Page 99 of Savage Bratva King

The pain seems to go on and on, relentlessly gripping my belly and tightening its hold. Finally, it starts to ebb, and I open my eyes to find Mika and Cartier both grimacing at how hard I’m clutching their hands.

I’m panting, and there’s a dull ache blooming somewhere deep inside me, but I’m fine. I just need to reassure them before they go into full-on panic-mode and call Leo to come get me and take me straight to the hospital.

“What the fuck, Gi.” Mika’s face is drained of color. “Are you in labor?”

“No,” I say with as much energy as I can muster, which isn’t a lot apparently, going by the expressions on their faces. “It was just a practice contraction. They can get a bit strong.”

“Fucking strong? I thought I was going to have no fingers left by the time you were finished.”

Cartier still hasn’t said a word; she’s just watching me as if she can read all the signs.

“I’m not in labor.” It sounds like I’m trying to convince myself as much as them, but I plough on regardless. I peer down at my dry legs. “See, waters still intact.”

“Yeah, but you said it yourself: they don’t always break.” Cartier is still clinging to my hand.

“Don’t worry, even if I was in labor, I’m not missing tomorrow’s grand opening for anything.”

“You’re in labor?”

We all jump visibly and turn to face the doorway and the worried lines framing Leo’s mouth. Marvel and Lucky bounce into the room and sit smartly at Cartier’s feet because she’s the one who always carries treats around in her pockets. Sure enough, she slides her hand inside the pocket of her jeans and tosses one each to the dogs who practically swallow them whole.

“Leo? I didn’t hear you coming up the stairs.”

He crosses the room in three strides and places a hand on my stomach. “Are the babies coming? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

“No,” I say at the same time as my friends both say, “Yes.”

“No,” I repeat. “It’s nothing. I need to be here tomorrow.”

But another contraction tears through my stomach. All I can do is focus on the pain as I hear Mika muttering from a million miles away, “They’re only a few minutes apart. I think we’re going to be aunties by tomorrow.”

By the time the contraction has passed, Leo has lifted me easily into his arms and is carrying me down the first flight of stairs. The dogs run ahead, taking the staircase in two or three leaps and waiting for us to reach the bottom like this is the best game ever.

“Leo, put me down.” I don’t want to admit that my legs probably won’t carry me all the way down to the ground floor; I don’t want to add fuel to the fire already burning in Leo’s eyes. “I can walk.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Mika yells from the floor above. “You go meet your babies. We’ll finish up here.”

Leo obviously believes my friends over me. He doesn’t stop until he’s lifting me onto the back seat of the car and climbing in beside me. The dogs are already in the trunk, peering at us from behind the mesh screen.

Before I can tell him to take me home, another contraction is already building inside my abdomen. This one feels even stronger than the one before, and I’m forced to accept that I’m going to miss the mayor opening the refuge.

There are tears in my eyes when I look at Leo. “I want to be there tomorrow,” I whisper.

“Our babies have other plans, my printzessa.” He kisses me on the lips. “They didn’t want to miss it either.”

“But—”

“No buts, Gianna. How lucky are we? We get to meet our babies and offer a safe place for women who need it all at the same time. And it’s all down to you.”

“I couldn’t have done it without?—”

“Hush. You could’ve done anything you wanted Gianna, been anyone, gone anywhere, and you chose me. I will never ever stop loving you for this.”

I lean into him and listen to his steady heartbeat.

He is right and wrong. I could’ve done anything and gone anywhere, but as for being anyone I wanted, I was always going to be his. One way or another.

I stop fighting the contractions and leave the refuge in the capable hands of my friends while Leo and I prepare to meet our beautiful babies.

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