Page 198 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

Then we peel away from the curb and tear down the street.

Everything is happening so fast. It’s only been a few minutes since Xena first called, and now she’s here, and I’m leaving Nikolai’s house. None of it feels real.

“How are you here already?” I ask a few blocks later.

Xena is careening around corners and driving way too fast down residential streets. I keep checking the side mirror, expecting to see people tailing us.

“I was already nearby.”

“You were?”

She nods. “I know how much danger I put you in by asking you to spy.”

“Towhat?” Elise blurts from the backseat.

I look back and give her a sympathetic smile. One day, I’ll explain everything.

If we live that long.

“I didn’t want to leave you in a dangerous situation,” Xena continues. She reaches over and squeezes my wrist. “Us girls have to stick together, don’t we?”

Her fingers are cold against my skin, and I shiver. Xena made a habit of saying stuff like that. “Women have to help each other out,Belle.” And it always made me feel like we were in some secret sorority. The Dysfunctional Women of Nikolai Zhukova.

But in person, her words ring hollow. I look over, and her expression is flat. Her eyes are dark and hard as marbles. As panicked as she sounded over the phone, she looks perfectly at ease now. Which is only making my panic worse.

Xena presses on the gas as she takes a turn, and I grip the door handle. “Put your seatbelt on, Elise.”

“Already done.”

Well, that’s a first. I look back. Just like me, my sister is gripping her door handle with two white-knuckled hands. Xena doesn’t seem to notice our fear.

“Are we being followed?” I ask. “Do you think we could slow down a little bit?”

“Sorry,” she says, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m a bit of a wild driver. Are you feeling sick?”

“A little, actually,” I admit. My stomach is churning, but that’s not so unusual these days. Morning sickness has become an all-day affair. Still, this feels different.

“Carsick?”

“No,” Elise says from the back. Her voice sounds weak. “That’s me. I got the carsick genes.”

Xena glances over at me, but I keep my eyes straight ahead. It feels like she’s trying to see through my skull into my thoughts. And for some reason, I suddenly don’t want her to know what I’m thinking.

“It’s been a busy day,” I explain. “I just saw Nikolai an hour ago and everything was fine. When did he find out about—”

“I was actually tailing you this morning,” Xena blurts suddenly.

“You were?” I try to keep my voice even and calm, even though my heart is racing.

“I thought something was wrong when you went to the hospital.”

“The hospital?” Elise asks from the backseat. “I thought you two were going out for breakfast.”

I didn’t want to lie to Elise, but there was no reason to bring up the pregnancy to her until I knew it was really happening. Then there was no time to talk about it before Xena called and we rushed out the door.

This is really not how I want her to find out I’m having a baby.

“Nikolai just had something to do at the hospital first,” I lie.

---