Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
KAYLANI
Goran fell asleep with his arm wrapped around my waist, his fingers tense as if he feared I might vanish. The irony cut deep, a bruise to my soul that would never heal.
I lay there for a long time, staring at the trailer walls, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing. Outside, the show grounds were quiet. Generators hummed low. Somewhere nearby, a horse whinnied.
Normal sounds. A normal night. But nothing about this felt normal.
Goran shifted slightly in his sleep, tightening his hold unconsciously.
His face was softer like this. The hard lines of worry had smoothed away.
The stiffness in his jaw was gone. In the dim light, I could see a bruise on his cheekbone, another under his eye, and the dark marks along his hip and ribs.
He hadn’t flinched once, hadn’t acted like they hurt. But seeing them made my chest ache.
Those marks had been from one arrest.
What would he look like after a week in a federal detention center? A month? A year?
No. I couldn’t allow that to happen to him.
I reached up carefully, brushing my fingers over the scrapes on his knuckles.
He didn’t wake.
He would have burned the world down tonight if I had let him. There would have been no hesitation. When I forced him to marry me, I hadn’t appreciated that side of him. It had all seemed harmless, like a win-win for both of us. Now I saw it differently. I saw him differently.
My hand closed around the gold band hanging at my throat. I pressed the metal into my palm until it bit into my skin.
If I told Goran about the baby, he would go to war immediately. If I stayed, he would take the assault, theft, and kidnapping charges and spend years in prison. If I fought my father openly, he would escalate.
Where would it end? Who would get hurt? Or worse…who would die?
My marriage to Goran meant everything to me. But at the end of the day, prison was a concrete cage where Goran would be vulnerable to the whims of my father.
Not being with him was torture. Watching him rot in a cell because of me…that would be the death of us both.
I shifted carefully, easing out from under his arm. His grip loosened just enough for me to slip free. I lifted the blankets and was about to slide out when he stirred.
His brows pulled together, and my heart nearly stopped.
“Lani,” he murmured in his sleep.
I froze.
“I’m right here,” I whispered.
He relaxed again, and his breathing evened out.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and stood slowly. Gathering my clothes from the floor, I dressed in silence. Every movement sounded loud in my ears.
Picking up my purse, I noticed the blue-and-gold box sticking halfway out. I’d purchased it earlier for the baby reveal. With a sigh, I pulled it out and stared at the pretty ribbon before glancing back at Goran.
I had imagined giving it to him. Imagined the smile on his face and the two of us arguing over strollers and car seats, while we planned our future.
But everything had changed.
Resolved in my decision, I stepped into the small bathroom and closed the door behind me, careful not to click the latch.
Opening the box, I stared at the pregnancy test, emotion rising so fast it clogged my throat.
Two lines. Clear and certain.
My hand pressed instinctively to my stomach, wanting to protect my child.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I whispered. “I’m working on a plan to keep you, me, and your father together.”
My father didn’t know about the pregnancy or the marriage. Those were my key advantages.
A fake marriage to Julian bought me time. The pregnancy gave me leverage. And I would use both to free us when the time was right.
I slid the test back into the box and carefully replaced the lid. For a moment, I considered taking it with me. But if my father or Julian found it, I would lose the upper hand.
Dropping it into the garbage, I quickly crumpled some tissue and tossed it on top. Then, I turned off the light.
From the narrow hallway, I looked at Goran one last time.
He had rolled onto his back. His arm stretched across the space where I’d been, like he expected me to return and was inviting me to cuddle.
I stayed in the doorway, unable to step inside. If I did, I would break and abandon my plan.
That couldn’t happen.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “It’s safer if you hate me for leaving. I hope one day you’ll forgive me.”
I wiped the lone tear from my cheek just as headlights flashed across the side of the trailer and the crunch of gravel under tires announced my father’s arrival.
Grabbing a notepad off the table, I scribbled a hasty note. I had no business leaving one. But I did anyway.
I love you. I’ll always love you.
Turning, I picked up my suitcase and quietly opened the trailer door. The cool early morning air hit my face, sending shivers down my spine.
The limo waited, engine running. Black and ominous. It was as if one of the four horsemen had come to cart me off to the underworld.
My father stood beside it, his face hidden in shadows, fitting for the moment. He didn’t speak when he saw me. He simply opened the door, a silent signal that it was time.
My legs shook, but my resolve never wavered. I would do what was necessary to protect what was mine. Goran, our unborn child, and even Atlas. They were my family.
I walked past Father without a word and slid into the back seat. The door closed with a heavy thud as he climbed in and settled across from me.
As the car began to move, I couldn’t stop myself. I turned to look out the back window just as the trailer door burst open.
Goran.
Barefoot. Shirtless. Wild. He ran toward the car like he could outrun the steel and gasoline monster.
“Kaylani!”
My name came out broken and ragged, and it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest.
I pressed my hand flat against the window.
He was still running. Still shouting.
“Faster,” Father commanded.
The limo accelerated, widening the distance. Goran’s figure blurred behind the wall of tears clouding my eyes. Then the car turned, and he was gone.
My hand dropped from the glass, but my fingers trembled as the silent droplets rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t gasp or sob. I didn’t give my father the satisfaction of seeing me break.
Leaning back, I forced my breathing to steady. Dimitri watched in silence, his eyes colder than I had ever seen. He was no longer my father. He was the keeper of my gilded cage.
There was no forgiveness for what he had set in motion. I didn’t know when he stopped being my father, but there was no going back. I was no longer his little girl.
I was a woman. A smart and capable woman. And with every mile, my next move formed in my mind.
Goran
The click of the trailer door closing pulled me from sleep before I understood why. I jerked upright, my hand shooting across the bed.
Kaylani’s spot was empty and cold.
“Lani?”
No answer.
The trailer felt wrong, too quiet. Panic had me moving before my brain caught up. My hands fumbled with my jeans as I stepped outside, bare feet hitting gravel.
Sharp stones bit into my feet but I didn’t care. The limo was already halfway out of the lot, and it would reach the main road in seconds.
Arms pumping, I ran after the car. Dimitri was not taking her from me.
“Kaylani!”
My feet pounded against the ground, lungs burning from the sudden exertion. There was no thinking. I didn’t calculate. I just ran.
The brake lights flared red as they reached the main gate.
“Kaylani!”
Her name tore from my throat as desperation filled me. She was my entire world. The memory of her teasing and the loving smile she had given me when she told me we were married crossed my mind. But it was gone as quickly as the limo.
I raced to the gate, staring down the road. Their lights were already nothing more than tiny dots on the horizon.
“Ahhh!” The roar that came out of me could have woken the dead.
Before her, I had never allowed myself to dream. I had resigned myself to a life like my father’s. Alone in a tiny apartment, barely remembering my name. But every smile, every stolen touch from Kaylani had made me believe life could hold more, that I could be more.
The silence that followed was louder than the engine had been. I stood there until a trailer moving past nudged me back in motion. Something inside me shifted. Something far colder than panic, sharper than heartbreak.
I marched along the path, aware that my feet were bleeding and leaving red footprints with every stride.
The pain was sweet, like a punishment meant for me alone.
It fed the anger rising within. Not at her.
At him. At Dimitri. At the man who pretended to love his family yet would see their souls crushed for his own gain.
Back inside, I took a deep breath. The trailer still held her heat. Her scent lingered in every corner. The notepad we used for keeping score in card games lay open. I picked it up and read the words over and over.
My hand locked around the pad.
Stomping into the bedroom, I snatched my phone and called the only person who could help.
Nathaniel answered on the first ring.
“She’s gone. Kaylani is gone.”
Silence stretched across the line.
Then, calm and controlled, his voice cut through.
“Where? When?”
“Dimitri picked her up. Just now.”
Another pause, filled with the sound of swearing and the shuffle of movement.
“Text me your location. I’m on my way.”
“Nathaniel…I…”
“I know. We’ll get her back. I’m sick of my father playing this fucking game.”
I stepped into the narrow bathroom as we spoke, flipping on the light with my free hand. The word ‘back’ settled heavily in my chest.
Atlas. Shit. I needed to make sure Corey and Ehren looked after him. I glanced toward the small window facing the temporary stables outside.
“He’ll try to use Atlas again,” I muttered.
“He won’t touch Atlas,” Nathaniel said firmly.
“He might. He’s proven to be quite an asshole. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to you about yesterday yet.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound ominous at all. We can talk on the plane. I’ll show you the location of a farm that I’ve purchased here in Cali. Send him there. We’ll secure the horse first. She would want that.”
Yes. She would. I closed my eyes briefly.
“Just so you know, she didn’t fight,” I said quietly. “She chose this, she chose to go.”
Nathaniel snorted.
“Spare me. The only reason Kaylani chose to leave was to buy time. Or she’s coming up with a new plan. You know that. My sister is resourceful.”
“I know, but she did it to protect me. I can’t let her.”
“Goran?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and get off the phone so I can get going.”
I smirked, needing that.
“Yes, sir.”
I ended the call and gripped the edge of the tiny sink. The bathroom felt too small. Her toothbrush was still in the holder. A strand of her hair was caught in the corner of the mirror. The air smelled faintly like her shampoo.
Needing to keep busy, I brushed my teeth and stared at nothing. That’s when I saw it. Just the corner, almost hidden beneath a pile of tissues.
Toothbrush hanging from my mouth, I bent over and nudged the rubbish aside, revealing a gift box.
Blue and gold. Wrapped neatly, like something important and meant to be handed over with a smile.
I didn’t know why it caught my attention. But if she had gotten me a gift, she would have left it for me anyway. Maybe it was because it didn’t belong in a bathroom, or because I had never seen it before. But whatever the reason, I slowly picked it up.
I shook the box, and something rattled inside. My eyes narrowed.
It was light. Too light and noisy to be a watch. Too small and the wrong shape to be a new gun. Not that I thought she would gift me a firearm.
The ribbon slid away with a gentle tug, and I tore off the paper, revealing a plain white box with blue writing. My brain registered the brand before my heart caught up.
The world narrowed, and my fingers shook as I opened it. The pregnancy test slid out into my palm, and there it was.
Two blue lines. Undeniable.
For a second, everything froze. No air moved in my lungs. My thoughts scattered and refused to form. Then reality slammed back with all its weight.
She wasn’t just walking into a marriage. She was walking in carrying my child.
My hand clenched around the box, knuckles white. My head spun. Kaylani was pregnant. I was going to be a father.
A sharp, fractured laugh broke out of me. Of course, she wouldn’t tell me. She knew exactly what would happen if she had. I would have tied her up and never let her go. But I hadn’t signed any divorce papers, so she was pregnant and legally married to me.
Nathaniel was right. Kaylani was stacking emergency exits like a general preparing for a siege. And she was doing it alone.
“You stubborn, brilliant, too-damn-brave woman,” I murmured under my breath.
This wasn’t her sacrificing herself. It was strategy. She was buying us time, giving us a chance to rally the troops.
The air in the trailer felt different now, thicker and filled with purpose. My mind ran through every angle, every possibility.
Dimitri thought he had us in checkmate. He didn’t realize Kaylani was already three steps ahead. She was carrying the child of another man, but the baby was still Mikhailov blood. And blood changed everything like an ace card up her sleeve.