I swallow, turning to gather another bucket so she can’t see the pain in my eyes. “I can’t change that. Believe me, I’ve tried. If he wanted to let me in, he would. But in case you haven’t noticed, I’m having not one but two babies soon. My focus has to be on them, not someone who can’t decide if he wants to be in our lives.”

Solana wisely chooses not to answer, and I’m glad for it. If she knew how many doubts I already had every second of every day about what I’m doing, she would probably pounce on the chance to bring us back together.

We continue our work in silence, her stocking the shelves while I adjust the displays. It’s ten minutes to closing when the bells on the door ring, and a familiar voice infiltrates my thoughts.

“Mercedes?”

I turn to see Clifton standing there, and I stare at him in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes move over my round belly before darting back to my face, a cool smile curving his lips. “I hope you don’t mind. I haven’t been able to get in touch with you, so I asked your guards. They told me you’ve been spending your days here.”

“This is… unexpected,” I say. In other words, it’s fucking weird.

Clifton seems to be oblivious to my discomfort, or if he notices, he doesn’t care. “Look, I heard about your… situation.” He nods to my belly. “Whispers are going around. One of the guards let it slip. But not too many people know yet. I think we can still salvage this.”

“Um… what?” I blink, and then blink again, clearly confused.

“I put the word out that I was courting you,” Clifton explains as if this is totally rational. “Back before the dinner at Judge’s house. We can still save your reputation. I have a priest from IVI who’s willing to marry us for a fee, and he’ll add whatever date we want to the official paperwork. We can just tell everyone we wanted to enjoy our honeymoon period before we made it public.”

I stare at him in stunned silence. What he’s offering might have seemed chivalrous at one point in my life, but I’m not stupid. Clifton isn’t here out of the kindness of his heart. He wouldn’t chain himself to me and go through all the effort to save my reputation because of his undying love. We barely know each other, but what I do know is clear.

“And you’ll get what out of this exactly?” I arch a brow at him.

He shifts, acting affronted for about two seconds, then shrugs. “Half your trust.”

“I see.”