Page 42 of Bratva Bastard

Two minutes left.

That was all the time that remained until my future was determined.

Pulling out my phone, I checked for the millionth time to see if Maxim had read my message. It was still unread, yet he was online.What the fuck, Maxim?

If he was online, then he was obviously ignoring me. Don’t want to talk to me? Fine. But at least have the balls to tell me, rather than leaving me hanging. Especially while I waited for the results of the test. My nerves were shot, my mind was goop, and I had enough gas in my stomach to power an 18-wheeler.

The buzzer on my phone went off, letting me know my time was up.Here goes nothing…

I lifted the pregnancy stick from the cup, revealing two pink lines.

Oh, shit. That can’t be right.

I stared at the two lines, mocking me with their cruel, yet cute, pastel shade of pink—a reassurance that babies are cute—a blessing—despite the massive amount of fear that had taken a hold of me.

After waiting a few days, I took another test, only to receive the same positive result.

There was no doubt anymore.I was pregnant.

I was pregnant and Maxim wouldn’t answer me.

That was fucking fantastic.

I’d known from the start that Maxim was a player. He’d probably lost interest in me and moved on to the next big-breasted brunette in Moscow. But players didn’t introduce their family to girls they’re sleeping with. Not unless it was serious, right?

At a loss, I dialed Gabby, the only person I could talk to about this.

“Hey, chica! What’s up?” Gabby’s tone was bubbly and excited. We hadn’t spoken much, what with my constant schedule of work-home-work-Maxim-sleep.

“A lot. Gabby, I need to talk to someone, and I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

Sensing the troubled nature of my words, her voice grew serious, and she asked, “What’s going on?” with an urgency I hadn’t heard in years.

“I’m pregnant.”

The line went silent for a moment, aside from her gasp into the receiver. Finally, she shouted, “Oh, my god! Crissy, when did this happen? And with who? Was it Luiz?”

“No, not Luiz.”

“Cris, are we happy about this, or no?”

I pondered the question, unsure how to answer. Was I happy? No, not really. I’d always imagined finding out I was pregnant after I’d been in a loving marriage. Not after hooking up with a man and being ghosted.

Everyone always made it sound like babies were a good thing. A blessing. You should be so lucky to have one. But that wasn’t how I felt. Honestly, I was scared, upset, sad. What if my baby grew up without a father, like I did? What if I couldn’t support them? What if…

“Crissy, are you there?” she asked after I’d been quiet for some time.

I sighed, blowing out a breath. “Yeah, I’m here. I don’t know if I’m happy. I mean, I always wanted to have kids, but not like this, and not this soon. What am I going to do, Gab?”

“First,” she said, her tone determined and filled with support. She was my girl, through and through. “You’re going to tell me who the father is. I can’t help you until you tell me.”

“You’re not going to believe this, but you remember Maxim?” I held my breath, awaiting her response.

“Zoran’s bestie? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Iknewyou were hot for him. But how the hell did you end up pregnant with his kid?”

“Well…it turns out he wasn’t as bad of a guy as I’d originally believed. He’s very kind. Gentle when you’d least expect him to be, and more fragile, too.”

I stopped, too choked up on my words to continue. I let out a heavy sob, feeling totally fucked in that moment.

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