Page 26 of Secret Bratva Baby
“What’s going on?” Rose’s voice comes from behind us. She sounds alarmed and worried.
“It’s okay. She’s here with me,” I say, turning in the chair with Lily on my lap. Rose must have panicked when she couldn’t find her.
“That’s the problem, though,” Rose snaps. She marches towards me and lifts Lily off my lap. Lily squirms in protest, clearly not happy about being taken from her story.
“We were just reading,” I say defensively, lifting the book to show her.
“I think it’s best if you don’t even speak to her. Just stay away from her. I don’t want her thinking…”
“Thinking what? That I’m a decent guy? Rose, I’m not going to hurt her or you. You’re both safe with me.” I sigh, my chest tight with overflowing emotions.
“It’s a bit late to be saying that, Luka, don’t you think?” Rose says, looking away from me, clutching Lily against her chest. Her words are full of accusation.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You already hurt me. The day you left me.” Her words are tight, clipped, and full of pain.
It breaks my heart to see the expression on her face, so obvious even though she’s turned partially away from me. The hurt is etched into her gorgeous eyes.
“Rose,” I stammer, wanting to apologize.
Maybe I should tell her. She deserves not to be so confused by it all. She deserves to know that I never wanted to let her go and that I still thought about her, over and over again, after I pushed her away.
I open my mouth, then close it again. I have no idea how to explain everything. Where do I start?
What parts can I share? Will it scare her? She’s already seen me kill someone. Does she want nothing to do with me now, or when she finds out what I do and the type of life I live?
If I open up about everything, she might be overwhelmed, possibly even terrified.
But I have to tell her anyway. At least some of it.
Whatever the consequences of her knowing the truth, I’ll have to deal with that afterwards. It’s better than her thinking I stopped loving her or that she wasn’t good enough for me.
“Rose, I think it’s time we talk about what happened. About why I did what I did,” I say cautiously, watching her body language.
She looks at me, her lips pressed together. “Why would you tell me now, after all this time has passed?”
“Because you deserve to know the truth. And I don’t want to hurt you or have you thinking it had anything to do with how I felt about you. It didn’t. You were my world. The problem was that my world wasn’t the best place—"
A loud explosion bursts from somewhere inside the safehouse. I’d recognize that sound anywhere. Someone has blasted the front door’s lock open.
Another crash as the door falls to the ground, kicked in.
“What was that?” Rose squeals in terror.
“We’re under attack. Stay close. Do everything I tell you,” I demand, running towards the door, drawing my handgun as I do so.
Rose moves quickly with Lily in her arms, running at my side. I reach out and push her behind me, determined to keep her and Lily safe.
“Get into this room,” I say as we run past my bedroom. She ducks inside, crouching low, near the door. Lily squirms, trying to run after me.
“Stay with your mother,” I say sternly.
A man flies out from around the corner in the hallway and slams into me. We both hit the floor, and the air is knocked out of my lungs.
Lily screams. Rose stands up, ready to defend me, but I’ve already fired two bullets into his skull. I push his lifeless body off me.
Lily comes bolting from the bedroom into the hallway, and I move as fast as I can to block her view of the dead body.
