24. Rose #2
"He doesn’t know about him," he replies. "Alexei, he lived with his mother in Slovakia for years before he came to be with me. I got him an apartment in the city, somewhere he could learn the ropes of this place; I knew Ilya wouldn’t allow someone new into the organization unless they had proven themselves, and that’s what I got him to do.
Taught him everything I knew about this world.
Made it so that there would be no other choice when the time came.
It would be obvious to Ilya when I introduced them that he had his heir there in front of him. "
He shakes his head, his lip curling up into a sneer.
"And then you came along," he growls. "Walked into his life with a fucking baby inside you, acting like it was his when you know fucking well that his useless nephew was the one who knocked you up."
"It couldn’t have been him—you heard what Ilya said," I protest, and he barks out another laugh. I hate the way it sounds, the way it fills the room, forcing its way into my brain like there’s no room for anything else.
"That’s what he tells himself because he doesn’t want to face the truth," he growls. "You need to do the right thing. Get rid of that bastard child and save the world another man like Petar. Walk away from all of this while you still can."
I shift where I stand. "You think Ilya would let me?"
"He’ll never find out," he replies. "You’ll tell him it was a miscarriage, I’ll pay off Cillian to say the same thing, and it’s done. You’re out of this world. And you and your little friends..."
He shoots a look at the door, as though picturing the way Becky fled like her life depended on it.
"Never have to deal with this shit again."
"Ilya won’t just let me walk away like that," I protest. "You saw the way he claimed me in front of you and his men that day."
"Trust me when I say that you’re just another in a long line of women to him," he replies coldly. "As soon as that baby is out of the picture, he’s going to forget about you, just like he did the rest of them."
Those words stick at the back of my throat.
I don’t want to believe them—God, I don’t—but I can’t say that he’s lying, either.
I know so little about Ilya that he could have had dozens of women before he so much as laid eyes on me, and I wouldn’t have known a thing about it.
And for all that he seems intent on proving his desire for me, what if there’s more?
What if there is something else hiding below the surface, something that I’ll be inflicting on my child should I bring them into this world?
Sergei closes the distance between us, sensing that he has managed to get under my skin. "You came here because Becky told you that there was something you needed to know about him," he reminds me coolly. "You’ve got your doubts, too, don’t you? Reason to think that he’s not the man he says he is?”
"That’s not true—"
"Then what are you doing here?"
I fall silent. I want to contradict him, to argue, to tell him that he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about, but part of me knows he has a point.
Ilya has controlled me since the moment he discovered the pregnancy, controlled everything I know about him, and there is so much that I don’t yet understand.
As much as I want to believe that the father of my child won’t toss me aside as soon as he gets the chance, I have nothing to back that up except my instincts, and I’m not sure they count for much given that I came here.
"Get out while you can," he warns me. "As soon as that child is born, he’s going to discard you like you’re nothing. You think his enemies aren’t going to try and use you against him if they get the chance? They think you have his ear, and even if you don’t..."
He flashes me a grin that doesn’t reach his eyes.
"It might take a while for them to figure that out."
A cold shiver runs down my spine. Without Ilya’s protection, I don’t even want to picture what might happen to me.
Is it true? Will he just take the child, be done with me, and toss me aside as if we never shared anything at all?
It’s hard to imagine he could just throw away the connection we have, but who am I to say that I’m not just his flavor of the week because I happen to have become pregnant with his baby?
It’s not like he was exactly reticent on the day we met, hooking up with me on that private jet.
Who’s to say that he hasn’t done the same thing with women before? Or even since?
"Do yourself a favor and get out now," he tells me, his voice gravelly and insistent. "My son is prepared for this world. He’s an adult now, he can handle himself. You really want your child born into this kind of violence?"
I grit my teeth, knowing I can’t let him plant these ideas in my head. It’s exactly what he wants, and I’m just making it easier for him. No, I need to shut this shit down now before it goes any further—and pray that I can get out of this mess alive.
"I’m not going to get rid of this child," I tell him, my voice soft but firm. "I don’t care if he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I have a duty of care to my little one, and I’m not going to let your entitled ass get in the way of that!”
As soon as I say the last part, I know I’ve overstepped. His face flashes with fury, cheeks darkening to beet-red.
"Entitled?” he snarls. "You think I’m fucking entitled? After everything I’ve done for Ilya, for his business? I poured my life into that world, and I asked for nothing in return. My son is the only person who can step up and take over, not some child you’ve managed to get yourself pregnant with."
"Don’t talk about them like that!” I exclaim, and he pulls his gun, striding towards me. I back hurriedly to the other wall, but he pins me there, pressing the weapon against my belly.
"Maybe I just pull the trigger now, huh?" he grunts. "Deal with this shit myself."
"You would never do that," I whisper, trying to convince myself as much as him. "Ilya would never forgive you. You’ll never see Alexei become heir if that happened.”
"And I’m not going to see it happen if you keep this baby, either," he replies. "So what’s it going to be? You going to see sense and go to the clinic? Or are we going to have to find another way to settle this?”
As he glares me down, panicky shadows tug at the edge of my visions, ears ringing as the terror sets in. I don’t know if I am going to be able to get out of this, or if my baby will make it out in one piece, either.
I have walked into a nightmare I cannot wake up from. And barring a miracle, I don’t see myself coming to anytime soon.