Chapter 54 Sienna #2
My eyes fluttered shut and I took a few deep breaths, steeling myself to start work. So far, I wasn’t convinced the Souleater was alive. There had been underground whispers like Atlas said, but nothing concrete.
I kissed Vovk on the forehead and sat back up.
Hours later, I sat back, blinking my dry eyes.
The bright computer screen cast an eerie glow into the now-dark room.
I didn’t realize how much time had passed without me moving, eating, drinking.
Nothing else had mattered while I sifted through mountains and mountains of records, and it had paid off.
I’d found it. The proof we’d been looking for. I pulled up my Forum messages with Atlas.
Atlas
Is this what I think it is?
Hedgehog
Two pieces of evidence, and not just whispers this time.
After weeks of work, I had uncovered the Souleater’s aliases, which had led me to an aircraft manifest of a flight from Russia to Germany and a withdrawal record from a Liechtenstein bank account.
Atlas
Do you think he’s still in Germany? Or Liechtenstein?
Hedgehog
It’s possible, but it’s also possible he’s somewhere else by now, traveling under still-undiscovered aliases
Atlas
Still, this is more than I’ve found in months.
Hedgehog
More than Phisherman would have found?
Atlas
Ha I knew you were mad about that. I had to find some way to get you to agree. You are the best of all the hackers.
Hedgehog
I’m glad you know that
A knock on the door made me jump. I quickly switched from the Forum to my CozyScape game.
“Come in!”
Sergey entered, a plate in his hands. “You’re in trouble,” he said in a singsong voice. “I have been given strict orders to make sure you eat regularly.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m busy.”
He snorted. “Check your phone.”
My stomach did a flip when I saw I had a text from Dimitri.
Dimitri
Polina says you haven’t left the sunroom all day and didn’t eat lunch or dinner. That’s not acceptable.
I rolled my eyes at his high-handedness but accepted the plate of food from Sergey all the same. It wasn’t unusual for me to get so fixated on what I was doing that I forgot about my basic needs, but he was right that it wasn’t acceptable anymore. I needed to do better for baby Eggplant.
Oh look. Another squash. We can call the baby Butternut.
I cradled the squash against my chest like the world’s strangest doll or stuffed animal as I paced around the sunroom.
The weight of it was a reminder of the baby girl growing inside me and the world I was working to build for her.
One where she would always be safe, always belong to herself, and never feel the painful weight of abandonment.
She was my reason to keep pushing forward, even as the Souleater taunted me.
It was a ridiculous thought, borne out of my frustration and paranoia, but I felt the truth of it deep in my bones.
A shadowy figure kept appearing in my dreams. He never spoke, just stood with a dark hood shielding his face and a sharp, crimson-tipped knife in his hand.
I paused by the window, one hand on my belly and the other around the squash. This week’s produce gift came with an enormous box of children’s books and an appointment with a woodworker. They had come over earlier in the week to install gorgeous built-in bookcases in the nursery.
Juliet helped me pick out these books. She included some for you with wolves or something.
His note had made me laugh as I pulled out a stack of omegaverse romances from the box, but my laugh quickly dissolved into sobs.
Dimitri was being sweet and attentive with his frequent presents, notes, and reminders to eat, drink, and go outside at least once a day.
But he had been gone for almost a month now and each day got harder.
The fragile closeness we’d built before he left now felt like something I’d dreamed up.
I couldn’t even be confident about what would happen after the baby came.
Would I have a place in the nursery where I’d spent the hours between two and four in the morning organizing the new books?
Atlas
Any updates? If he ever was in Germany, I don’t think he’s here anymore.
Hedgehog
No updates.
Atlas
You’re not giving up now? I’d hate to tell the world you’re not all that.
I knew he was goading me, but I didn’t have it in me to argue. My back was killing me, my throat was on fire with heartburn, and Vovchyk had left this morning to go for a run, leaving me completely alone. And the one thing I was supposed to be good at, I couldn’t even figure out.
The screen in front of me blurred and I kept falling asleep between mouse clicks, but I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t give up.
Maybe he was right and I wasn’t all that after all.
My heart fluttered as I waited for Dimi to answer the video call. When he picked up, his screen was a dark blur.
“Sorry. One second.” The click of a light switch followed the thud of a closing door, and there he was. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was on the too-long side of messy, but his smile took my breath away.
“Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling shy.
“Hi, malyshka. Blyat, you look so beautiful.”
My cheeks heated and I looked away. Eye contact was too intimate right now.
“The sonographer should be in soon.” I bit my lip, braving another glance at my husband. Was he getting any sleep at all?
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Third trimester is going pretty good.” I swallowed down the unexpected emotion bubbling in my throat. “How are you?”
It was his turn to break eye contact. He ran his hand through his hair, the movement familiar and endearing. “I’m fine.”
My eyes skimmed along the walls. I was back in the clinical room with the nosy family of otters.
“Fuck.” He sighed and the sound was heavy with exhaustion. “No, that’s a lie. I’m pissed I’ve had to be gone so long.”
“Are you still working on finalizing trade deals?”
His jaw ticked, and my suspicion rose that he wasn’t being honest about what he was doing.
Most of the Bratva’s money came through the diamond trade and Dimitri was trying to win a black market contract with a new diamond mine over several rival groups, so it made sense that he would have to go to Russia.
But what could he possibly be doing that kept him away for five weeks?
The temptation to hack into his computer and phone was strong, but so far, I had resisted.
My hacking had already caused a deep rift between us.
I didn’t think further violations of his privacy would be welcomed right now.
..but if he didn’t tell me what he was doing soon, I couldn’t be blamed for spying.
There had to be a statute of limitations for spying, right?
Wait, statute of limitations? Was that the right word? What was I trying to say...
“Sienna?”
My eyes returned to the screen with a jolt and I realized my hand had drifted so the only thing in the camera frame was a close-up shot of my boobs and round belly. I cleared my throat and angled the camera back to my face.
Dimi grinned. “I wasn’t protesting the view, just checking to make sure you’re okay.”
“I am.” I took a deep breath. “Ultrasound days are kind of stressful now.”
“I’m sorry. For not being with you for the earlier ones, and not being there now. I really wanted to be.” Sincerity came off of him in waves.
“I wish you were here, too,” I whispered.
My words were dangerous—each one a tender spot he could exploit—but each note and gift and text he sent broke down my walls more and more.
Not that my walls were that solid to begin with.
I’d always been too open and trusting for a Mafia princess.
..or a Bratva queen. “Are you safe?” His screen was too dark for me to make out any details about the room he was in.
“I wouldn’t call this a five-star hotel, but I’m staying safe. How is the clinic? No one else is there besides you, your guards, and staff, right?”
I hadn’t even been surprised by the completely empty lobby the first time I came to the clinic. The Bratva didn’t have their own OBGYN, but they’d created an agreement with the clinic that when I came in for appointments, no other patients were present.
“No one is here except these guys.” I flipped the phone camera to show him the otter family.
“What the fuck?”
I flipped the camera back. “That’s the otter family. Do you think we could get river otters in the creek by the house?”
Dimi’s lips quirked. “Whatever you want, baby.”
A knock at the door announced Nadia’s arrival. “Hi, Sienna. Sorry I’m a bit late today. I spilled an entire soda on my shirt at lunch and had to find something to change into.”
“That’s okay. I haven’t been waiting long.”
Her eyes flicked to my phone and she raised her eyebrows in question.
“My husband is on a video call,” I explained. I could practically hear her unspoken question—if I had a husband, why had I come alone to all of my appointments—but she quickly masked her confusion.
“Sounds good. Today’s scan won’t be very long. I’m just checking Baby’s size and position, along with the position of the placenta.”
“Are you checking its heart?” Dimi’s voice came through the phone, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling because I had wanted to ask the same thing.
“Yes, I’ll take a look at Baby’s heart. But I don’t expect to find anything,” Nadia responded.
“Oh, one sec.” I quickly muted the call. “He doesn’t know the sex.”
She winked. “No worries. I won’t spill the beans.”
I got settled on the bed and pointed the camera at the TV on the wall so Dimi could follow along. The familiar whooshing sound filled the room, and then our baby was on the screen.
“Oh, Baby is behaving really well,” Nadia said. “They have moved to the head down position.”
“I read that babies can continue changing positions until thirty-six weeks,” Dimi said. “What if the baby flips into a breech position in the next few weeks?”
My lips parted, and I stared at my husband’s face in total shock.