Page 44 of Surprise Bratva Daddy

She sighs, but a smile spreads across her face. "I love you, Zane," she says, pressing her lips to mine.

"I love you, Monroe," I whisper.

29

Monroe

The more time I spend with Zane, the more I realize that he’s not the ruthless man I thought him to be in the beginning. Once you start digging, it turns out he has a heart of gold and a love like nobody else. He’s a ray of sunshine when the clouds refuse to budge, and when he makes love to me, I feel like everything is perfect.

Except I know it’s not perfect. There a looming cloud that won’t go away, the promise of rain on the horizon. It feels like it’s getting closer, but it’s difficult to tell. We’ve been holding back and waiting to cash out some of the stock market money to use on hunting down Maksim.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dead already,” Zane says over another morning coffee that I’m not allowed to drink. No caffeine at all during the pregnancy, and no wine either. It think that’s the worst part, even more so than the morning sickness.

“You think Maksim is dead?” I ask, surprised by his theory.

Zane shrugs, taking a sip from his mug. I’m envious that he gets to enjoy it. “That stab wound didn’t heal properly, and we’ve had eyes on every hospital in the city. He hasn’t returned.”

“Maybe that’s a sign that he’s not all that sick,” I counter. “I mean, if he really was in bad condition, he’d go to the hospital, despite the risk.”

“He’s reckless,” Zane replies, but I see that he’s considering what I’ve just said. “Well, maybe not that reckless. You’re probably right. He’s probably still out there, but he’s laying low like we are.”

“What if he took off because he knew he couldn’t beat you?”

Zane chuckles. “Oh, he wouldn’t do that. He wants to kill me. I’m certain of it.”

“But why?” I ask, not really understanding the feud in the first place.

“Kiro and I are friends, even though we work together,” Zane says, taking a sip of his coffee and leaning on the counter. “You find connections in this business despite the brutality of it all. If Maksim went and shot Kiro, I’d want to kill him. I’ve probably shot enough of Maksim’s men to have hit someone important to him.”

“So, it’s all just back and forth retaliation. That’s kind of sad, actually,” I say.

“You’ll find that most gangs operate that way. People don’t live long in this industry unless they’re on top. Then, they might have a better chance, like me.”

“I want you to live forever,” I say, meaning it with all my heart.

He smiles, his eyes showing age as they wrinkle at the corners. “I’ll live as long as you need me to, darling. I wouldn’t dare go dying when you’re still in the world.”

“What about after that?” I ask, feeling a flutter of butterflies in my stomach. “Would you move on and find someone new?”

“Never,” he says with the utmost confidence. “I’d probably die right after you.”

“You’d kill yourself?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t have to. I’d die from a broken heart.”

I put my hand over my heart, then move it down to my belly. “No, you have to stay alive for our baby,” I say, although the notion of him dying for me is terribly romantic.

“Oh, right,” he says with a chuckle. “But I’d become a monk of sorts. I’d never take another lover.”

Zane’s phone buzzes in his pocket, interrupting our tender moment. He reaches for it, his expression shifting from relaxed to serious in an instant. He answers the phone as he jumps away from the counter.

"Yes?" he says into the phone, his voice dropping an octave, full of authority.

I can't hear the other side of the conversation, but Zane's face hardens with every passing second. He nods a few times, says a curt, "Understood," and hangs up. He places the phone back in his pocket, his jaw tight.

"Who was it?" I ask, my heart beginning to race. “Was it about Maksim?”

“Yes,” he replies, his voice tight and thin. “He’s been arrested.”

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