Page 89 of The Pakhan's Sold Bride

I try to answer him, but instead I burst into tears. He cuts my hands and ankles free and lifts me into his arms.

“Miron is gone,” Benedikt says, his voice tight with disappointment.

“We’ll find him,” Nestor growls. “He’ll pay for this with his life.”

Nestor keeps my face pressed against his chest so that I can’t look around as he carries me out of the building. I’m grateful, because I’m already starting to feel the shock of what’s happened, and I don’t think I could handle the sight of what I assume is Miron’s team of dead guards. The air smells metallic with their blood and gun powder, mixed together in a scent I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget.

“Have the doctor waiting at home,” Nestor tells Roan as he climbs into the back of one of the cars outside and holds me on his lap.

Roan nods and dials, letting the phone ring as he pulls away from that horrible building to take us home.

My body is shaking in his arms.

He came for me. I’m safe now.

***

At home, I’m lying in Nestor’s bed. The doctor has taken blood, checked my heart rate and blood pressure, and is currently doing some basic tests to make sure I’m okay.

I’m tense and anxious, wanting a moment alone to talk to Nestor. From the second he got me home, it’s been chaos, and I’ve been overwhelmed.

“Alright,” the doctor says, sounding pleased as he walks back into the room.

Nestor stands up from the foot of the bed and moves aside so that the doctor can talk to both of us.

“The good news is that the baby is fine,” he nods, smiling.

“Baby?” Nestor mutters, his brows knitted tightly.

“Yes, there is nothing to worry about and—oh.” He glances from me to Nestor. “You didn’t know?” he asks me, worried.

“I knew,” I say weakly, feeling the weight of the moment press me into the bed.

“I didn’t,” Nestor says, his voice tight. He folds his arms over his chest. “Was there anything else, doctor?”

“No, she is going to be okay. Her stress levels are very high, which is to be expected, and I want her to have a calm and restful environment for a while. Nothing that will upset her. Good food and lots of sleep.”

“Understood,” Nestor says, his eyes locked onto me.

“Thank you, doctor,” I say.

Nestor leaves to walk the doctor out, and I sit alone in the bedroom in a full-blown panic. That is not how I wanted him to find out. What will he think of me? This is horrible. This is so bad.

I need to explain to him that I wasn’t hiding it. He has to know that I only just found out a short while before I was taken.

My heart is racing, and I’m struggling to breathe when Nestor comes back into the room.

“Hey, hey, calm down, take a deep breath,” he says, worried.

“I—I—"

“Stop, Lara. Nothing matters right now except that you need to relax. We don’t have to talk about anything. Okay? Stop, take a deep breath.”

I do as he says.

He waits for my breathing to even out.

“I’m going to make you some tea. Just—close your eyes and rest, okay?”

---