10. Brooke
The following day, I visit Igor in the hospital. Last night, Lev was quiet and clearly affected by seeing his lifelong friend so broken, and now, as I’m staring at the bed where Igor lays silently, I can see why. Igor is swathed in bandages, his eyes closed, and a ventilator is breathing for him.
My stomach aches. He’s bandaged down to his fingers. I place mine on top of his. “I’m sorry, Igor.” My voice sounds so small against the rhythmic sucking of the ventilator. “Please keep fighting.”
I think about the giant man I was afraid of on that first night when Lev took me from my apartment and how, over the course of mere weeks, I somehow formed a bond with him.
I think about how sweet he and Enya looked together as they cuddled and shared a sandwich, and my heart breaks for them both.
I think about the baby growing in my belly and how one day this could be them lying in a hospital bed because their father is the pakhan, and in his world of blood and power, happily ever afters are in short supply.
A shiver rolls through me and I have to push the thought away. No good can come from thinking things like that.
I feel a presence behind me and swing around.
Agent Michaels.
Immediately, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I turn my focus back to Igor. “How did you get past the bodyguard posted at the door?”
“It’s called FBI credentials and the threat of prison time for obstructing justice.”
I scoff. He doesn’t want justice. He wants Lev’s head on a platter so he can take it back to his bosses at the bureau and show them how tough and clever he is.
I keep my eyes on Igor as I ask, “Are you stalking me now?”
“Is that what Lev told you, that I stalk him?”
“He calls you his shadow,” I say, then immediately regret opening my mouth.
I need to be careful around this guy. He’s going to try and lure information out of me.
“I’ll take that as a compliment—it means I’m doing my job right,” he says, sounding pleased with himself. “Are you ready to talk to me?”
“Like I told you the other night when you blindsided me in my hospital room, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“It would be in your best interests, Brooke. Lev Zarkov is a dangerous man.”
“What part of I don’t want to talk to you do you not understand?” I say.
“I’m offering you a lifeline, Brooke.”
I turn to look at him. “It’s Miss Masters to you.”
He smirks. He sees me as a challenge, and I think he likes it.
I turn away, disgusted. “What is wrong with you? Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me?”
“I’m not following you. I’m following up on our conversation the other night. Thought you might have had time to reconsider turning me down.”
“Do you really think you and I are going to become allies? That I will help you send Lev away for whatever fictional crimes you think he’s committed?”
“He’s the pakhan of the Zarkov Bratva.”
“He’s the CEO of a pharmaceutical company.”
“You’re a smart woman. You know who he is. But do you know what he is truly capable of?”
“If your plan is to try and scare me away from him—”
“You’re pregnant. You’ve already suffered because of him. Because his rivals know about you. His fiancée. What happens when they find out you’re pregnant with the heir to the Zarkov empire? I’ll tell you what they’ll do. They’ll sniff you out and cut open your—”
I swing around to glare at him. “You finish that sentence, and I’ll fucking shoot you myself.”
But his eyes gleam with triumph. He’s successfully sowed the seed of doubt in my mind, and he knows it.
Disgust and anger flow through me. But they are nothing compared to the fear I already feel.
He continues relentlessly. “What happens to your baby when he’s done with you? When he loses his hard-on for you, and he will, because Lev Zarkov throws people away because they mean nothing to him.”
“Stop.”
“He won’t want you anymore—”
“I said stop it!”
But he doesn’t stop. He keeps throwing his grenades, and they land right in the middle of my shaky emotions.
“You will become redundant. But while you are disposable, he will never let go of his heir. What happens to you then? He won’t want you, but he’ll do everything in his power to keep that baby. What kind of life will it be for your child?”
His words hit exactly where he intended them to, right in the middle of the need I feel to protect this baby.
“I can protect you and the baby. Give you back a life that doesn’t involve bratva bloodshed. Make sure he never touches you or your baby.”
The idea of Lev not touching me or our baby is an agony I can’t even fathom. I could never take this baby from him. Or leave his bed. Not now. Not ever. We’ve grown so close in the last few weeks. Even closer since we found out about the baby. I couldn’t imagine not waking up in his secure arms.
But…
“Look at Igor,” he demands. “That could easily be you lying in that bed.”
I hate that he’s right.
“All because you think you’re in love with a man who could never love you back. You know why? Because he’s a narcissistic psychopath. He doesn’t do anything unless it’s in the best interest of the bratva. Or his own personal gain.”
Feeling my emotions get the better of me, I lean forward and gently touch Igor’s fingertips to say goodbye. I need to get away from Agent Michaels.
Because he’s making too much sense.
I shoot him a sharp look. “Stay away from me. I don’t want your help.”
I brush past him and walk to the door.
“But I want yours, Miss Masters. And I won’t stop until I get it.”
I hurry out of the room, desperate to make distance between me and the FBI agent.
Lev isn’t home when I return to the estate. Which is good because I don’t think I could hide what I am thinking from him.
That Agent Michaels made some very valid points
He’s right. I don’t know Lev, and I don’t know what he is capable of. What happens when the shine of this baby wears off, and I become a problem to him? Only a few weeks ago, we couldn’t be in the same room as one another without arguing. Now we can’t be in the same room without touching each other, kissing and cuddling, fucking—no, making love—and without warning, it’s got me believing in some fairy-tale ending.
But how can it be real? It started as a lie, and that lie has just gotten bigger and bigger and more convincing.
Feeling unsettled from seeing Igor, and out of sorts from my encounter with the FBI agent, I pace my room.
I can protect you and the baby. Give you back a life that doesn’t involve bratva bloodshed.
His words haunt me.
Because what if I can’t protect my baby while we’re with Lev?
What if a life without the bratva is the only way to keep my baby safe?