Page 44 of Untouchable Queen
“I don’t trust you, Agosti. So just know, I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
I can’t help the smirk that spreads across my lips. “Understood.”
With that, Killian turns, striding back toward the blue Bugatti pulled up to the curb. Killian’s behemoth of a right-hand man is hovering at the driver’s side door, his signature scowl thunderous as he watches me like a viper about to strike. They settle into the sleek sports car together, and only after it peels away from the curb, revving down the street, do I release the breath I’ve been holding since I stepped outside.
25
TATIANA
My hands shake as I cap the small stick I stopped by a convenience store to pick up on my way home. I set it onto the bathroom counter to wait the appropriate amount of time. Anxious nerves roil in my belly as I think about the possibility of being pregnant with Lucian’s child.
The thought of being a mother sends a thrill through me.
At the same time, learning that Natasha has been waiting to start a family until after she sees where things end up with the Agostis makes me feel so much more guilty.What if I’ve made matters exponentially worse by getting pregnant so quickly?A baby isn’t going to help me unsnarl this tangled mess my life has become.
Tangling my fingers together, I pace back and forth in front of the counter, glancing at the time every couple of seconds as they drag on with agonizing slowness. Finally, my three minutes are up, and I snatch the pregnancy test from the counter. Two innocent pink lines confirm my suspicion, and bile rises in my throat.
I’m pregnant.
It terrifies me to think about the consequences of carrying Lucian’s child. Not that it was really an option before, but there’s definitely no turning back now. We’re bound together in a deep, resounding way. My decisions no longer just involve me. Every choice I make will directly impact the baby growing inside me. The realization rocks me to my very core, and an intense instinct to protect my unborn child surges up inside me.
Nothing else matters now. Not the pain I’ve been through, not the losses I’ve suffered. Not my happiness or even the fate of my men matter compared to this tiny, innocent life. My palm settles over my stomach, still relatively smooth because I’m not far along.
I don’t know how the story with Lucian is going to end.Does he intend to betray me? Or is he a better man than the sum of his parts?I have no way of knowing. But what I do know is that I can’t tell him about this child—at least not until I figure out what I want to do about Lucian in the long run.
Should I kill him? Overthrow him? Or should I submit to him completely like my body has been urging me to do since our first night together?
It would be too easy—especially with his child in my belly—to accept the fate I’ve been dealt. To acknowledge that he’s my husband, the father of my child, and the partner that I’ve agreed to have by my side.
Since the day he took me as his bride, Lucian has done nothing but show me loyalty and love. The way he tells it, he’s been lovesick from the start, incapable of staying away just because my father told him to. It could almost be romantic—if he weren’t also the same man who murdered my parents.
Setting the test on the corner of the counter, I brace my palms against the edge, supporting my weight as my knees grow weak with indecision.
How did I wind up in this position?
Just a few short months ago, I was somebody else’s daughter. With only the looming potential for taking responsibility on my shoulders. Now, I’m thepakhanshafor a Bratva that controls all of Manhattan. I’m married to my family’s sworn enemy, and I’m carrying his child.
My reflection looks haunted when I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror, and I swallow hard. This is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of my life. I never dreamed I would be blessed enough to become a mother, and having it become a possibility uncovered something inside me I hadn’t entirely anticipated. I didn’t realize how much I couldwantto be a mother. But just like my wedding day, this feels sprung upon me somehow. I knew it would happen eventually. Lucian and I have been having nonstop sex, and he hasn’t once used protection. But it still feels so fast. I haven’t even found my footing as his wife.
The thought that I could enjoy being his wife terrifies me. The idea of raising his childshouldterrify me. But the excitement bubbling up inside me is completely at odds with the position I’ve been put in. It feels wrong to be happy, it feels bad to want this, and I feel crazy as I argue back and forth with myself in the mirror.
“Tatiana?”
My heart leaps into my throat at the unexpected sound of Lucian’s voice. He’s not supposed to be home for hours, and the pregnancy test is still sitting out on the counter. I can hear the bedroom door close, and I fling the test into the trash can beneath the bathroom sink, slamming the cabinet closed just as Lucian finds me.
His eyes flick down to the door I shut with far too much aggression, his eyebrows rising before his gaze shifts back to my face. “Everything okay?” he asks, taking a step toward me.
Oh God.I can’t let him find that pregnancy test. Not if I want the time I need to sort out my emotions and figure out a plan.
“Fine, fine,” I gasp, my voice breathy with nerves. And to distract him, I do the first thing that comes to my head.
Stepping forward to close the distance between us, I throw my arms around his neck, pressing my body against his firm, muscular one as I rise onto my toes to kiss him. The force of my inertia makes him take a half step back, and he freezes, stunned. I can hardly blame him. I’ve been less than civil with him since finding out about his deal with Saturo. Whether that’s fair of me or not, I can’t decide, but I can’t help it when Lucian leaves me feeling so utterly out of control.
It only takes a second before his lips soften, curving into a smug smile as his arms wrap around my waist, his hands splaying across my back.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve this—” he says, pulling back slightly, but I refuse to let him finish.
I need to be certain he won’t look under the sink, so I cut him off as I comb my fingers into the back of his hair and delve my tongue between his teeth. He releases a low, agonized groan as he curves around me, making my back arch.
