Chapter 17 - Anja
Two weeks later, after that charged night, morning sickness hits me like a freight train.
I wake up with my stomach heaving before the sun has fully risen. I barely make it to the bathroom in time, dropping to my knees in front of the toilet as everything I’d eaten the day before comes back up in violent waves.
When it finally stops, I sit back against the cool tile wall, sweat dampening my hairline, and my heart racing.
Stress, I tell myself. Bad takeout from the Chinese place we ordered last night. The lingering adrenaline from months of plotting Fadir’s downfall. Anything but the one possibility that makes my blood run cold.
But the nausea doesn’t pass. It lingers through the morning, turning every smell in the penthouse kitchen into an assault. Coffee makes my stomach roll. Even the ginger tea Alexey prepares for me tastes wrong.
By the third day, when my period, usually as reliable as clockwork, fails to arrive, panic sets in like ice water in my veins.
I can’t ignore it anymore.
At dawn the next morning, while Alexey is still asleep in his suite, I slip out of the penthouse.
The city is just waking, gray light filtering through the streets as I walk three blocks to a quiet pharmacy that's open twenty-four hours.
I buy three different tests, paying cash with shaking hands, then I hurry back before anyone notices I'm gone.
Back in the penthouse, I lock myself in the guest bathroom, the same one I have used since the first night he brought me here. The marble floor feels freezing under my bare feet. I stare at the three boxes as if they are live grenades.
I take all three tests, lining them up on the counter like soldiers waiting for judgment. The minutes stretch into eternity. When the results appear, two pink lines stare back at me on every single one.
Positive.
My heart tries to beat out of my chest. The room tilts. I grip the edge of the sink, staring at my reflection. My eyes are wide and full of disbelief.
This baby belongs to Alexey Sokolov.
The man who dragged me out of Fadir’s warehouse at gunpoint. The Bratva enforcer I struck a deal with out of pure, burning fury.
Not Fadir. The relief that floods me at that realization is immediate and sharp. So fierce it nearly brings me to my knees again. It isn’t Fadir’s child. The man who has tried to trap me, gaslight me, and use me as leverage will have no claim on this life growing inside me.
But the relief is quickly swallowed by fresh, choking fear.
How am I supposed to tell the man who has promised this is purely strategic with no physical expectations, clean boundaries, business only, that one night of surrendered passion has rewritten everything?
I sit on the edge of the bathtub for a long time, hands pressed protectively over my still-flat stomach, trying to breathe through the panic. A baby. With Alexey. In the middle of a war against the man who has nearly destroyed me. The timing can’t be worse. Or more terrifying.
Eventually, I force myself to stand. I can’t hide in here forever.
I find Alexey in his study, exactly where I expect him to be. He is seated at his desk, reviewing papers by the soft morning light coming through the windows, brown hair slightly tousled, sleeves rolled up as usual. The picture of calm, methodical control.
He looks up when I enter, his brown eyes sharpening with immediate concern at whatever he sees on my face.
“Anja?” His voice is low, steady. “What’s wrong?”
My voice shakes as I hold up one of the tests, the two pink lines bright and undeniable. “I’m pregnant.”
The words hang in the air between us.
For a heartbeat, his sharp features freeze. Then something deeply protective softens his expression. It's an emotion I have never seen on any man before. Not Fadir’s possessive control. Not my father’s drunken indifference.
This is different. Real. Fierce.
He doesn’t hesitate.
Alexey rises from his chair and crosses the room in three strides, pulling me gently to his chest. One large hand splays carefully over my still-flat stomach, warm and steady, as if he could already feel the life growing there.
His other arm wraps around my back, holding me close without crushing me.
“The child will be safe,” he says, voice rough with emotion but still direct. “And wanted. Nothing changes except that Fadir can never come near either of you again. I swear it.”
I stand there in his arms, trembling, the test still clutched in my hand. His heartbeat is steady under my cheek; it’s always strong and reassuring.
The pregnancy has just rewritten every rule we have carefully drawn between us, yet the walls I have built around my heart remain stubbornly in place.
Part of me wants to push him away, to run from the terrifying reality of bringing a child into this dangerous world.
The other part, the part that has been cracking open for months, desperately wants to believe the safety he is offering is real.
Tears slip down my cheeks before I can stop them. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I whisper against his shirt. “We had a deal. Business only. One night… and now…”
Alexey pulls back just enough to cup my face in both hands, thumbs brushing away my tears with surprising gentleness. His brown eyes hold mine, intense and unwavering.
“One night changed things,” he says quietly. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I will protect you both with everything I have. You’re not alone in this, Anja. Not anymore.”
I search his face, looking for any sign of regret or anger. There is none. Only that intense protectiveness and something deeper I am still too afraid to name.
The whirlwind inside me, from the betrayal by Fadir to the slow burn of revenge, and now this unexpected life growing inside me, has left me reeling.
I am still the girl who has lost her dream job, her apartment, and nearly her freedom because she trusted the wrong man.
Now I am carrying the child of a menacing enforcer I have bargained with out of fury.
Yet as Alexey holds me, one hand still resting protectively over my stomach, a small, fragile part of me wants to believe him.
The walls between us cracked the night we first came together.
Now, with this baby, they might shatter completely. I am not sure if I am ready for what lies on the other side.
***
The morning after the positive pregnancy test, the penthouse feels different. Like a heavier presence, and the air itself knows something monumental has shifted.
I haven’t slept much. Every time I close my eyes, I see those two pink lines.
Every time I open them, I feel the weight of the tiny life growing inside me.
Alexey held me for a long time last night, his hand resting protectively over my stomach, murmuring quiet promises I am still too shocked to fully believe.
Eventually, he walked me to my suite, kissed my forehead, and left me to process alone.
I am sitting on the edge of the bed in the same oversized t-shirt I'm wearing the night before, staring at nothing, when a soft knock sounds on the door.
“Anja?” Alexey’s voice carries through the wood, calm, but with an undercurrent of purpose. “May I come in?”
“Yeah,” I nod before remembering he can’t see me.
He steps inside, already dressed in a navy button-down shirt and black slacks, looking every inch the composed enforcer despite the early hour. His brown eyes find mine immediately, softening just a fraction when he sees me still in yesterday’s clothes.
“I’ve arranged for our family doctor to come to the house this afternoon,” he says without preamble. “She’s discreet, experienced with our… situation, and will do a full exam and ultrasound. I want to make sure everything is progressing safely.”
I swallow hard. “Okay.”
He crosses the room slowly and stops a few feet away, hands loose at his sides. “There’s more. We’re moving to the family compound immediately. Today.”
The words land like a stone in still water.
I stand up quickly, arms wrapping around my middle.
“What? No. Alexey, I’m not ready for that.
This place… the penthouse, it’s been my safe space.
Moving to the estate means more people, more eyes, more…
everything. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m pregnant. I can’t just pack up and—”
“You will move,” he cuts in, voice firm.
Something more threatening flickers across his face, but not the cold detachment I am used to; his genuine anger and protection are unmistakable.
“Fadir’s last attempt nearly exposed your past to his men and his surrounding allies.
He’s getting desperate. The compound has better security, more layers of protection, and the entire family close by.
You and the baby will be safer there. Nothing will change my mind on this. ”
His tone leaves no room for argument. The same calm authority he uses when planning moves against Fadir is now directed at me, and it stings.
Anger flares hot in my chest, mixing with the fear and exhaustion already churning inside me.
“You don’t get to decide that for me,” I snap, voice rising. “This is my body, my pregnancy. You can’t just order me to move like I’m one of your men who has to follow commands. I’m not some asset you get to relocate for your advantage!”
Alexey’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t raise his voice. “This isn’t about tactics. It’s about keeping you both alive. Fadir has already proven he’ll use your past against you. I won’t give him another opening.”
“Just… get out. I need space.” I turn away from him, fists clenched at my sides.
He hesitates for a moment, then leaves without another word, the door clicking shut behind him with quiet finality.
For the next two hours, I slam around the guest suite like a storm trapped in a bottle.
I yank open drawers, throwing clothes into a half-hearted pile on the bed, then shove them back in again.
I pace. I cry. I curse under my breath at the unfairness of it all—at Fadir for pushing me into this corner, at Alexey for being so infuriatingly right, at myself for the part I’ve played in letting one impulsive night rewrite everything.
When a knock sounds on the door two hours later, I am still pissed.
I yank the door open, ready to snap again.
Alexey stands there, expression carefully neutral, though I can see the tension in his shoulders. “The doctor will be here in an hour. We should talk before she arrives.”
“Talk? Or issue more orders?” I cross my arms, leaning against the doorframe.
“Anja…” His eyes narrow slightly.
“No,” I interrupt, the hurt and fear spilling out.
“You don’t get to just decide I’m moving to the compound like I have no say.
You’re acting like I’m already some fragile little thing you need to lock away for safekeeping.
Maybe you’re old enough to be my baby’s grandpa, so you think you know best, right? ”
The words fly out sharper than I intend, laced with the age gap I’d thrown at him before as a shield. Thirteen years. It has always been a convenient weapon when I feel cornered.
Alexey goes very still. For a moment, I think I’ve gone too far. Then he exhales slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, the same weary gesture I saw the other night when he thought no one was watching.
“I’m not trying to control you,” he says, voice low.
“I’m trying to protect you. Both of you.
The compound has layers of security that the penthouse can’t match.
Arina and Katya are there. Tikhon. People who will help if you need it.
This isn’t about me being older or thinking I know best. It’s about making sure Fadir never gets close enough to hurt you or our child. ”
The fight drains out of me as quickly as it has risen. I look down at my still-flat stomach, the reality of the tiny life inside hitting me all over again.
“I’m scared,” I admit quietly. “Everything is changing so fast. The pregnancy… us… moving. I feel like I’m losing control again.”
“You’re not losing control. You’re gaining a family that will stand behind you. But I won’t apologize for putting your safety first. Not now.” Alexey steps closer, but doesn’t touch me.
I meet his eyes, seeing the raw protectiveness there again. The same look he wore when I showed him the test. It terrifies me how much I want to believe him.
“Fine,” I whisper. “We’ll move. But I’m not happy about it.”
“Noted.” A ghost of his small half-smile appears. He turns to leave, then pauses. “The doctor will be gentle. And I’ll be right there with you.”
I nod, watching him walk away down the hall.
The walls between us cracked the night we first came together.
Now, with this baby and the forced move to the compound, they feel dangerously close to shattering completely. I still don’t know if I am ready for what lies on the other side.