with bruising force.
"She is mine," he hissed. "That girl in that bed? She owns me. You?" He shoved her away. "You're a problem I'm waiting to erase."
Click. The door slammed shut. Locked.
Amelia stood in the hallway, breath shaking. Humiliated. Turned on. Furious. Defeated.
And for the first time, she understood.
There was no room in Knight's world for anyone but his wife.
Knight stood just inside the door, jaw tight. Every part of him screamed to pull the trigger and end her. Baby or not.
But Genesis wouldn't want that.
And besides… Amelia was just a pawn in a much bigger game. The bishop's pawn.
He shoved the thought away and returned to the bed, placing the gun beneath the pillow.
He reached for Genesis.
But she rolled over.
Her eyes were wide open.
Knight froze.
"…You heard it all?"
She nodded.
Before he could say another word, she raised her phone and turned the screen toward him.
A message glowed in the dark.
It read:
"She's carrying your child. That doesn't make her good… but still kind of family, doesn't it?
I read somewhere that some women get like that… that their body wants sex before labor to help everything… soften. Open.
I think that's why she came.
Not because you're hers.
But because she's scared.
Maybe lonely.
Please don't hurt her.
Knight's jaw clenched. He took the phone from her hand.
Another message popped up.
I'm not asking you to touch her.
I'm not asking you to love her.
I just don't want you to lose control because of her."
He stared at the screen, his fingers curling around the device like it had insulted him. His chest rose, then fell, deep, slow.
Then he looked at her, his wife, his queen. His everything.
"I could've killed her," he said, voice low, barely more than a whisper. "One second more, Genesis… and I would've pulled the trigger."
Genesis didn't flinch. Her eyes only softened, quietly shimmering.
She typed a message and held it up for him to read:
"I don't want her dead. I just want her gone."
A beat of silence.
Then he let out a dry chuckle. "And they say I'm the cruel one."
He set the phone gently on the nightstand, cupped her face, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"She wants me to touch her," he murmured into her hair. "But only you make me feel human."
A pause.
"And that thing growing inside her? It might be mine by blood… but if it doesn't learn to respect you, it's not mine at all."
Genesis nodded, nestling closer, letting his arms close around her once more.
And just like that, the tension in the room eased—like a knot quietly coming undone.
But far across the mansion, something else was tightening.
A different kind of ache twisted in Amelia's chest.
Something sharp.
Something bitter.
Something that wasn't going away anytime soon.