Page 199 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

“You went to the obstetrician wing,” Xena adds, cool as could be.

“Xena, not now,” I beg under my breath.

She ignores me. Elise leans forward, her hand on the back of my seat. “Belle?”

Slowly, I turn back to her. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you. And Iwasgoing to tell you. I swear. I just wanted to be sure first.”

Her eyes widen. She’s surprised, but I can’t tell if it’s tinged with horror or happiness until she squeals, “You’re pregnant?!”

The news has gone from horrifying to confusing to joyful and back again so many times that I don’t know what response is right anymore. I settle for a sighing nod. “Yeah, I am.”

“Oh my God. I’m going to be a big sister,” she says. “Or, wait, I meant an aunt. An aunt! Wow.”

I bite back a smile. “Yeah. Aunt Elise. Wow.”

When I turn back to Xena, her jaw is clenched. “Is Nikolai the father?” she asks.

The mood in the car has been difficult to read since the moment Xena picked us up. But now, it’s unmistakably tense. Something is wrong. Something I don’t fully understand.

But I know enough to keep my mouth shut.

It’s not like it matters, though. A non-answer is answer enough, and Xena knows that. With every passing second, the car moves faster and faster.

Elise is groaning in the backseat as we swerve one corner after the next, her car sickness rearing its ugly head. But she’s looking at a lot worse than an upset stomach if I don’t get her out of here.

“Xena, stop the car.”

“No.”

My heart is racing, but I take a steadying breath. “I’ll stay in the car. But let Elise go. Let her out.”

Xena’s eyes flicker to the rearview mirror.

“She’s just a kid,” I whisper. “Please. Whatever is going on, let’s deal with it. Just the two of us. Leave her out of it.”

Her expression doesn’t change, and I’m not sure she is even listening to me anymore. Then suddenly, Xena slams on the brakes.

We all jerk forward, and Elise lets out a shriek. “What the f—” she breathes. “Belle, what is going on?”

Tears are welling in my eyes, but I force them back. I don’t want to scare her anymore than she already is.

I turn in my seat and give her a small smile. “You’re going to get out.”

Her forehead wrinkles. “What? Where are we—”

“Youare going to get out of the car. You’re going to get out. And you’re going to find Nikolai.”

He’ll take care of her. I know he will.

“But we ran away because of him. Because of… well, I don’t know why. But I thought he was dangerous?”

Xena snorts softly, and a shiver races up my spine.

I was so stupid. So fucking stupid.

I should have called Nikolai after Xena called me. Even if it was true and he’d found out that I was working with the Simatous, I could have explained things to him. Maybe he would have understood.

But I panicked and followed my worst instincts, and now, I’m in a kind of trouble I can’t even fathom.

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