Page 26 of Pregnant with Bratva Twins
I walk fast, nearly running, breath coming in shallow bursts. The world is too bright, too loud, every detail sharpened by panic. I make for his office, fingers gripping the doorknob so hard it hurts. I push inside without knocking.
Markian isn’t there.
Instead, Lui sits behind the massive desk, his feet up, flipping through a stack of files. A mug of coffee steams by his elbow, and he glances up at my entrance with a smirk.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he says, not moving.
I freeze, heart hammering. I don’t want to talk to him. I don’t want to talk to anyone but Markian. Panic makes my words tumble out, wild and rushed. “Where is he? Where’s Markian?”
Lui’s brow lifts, amusement lingering in his eyes. “What’s the rush, princess? Trouble in paradise?”
I swallow, feeling the test burn against my palm inside my coat pocket. “I need to speak to him. Please. It’s important.”
He lets the silence hang, the smirk fading as he looks me over. Something in my face must give me away, because he sits up straighter, coffee forgotten.
“He’s busy,” he says finally, his voice losing its teasing edge. “Today’s the day we take care of Chris. For real, this time.”
Chris. The name slams into me like a freight train. My mind goes back, unwilling, to that night in the garden: the whispered Russian, the plan to make someone disappear before sunrise, the American businessman who never stopped grinning at meetings.
My lips part, but no sound comes out at first. I want to scream, to run, to tear through this house until I find Markian and demand answers, demand a future, demand a way out. My fingers curl tighter around the test in my pocket. The plan wasn’t hypothetical. It’s now. It’s real. And I know exactly what kind of men I’m living with.
Lui’s eyes narrow. “If you’re looking for a fairy tale ending, you’re in the wrong house,” he says quietly, almost kindly. “You want to help him, you stay out of the way. He doesn’t need distractions right now.”
I shake my head, tears stinging my eyes. “You don’t understand.”
His mouth tightens. “Maybe I do. Or maybe I don’t. I do know this; he’d kill anyone for you, even if he pretends otherwise. That’s the problem, sweetheart.”
Panic surges up my throat, bitter and raw. I clutch the edges of Markian’s desk, desperate to keep from falling apart. Lui’s words echo in my mind, terrifying and undeniable. I need to fix this. I need to make him understand. Everything is spiraling out of control.
“I have to tell you something,” I stammer, voice barely more than a gasp. My mouth feels numb, my tongue thick. “After that meeting. The one at the Midtown office… before Markian brought me here, before any of this.” I swallow, feeling my cheeks burn. “I called Chris. I just left a message. I was scared. I told him to be careful. I said the Bratva were coming for him. I didn’t know how serious it was, I swear—”
The effect is immediate and violent. Lui leaps out of Markian’s chair, eyes wide, the mug of coffee forgotten, sloshing across the table. “You what?” His voice is a low hiss, sharp and furious, thick with Russian curses. “The fuck? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
My breath comes in panicked bursts. My knees threaten to buckle. “I didn’t know! I was terrified. I just wanted to warn him, that’s all. It was just a message. Just a stupid, terrified message—”
Lui paces, hands in his hair, muttering furiously. “Chris knows. Chris fucking knows. You told him. You… he knew we were coming, that’s why those police cars blocked us.” He turns on me, eyes blazing. “Do you have any idea how many people could die because of this?”
I shake my head, tears pricking my eyes, every word scraping my throat raw. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think—please, can’t you call Markian? Tell him not to go? Tell him it’s a trap?”
Lui’s already grabbing his phone, thumb moving so fast it’s a blur. He shouts into it, rapid Russian firing off between clenched teeth. “Abort the job. Abort! It’s a setup. He knows. Someone tipped him—”
I stand there, frozen, watching him yell. My mind is a mess of fear and regret. I want to run, to hide, to take it back,but the words are already out in the world, unstoppable. Chris knows Markian is coming. Knows the plan. My warning, my desperate attempt to save a man’s life, might have just doomed the man I… love.
Lui spins, snapping his phone shut, face pale and furious. “You had one job. Stay quiet. You couldn’t even do that.” His accent thickens as he snarls. “If Markian dies tonight, if any of my men die tonight, it’s on you.”
I press my hands to my stomach, nausea rolling through me. I feel small and breakable in the cavernous office, swallowed by shadows and secrets.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, tears slipping down my cheeks. “I didn’t know!”
He’s not listening. He’s already dialing again, barking orders, relaying codes and warnings, trying to salvage what he can. I hear the names: Alexei, and a dozen others whose lives I may have just thrown into chaos.
I back into the wall, sliding down until I’m crouched in the corner. My body shakes. I can barely breathe. I remember the feel of Markian’s hands on my body, the certainty in his eyes, the way he always seemed unstoppable. What if he isn’t? What if he’s walking straight into a trap—because of me?
Lui finishes his calls, rounding on me. “If he gets out, you better pray he doesn’t come back here angry, Jessa. I’m not the one you’ll have to answer to.”
My voice is barely audible. “What happens now?”
He grabs his jacket, holstering a gun at his side. “Now? Now I try to clean up your mess. You stay in this house. Ifanyone comes for you, you lock the fucking door and don’t open it. Understood?”
