Page 28 of Bribed & Bred By the BRATVA
“It is,” he says simply. “You will swell with me. Your body will soften, change, carry what I give you. And when it does, I’ll fuck you even slower, even deeper, so you know there is no part of you I don’t worship.”
The words make me shiver. They should terrify me. But beneath the fear is something darker, something that makes my thighs press together even as I try to look away.
His chair scrapes back. He stands, circling the desk with deliberate slowness, until he’s in front of me. Close enough that I can smell the subtle aftershave he favors on his skin. He tips my chin up with one finger.
“You’ll tell me the moment it happens,” he murmurs. “When your blood comes, when it doesn’t, when your body changes. You won’t hide it. You won’t lie. Do you understand?”
My voice comes out a whisper. “Yes.”
“Say it.”
“I understand.”
His mouth brushes mine in reward. Soft, almost tender, which is somehow more dangerous than when he takes me hard.
“Good girl,” he says against my lips. “You’ll make me a father. And when you do, I’ll make sure you never forget how beautiful you are when you carry my future.”
My breath trembles. My body betrays me, leaning into him, craving the promise in his words even as my mind screams to resist.
Because the truth is, I already believe him.
The house is too quiet when I leave his office. My heart is still hammering, my skin hot from the way he spoke so calmly about my body, about the future he already sees written in me.
I pad down the hall to my room, trying to steady myself. But when I close the door and sink onto the bed, I can’t stop counting backwards. My cycle has always been regular, too regular, like clockwork. I should have come on my period by now. A day, maybe two, late.
I press my palms to my stomach. Nothing feels different. But somethingisdifferent.
When I finally stand and walk into the bathroom, I see it. On the shelf above the sink, tucked neatly beside folded towels: a pregnancy test. Still in the box, unopened. I don’t have to guess who put it there.
My throat tightens. He’s already thought ahead. Already prepared. He’s waiting for me to take it.
I pick it up, turning the box over in my hands. Too early, I tell myself. A few days doesn’t mean anything. And yet, my chest is tight with the possibility.
What happens if it’s positive? If I’m already carrying Aleksei’s child?
A new fear grips me, not that he’ll keep me, but that once he has what he wants, once I’m pregnant, he won’t needme. Just the baby. Just the heir.
I close my eyes, gripping the box so hard it crinkles. The thought should be a relief. That’s what I told myself at the start,this was just sacrifice, a bargain for Mateo’s life. If he cast me aside afterwards, at least Mateo would be safe.
But the idea slices me open. I don’t want to be cast aside. I don’t want to be forgotten once I’ve given him what he wanted.
I want to stay.
The realisation hits so hard I stagger back against the counter. I want to be here. In this house. In this world. With him.
I want to be the woman at his table, in his bed, in his future. Not just the mother of his child, hiswife,hisqueen.
Tears sting my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. I open the box, my fingers lingering over it the test. It says it’s accurate from the first day of a missed period… As I remove the foil wrapper, I know I’ve made up my mind.
I don’t just belong here because of Mateo. I belong here because I want to. Because somewhere between fear and gratitude, I’ve started to choose him.
And if I’m pregnant… it won’t just be inevitability like Aleksei says.
It will be my choice too.
Aleksei
The water runs in the bathroom. I sit on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, waiting.
