Chapter 67: 67

NADINE’S P.O.V

I woke up to fingers stroking my hair softly as well as the smell of eggs.

Rowan sat behind me, my head laying gently in his lap as he absentmindedly stroked it back. He had a piece of paper in his hands that he was staring at intently and my first reaction was fear that he had somehow found my tests.

“Rowan,” I called out softly and he immediately turned to me. “What’s that?”

“My guard schedule.” He folded it neatly and placed it on the bedside table. “You’re up finally.”

I pulled myself into a sitting position, stretching my limbs as I did. He placed a plate of toast and eggs in front of me and my brows rose. We weren’t allowed to bring food into the room. It was one of the many rules in this place. In the last bunker, my father used to get away with it because of who he was but I doubted they would give Rowan the same privilege.

“How?” I asked. “You could get in trouble for this.”

“I know, but I wasn’t going to leave you without breakfast.”

I tried to protest further but he waved me off and all but shoved the dish into my hands. I would have fought harder if my stomach didn’t take that moment to rumble. My cheeks flushed pink and shoved a forkful of eggs into my mouth.

It tasted bland, like everything else in this place but I ate it because I didn’t have much of a choice. While I ate, Rowan tidied up the room, picking up abandoned clothes that I was responsible for.

“I heard you met with your dad yesterday,” he began and I froze. “Is that what you didn’t want to talk about yesterday?”

I hesitated before nodding slowly. I wasn’t going to lie to him, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth just yet because I didn’t want to admit that it was real. A baby was… it was something.

“Did he bother you?” I shook my head. “What did he want?”

“No, he just wanted to ask me to leave you again.”

It was a half truth, one that had Rowan smiling to himself; I watched as Rowan leaned against the doorway, his hands crossed over his chest.

“What did you tell him?”

“That it wasn’t going to happen,” I shrugged. “He will get used to it.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then we leave.”

The words just slipped out of me and the terrible part was, I didn’t regret it. I hated it here, I felt stifled, I hated being away from Rowan and I hated the fact that my father felt he had a right to tell me what to do. I wanted out and if it weren’t for this baby, I would’ve asked Rowan that we leave today.

Rowan stilled before slowly making his way over to me. “You want to leave?”

I nodded slowly. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it too.”

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He opened his mouth to speak but a knock on the door distracted us. He glanced over his shoulder before pulling back. “We’ll talk about this later.”

He opened the front door only a little and I watched him converse with whoever was on the other side. They spoke for a full minute and I could tell from Rowan’s mannerisms that he was not pleased with whoever was there.

After a long silence, he turned to me. “Get dressed, princess.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“The General wants to see you. A guard is here to take you to him.”

It took me an embarrassing amount of time to pull myself to my feet. I was in a daze as I got myself presentable. I took the quickest shower and pulled on one of Rowan’s shirts in my bid to dress up in a hurry.

“Nadine,” I felt arms wrap around my shoulders as Rowan turned me to face him. “You have nothing to be scared of.”

I did though. If my dad had told the General about the baby then… fuck. This was a disaster.

“Rowan, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Hurry up!” I heard the guard yell from behind the door but I ignored him.

“Rowan, I-”

“Tell me later,” he pressed a soft kiss to my head. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

“You don’t understand. I-”

“Princess,” he cut me off and I fell silent. “You’re scared, I get that, but you have no reason to be scared of him. He is a coward who hides behind other people. I’ll be right here waiting, okay?”

I nodded slowly. I could do this. “I’m ready.”

The guard outside had a perpetual frown on his face. He looked at Rowan and I as if we were some sort of abomination. Rowan ignored him though, kissing me long enough for it to be uncomfortable for the guard. My cheeks were flaming by the time we pulled apart.

The guard said nothing as we walked to the General’s office, and even though I tried to remind myself that it was fine, I couldn’t shake the feeling of worry and fear. The General was not a man who played games. He held so much power and it was a truly terrifying thing.

The hallway to his office was deserted; there were only a few doors, each of them bolted shut. Even the windows were tinted. I squared my shoulder, keeping my eyes on the double doors in front of me.

The guard stopped at the door and gestured for me to go forward.

“You’re not coming in?” I asked but he ignored me. I swallowed deeply, taking a deep breath to calm myself before pushing the door open.

This office was very similar to the last one. It was minimalistic at best with only a desk and a chair. There were stacks of paper on the desk but it looked somewhat more arranged than the last time.

General Trent sat in his chair, his hands clasped together on the table with a smile. “Come in, Nadine.”

I took a slow step in, making my way over to the desk but I didn’t sit down, not yet at least. I cleared my throat, making sure my voice was clear when I spoke.

“You called for me?”

“Straight to business, I see my son is rubbing off on you,” he drawled. “Sit down, Nadine.”

I hesitated before taking the seat. Even though his voice was friendly, it was clear that he was running the shots here. I kept my spine straight, ready to bolt at any given moment. I kept the door in my line of vision, ready to bolt if need be.

“How is life here?” he asked and I sighed.

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think you brought me here to ask how life is. You wouldn’t have dragged me out of my room for that.”

His lips curled and for a split second, I saw the resemblance between him and Rowan, but where Rowan was warmth, he was all cold edges.

“There is a reason I always liked you, Nadine Tyler. You’re smart. I kept a close eye on you in the bunker.”

“And yet I wasn’t brought here when the evacuation happened.”

“That was a terrible mistake, one that won’t happen again.”

I sighed. “Why am I here?”

“I called you here to offer you my congratulations. I heard all about the baby.”

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