Page 93 of Claim Me

Georgia looked as though she hated this idea, but she didn’t contradict her.

“Tell me,” her voice softened but the command was still implicit.

“There’s a problem.” I sniffled, trying to keep myself from crying. If I was going to break down telling Georgia how would I ever get through telling Alexander? I set my shoulders and willed myself to be calm, reminding myself that everything would turn out well. “The baby’s heart isn’t right. He’s going to need surgery when he’s born.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Georgia shook her head, her mouth open. “How could you keep this a secret?”

“We weren’t sure. I had to see a specialist.”

“When did you find out there might be a problem?” She asked.

“A couple of—”

“I really hope you’re about to say minutes,” she hissed. “You’ve known for days?”

“Weeks,” I said weakly.

“What were you thinking?” she demanded.

“You do a really good impression of Alexander,” Belle said, “but I think she needs our support not our—”

“That’s how you do friendship.” Georgia spun to face her. “My version has slightly more accountability.”

“I know I should have told him.” Her reaction had shocked the tears from me. Now I was starting to feel angry.

“Even if you couldn’t tell him, I needed to know. Your team needed to know.”

“You answer to Alexander—” I began.

“And you,” she added. “We keep secrets for a living and if the Queen has a secret, we will keep it. Do you understand? When you wanted to go to Windsor, I didn’t call him. I don’t repeat our conversations. But I needed to know this. How can I protect you if I don’t know that there’s a serious health concern with the baby? What if there was an accident and no one knew?”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. It hasn’t occurred to me that my team needed to know. It had felt like a private matter, but there was no real privacy in my life anymore. Why couldn’t I accept that?

“It was stupid and reckless.” She shook her head. “I expected better of you. You’re usually the smart one.”

She stormed toward the door and Belle and I looked at each other.

“Give me a moment,” I called to Georgia as she opened the door.

“There’s an entire squad of fools drooling to throw themselves between you and a bullet. I need to think.” She paused as she stepped out of the door. “Clara, tell him or I will.”

It wasn’t an empty threat, and I knew it.

“That went well,” Belle muttered.

I slumped against the tiled wall, cradling the baby growing inside me. “She’s right. I didn’t want to deal with it, so I tried to ignore it. I made excuses for why it was okay to keep it a secret. The whole time I’ve been putting the baby in danger.”

“You’ve been going to your appointments. You’re taking care of yourself,” Belle said firmly. “Maybe you should have told them, but there’s no use hating yourself for the past.”

“I have to tell him,” I said, “as soon we get home.”

I wouldn’t ruin Sarah’s birthday by springing this on her brother. Georgia knew now, so in the unlikely event the information was needed, she could pass it along.

Was that how I wanted Alexander to find out? In an emergency?

“Come on, let’s find your husband. You’ll feel better around him.” Belle urged me back onto my feet and kept me steady as I slipped my heels on.

But I wouldn’t feel better. Not until this had been dealt with.