It had been a rough time for Sonia with the news that there were two heartbeats heard by the doctor during her examination. Dr. Witaker, the man who's wife was murdered by her husband, was kind enough to treat her knowing who she was, and he advised her to rest... but she could not rest until she ended the farce between Zecheriah Meijer and herself had ended. She could not bring herself to marry a man who she didn't want. Not again.

There would be no marriage between them if she could help it. She imagined that he would be relieved to be rid of her. Unbeknownst to her, he had been speaking to people about her. She was unaware that she was facing trouble head on when crossing paths with Zech.

Sonia approached the back door of his home, the hood of her silk cloak hiding her face from view of anyone who might be in the vicinity. To any onlooker, it might seem like some clandestine meeting in the works, a fallen woman on the path to meeting a client. It may as well have seemed that way anyhow, she thought as she rapped upon the back door.

He had looked into Mrs. Sonia Carrington. Plenty of former clients, though not a lot of friends. Except one …

He was doing it for the child, of course. She was a pregnant, desperate thing that would hardly do well alone. With her, he could cement far more than just a respectable middle child legacy. He could eclipse Chaim in success. He could make his father blush and sputter, and his mother tearfully renounce him before coming around next time her ink well felt too full.

He could humiliate everyone (including himself) by marrying this whore and taking her damned whorehouse.

That she came to visit him was not unprecedented, but neither was he anticipating it. Mr. Benjamin answered the back door; Zechariah was reading in his office instead of catching up on his non-dirty mail.

He was surprised to hear a guest brought in from the back rather than the front, but hid his pulp novel in a drawer before calling a preemptively annoyed, “come in.”

When he saw who it was, however, the annoyance shifted to an evaluating look.

“Sonia. Good to see you. Make yourself comfortable.”

It was a comfortable room – Zechariah had made sure of that much. It was the room he spent the most time brooding away in. There was a seat across the desk he sat at, as well as a couch with throw pillows.

She did not pull the hood down until she was well inside. Sonia peered then at Zech and gave a nod. She moved to sit down and then smoothed her fingers down the plain gown she wore. She reached into the small bag she was carrying and there was a thick stack of ledgers. She pressed her lips together for a moment and then finally said, "I appreciate you seeing me without notice, but I came straight away with several thoughts in mind." She paused, her eyes moving down to her belly. He would probably see that she looked quite unwell, her face ashen and her eyes tired.

"I came here to release you from the obligation of marriage to me. What I did was wrong. You've done nothing to me to deserve being backed into a corner." She let out a breath and closed her eyes against the heavy flutter of the twins she carried, "But I will pay you well to be my lawyer instead. I'm afraid what I am about to tell you will change everything."

Several thoughts in mind. Last time she had had several thoughts in mind, Zechariah had ended up blackmailed into an engagement. He kept his expression carefully polite – the same expression he used with his clients.

“Of course,” Zechariah said. “You are, after all, my soon to be wife and mother of my child.”

Eugh. Uriel was right to be mortified. This woman was just one disaster surprise after another. A female Menachem, minus the murder charges … thus far. Was she going to be somersaulting in and out of blackmail, now? It was rather late for a change of mind.

“Tell me more, please,” he answered politely, nonetheless.

Had she killed someone? Other than Carrington? No one cared who actually killed Carrington, so long as he stayed dead.

She blinked at him when he seemed not to get that she was releasing him. What was wrong with him?? She sighed then and said, "Children. I spoke to the doctor and there was more than one heartbeat that he heard when he examined me. There are two, as far as he understands. But didn't you hear me? It's done... you're free... you do not have to marry me. I do not wish to marry you. I thought this would please you."

She stared at him dumbfounded.

Two children at once! That was unusual, but he supposed the Carringtons were prone to that. How many twin brothers were in that family? Two? Five? Too many; that much he knew. Perhaps it would speak even more strongly to his supposed virility.

At her protest, Zechariah’s brows chased his hairline.

“Please me,” he repeated, deadpan. “You? Think to please me?” He let out a derisive chuckle and shook his head. “Wait long enough for me to dress up you stealing my life, telling my entire family I finally met someone, and now you are here again, what? Because you have decided you no longer want to marry me … and that has something to do with pleasing me?”

He let out a huff of a laugh, but his gaze scorched.

“Yes, Sonia,” he ‘agreed,’ dripping with sarcasm. “All I have ever wanted in my life is someone to continuously tell me what I want – and even better! Keep changing her mind about what that is after the fact.”

He leaned back in his seat and then swung his feet onto the desk.

“So, it looks like I fathered twins,” he announced with an unamused smile. “We can name one each.”

Her eyes widened at first, then they narrowed at his tone. "And you think I should be sympathetic to the fact you opened your mouth? Come now, Mister Meijer, I never told you to tell everyone. Added to that, you made it clear that you didn't want me." She stood up and moved to pull the ledgers back to her chest, her chin lifting, "For all intents and purposes, it's through. You could tell everyone that I am some villain for all I care, but your wife, I will not be."

She grimaced and the lot of the objects in her hands dropped to a heap of paper and leather on the floor. She pressed her freed appendages to her belly and huffed out a few, short breaths. Then she slowly bent to retrieve what was dropped.

He had come around to the idea in her absence. But oh, the reality of her! Zechariah watched her coolly; listened to her defense, and was unsurprised to find it lacking. Instead, he fixed a pitying look on her.

“You would be insane to back out of this in your state, Sonia,” he said softly, like he was speaking to an easily spooked animal. “Such fits of temporary insanity are common in this state.”

When she dropped her things, Zechariah smiled with hardly bitten back annoyance but went to fetch the dropped things nonetheless. He held a hand up to beckon her to stop when she bent.

“Catch your breath and rest,” he said, half-straightening out the papers before holding them out to her.

Irritation flashed through her but she complied. If he happened to look down at the ledgers, he might see some of the handsome profits incurred since Magnus' buying of the brothel, and even more so since Sonia took over. She was a rather smart businesswoman, she'd done all the math herself since her husband's death just to see what she was dealing with. She was ready to sell the business, frankly, she thought wearily as she sought to catch her breath.

"Why do you still wish to marry me?" she was genuinely perplexed. "I find the whole... blackmail situation distasteful and regret it. I'm truly sorry I cornered you in such a manner, Mister Meijer." And she meant it. She took hold of the papers.

Why did he intend to marry her? He had already made a plan to, simple as that! God forbid he deviate from a plan.

Besides …

“Because I have been granted an opportunity I may never find again,” he said.

His eyes meandered over the paperwork. Holy moly, was that comma in the right place?

“I want to be a better father than my own was.”

Also, he had literally vomited all over his last chance at love, so why not run a brothel instead?