Chapter 14 Anna
ANNA
The paper feels thin between my fingers.
The room tilts.
I read it again. The genetic markers, the medical terminology, the cold clinical language that says exactly what I’ve been terrified of for six weeks.
He knows.
“When were you planning to tell me?” Luca’s voice is calm. Too calm.
I look up from the report. He’s sitting behind his desk, hands folded in front of him like we’re discussing a business transaction. “I wasn’t,” I say.
“You weren’t.”
“No.”
“You were going to let me live in the same house as my children, provide for them, protect them, and never tell me they’re mine.”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightens. “Why?”
“Because you’re a monster. Because I saw what you are that night five years ago, and I knew I could never let you have them.”
“What I am? I’m their father.”
“You’re a killer. A criminal. You traffic drugs and weapons, and you execute people who inconvenience you. That’s what you are.”
“And yet you married me. Moved into my house. Took my money.”
“I had no choice!”
“You always had a choice. You could have refused the marriage. Let your parents face the consequences of their debts. But you chose security over pride. So don’t pretend you’re a victim here.”
I stand up. “I am a victim. You forced this marriage—”
“I offered a solution to your family’s problems. Your father accepted. You agreed. No one held a gun to your head.”
“You held my family’s future hostage!”
“That’s called leverage. It’s how business works.” He stands as well, placing his hands flat on the desk. “What I want to know is why you recognized me at that wedding and said nothing.”
“Because telling you would trap my children in your world. A world of violence and crime and death. I’ve spent all these years keeping them safe from that. I wasn’t going to throw it away just because my father’s debt brought us together.”
“Safe from me. Their own father.”
“Yes.”
“Did it ever occur to you that I had a right to know?”
“No. You had no rights. You were a stranger I slept with once. A mistake I’ve regretted every day since.”
Something flashes in his eyes. Anger, maybe. “A mistake that resulted in two children.”
“My children. Not yours.”
“The DNA test says otherwise.”
“Fuck the DNA test. I carried them. I gave birth to them. I raised them alone while you were off running your criminal empire. They’re mine.”
“And mine. Biology doesn’t care about your feelings on the matter.”
“Biology is irrelevant. You contributed DNA. That’s all. I did everything else.”
He walks around the desk slowly. I don’t back away even though every instinct tells me to run.
“Let me make sure I understand,” he says. “You met me five years ago. We had sex. You got pregnant. You tried to find me afterward, learned who I was, and decided to keep the pregnancy secret because you were afraid of my world.”
“Yes.”
“Then your father’s debt forced this marriage. You walked into that venue, recognized me, and still said nothing.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been living in my house for six weeks. Sleeping in my bed. Fucking me when the tension gets too high. And the entire time, you knew those children were mine.”
“Yes.”
“And you thought you’d get away with it.”
“I wasn’t trying to get away with anything. I was protecting my children from you.”
“By lying.”
“By doing what I had to do.”
He’s close now. Close enough that I can see the fury he’s keeping controlled. “You kept my children from me. Blocked every attempt I made to connect with them. Took away gifts I bought them. Slammed doors in my face. All while knowing they were mine.”
“They’re not yours. They never will be.”
“That’s not your decision to make anymore.”
“Yes, it is. I’m their mother. I decide who has access to them.”
“You’re my wife. Living in my house. Raising my children. You don’t have the power you think you do.”
“I have enough power to keep them away from you.”
“For how long? I know the truth now. That changes everything.”
Fear spikes through me. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m their father. I have rights. Legal rights that your lies don’t erase.”
“You have nothing. You’re a sperm donor. That’s all.”
“I’m the man who provides for them. Who protects them. Who gives them security and resources you could never afford on your own. Any court would side with me.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?”
“Try to take them from me.”
He tilts his head slightly. “Why not? You’ve proven you can’t be trusted. You lied about the most fundamental thing possible. Why should I let you continue raising my children when you’ve shown such poor judgment?”
“Because I’m their mother!”
“And I’m their father. We have equal claim.”
“No. No, we don’t. They don’t even know you. You’re a stranger to them.”
“Because you made sure of that. But that can change. I can petition for custody. Full custody. Based on your deception and your inability to provide a stable environment.”
“I provide a perfectly stable environment!”
“Do you? You’re living in my house because you have nowhere else to go. You have no income, no assets, and no way to support them without me. Any judge would see that you’re dependent on my resources. And when they learn you deliberately kept me from my own children? They’ll side with me.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Am I? Do you want to test that theory?”
I can’t breathe. The room is too small, the air too thin. He’s threatening to take Mila and Alexei from me. Actually threatening to take them.
“You can’t,” I whisper.
“I can. And I will if you continue this war.”
“What war? I’m protecting my children!”
“From what? I’ve never hurt them. Never even raised my voice at them. You’re protecting them from a threat that doesn’t exist.”
“I saw you kill someone!”
“A business rival who threatened me. That has nothing to do with how I treat children.”
“It has everything to do with it! It shows what you’re capable of when people cross you!”
“Then don’t cross me.” He steps closer. “Stop keeping my children from me. Stop treating me like an enemy in my own house. Or I will take them from you entirely.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I won’t let you have them. I’ll fight you. I’ll take them and run. I’ll disappear where you’ll never find us.”
“And go where? You have no money. No resources. No way to hide from me. I have contacts in every city, every country. You wouldn’t make it twenty-four hours.”
“Then I’ll die trying. Because I will never, never let you take my children.”
“They’re not just your children anymore.”
“Yes, they are. DNA doesn’t make you their father. Being there makes you their father. And you’ve never been there. You’ve never been anything to them except the man who forced their mother into marriage.”
“That changes now.”
“The hell it does.”
“Anna.” His voice drops. Dangerous. “You lied to me. You hid my children from me. You married me knowing the truth and said nothing. You have no moral high ground here.”
“I don’t need moral high ground. I need my children to be safe. And they’re not safe with you.”
“They’re perfectly safe with me.”
“You kill people!”
“When necessary. For business. Not randomly. Not carelessly. I’m not going to hurt two four-year-olds.”
“How do I know that?”
“Because I’m telling you. And because, despite what you think of me, I don’t hurt children. Ever.”
“That’s supposed to reassure me?”
“It’s supposed to be reality. Which you seem allergic to.”
“Fuck you.”
“You already did. Twice this week. It didn’t improve your judgment then either.”
I want to hit him. Want to scream. Want to grab my children and run as far as I can. But he’s right. I have nowhere to go. No money. No way to support them without him. I’m trapped.
“What do you want?” I ask finally.
“The truth. All of it. Starting with why you tried to find me after that night.”
“I was pregnant. I thought you should know.”
“And when you learned who I was?”
“I realized telling you would be a mistake. You would take control. Force me into your world. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“So you kept them secret for years.”
“Yes.”
“And then we ended up married anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea how insulting that is? To be in the same house as my own children and have no idea they’re mine?”
“I don’t care if it’s insulting. I care about protecting them.”
“From me. Their father.”
“From a stranger who happens to share their DNA.”
He stares at me for a long moment. “I could have been part of their lives. I could have known them since birth. You stole that from me.”
“I saved them from you.”
“You made a choice that wasn’t yours to make.”
“It was absolutely my choice. They’re my children.”
“And mine. Whether you like it or not.”
We stand there, two feet apart, both refusing to back down.
“I’m telling your parents,” he says finally.
“What?”
“Viktor and Svetlana. They’re coming here tonight. Pavel is calling them now. They need to know their grandchildren are also my children.”
“No. Don’t tell them.”
“Why? Because you lied to them too?”
“They don’t need to know.”
“They deserve to know. They signed their daughter over to me as part of our arrangement. They should know they also signed over my children.”
“Luca, please—”
“It’s done. Pavel is already making the calls. They’ll be here within the hour.”
“You can’t do this.”
“I already did.”
I back toward the door. “I won’t be here for that conversation.”
“Yes, you will. If you leave this estate, I’ll have security bring you back. You’re not running from this.”
“Watch me.” I turn toward the door.
His voice stops me. “If you leave, I’ll assume you’re abandoning the twins. I’ll take custody tonight. Is that what you want?”
I freeze with my hand on the doorknob.
“That’s what I thought,” he says. “Sit back down.”
I don’t move.
“Anna. Sit down.”
Slowly, I return to the chair and sit. My hands are shaking. I clasp them together in my lap to hide it.
“Your parents will be here soon,” Luca says. “We’re going to have a conversation about how this arrangement moves forward. You can participate in that conversation, or you can sit there silently. But you will be present.”
“I hate you.”
“I know. That doesn’t change anything.”
Footsteps in the hallway. Voices. My parents arriving.
I close my eyes.
This is it. The moment everything falls apart.