Page 45 of Bratva Bastard

I nodded. “I’ve never been with anyone else,” I answered, sheepishly turning away. “We used protection. Even when he didn’t use a condom, I was still on birth control pills.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and I quickly added, “I take them for my period. That’s why I’d already been on the pill for a while, even before Maxim. Though, obviously they don’t work as well as I’d believed, or I wouldn’t be knocked up by an asshole who won’t answer his phone.”

“Well, the pull-out method doesn’t work too well, either,” she said with a giggle, trying to lighten the mood. “Just ask Willow.”

It must’ve worked, because I smiled. “What about you and Dimitry?” I asked. “What method was that?”

“That, my dear girl, is what we call ‘trying to conceive’,” she teased. “We planned for this one. Well, maybe planned isn’t the right word. Ishouldsay, I got pregnant and Dimitry said, ‘I’m surprised you didn’t get pregnant months ago.’”

I laughed a deep, hearty laugh. The kind that came from deep within the belly, and roared to life.

“Men. They’re such hopeless romantics,” I said with sarcasm, shoving my finger in my mouth to fake gag. “Speaking of which, do you think Maxim’s going to call me back or is he finished with me?”

Gemma’s expression looked almost apologetic when she shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly. I don’t know Maxim that well. He doesn’t seem like the type to run off like that, though. Or, at least in my eyes, he always seemed like someone who was forthright with his opinion—albeit sometimes obnoxiously. I don’t think he’d just leave you hanging. If he didn’t want to see you, he’d probably tell you. But, like I said, I don’t know him well, so I could be totally wrong.”

Yeah, I’d come to pretty much the same conclusion. Maxim seemed like one type of man, but what if I was wrong? Despite how well I thought I knew him, we’d only just met about five or six weeks ago. What if everything I thought I knew was wrong?

I’d been through this—round and round—in my mind.

“So, Dimitry… Was he like this before you two got together?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes.

“No. Quite the opposite. He practically forced me to be with him,” she said with a giggle. “Oh, those Koslov men are crazy.”

But Maxim wasn’t a Koslov.Despite their many similarities, he was different from his brothers. My emotions were overwhelming, and I excused myself to use the restroom.

I headed to the bathroom, and as I turned the corner from the living room, I heard Andrei speaking. No one else was there, so he must’ve been on the phone. I tried to creep past him so I wouldn’t interrupt his call, but his words froze me in my tracks.

“Yup. She’s pregnant. No, I swear, I heard it from the horse’s mouth. I knew it would happen sooner or later. How funny that it would happen now. Perfect timing is all I can say.”

Was he talking about me?Did he overhear that I was pregnant? No, that’s crazy. I’m just being paranoid. He could be talking about anyone. It’s not as if his life revolved around me and my problems. But to hear him say that after I’d just confessed it to Gemma couldn’t be a coincidence. Who the hell would he be saying that to, anyway? Who would care thatIwas pregnant?

Then it hit me.What if that was Maxim on the phone?

Andrei turned around and saw me standing there. His eyes grew wide for the briefest moment before they narrowed in suspicion. “Hey, let me call you back.” He hung up the phone, and stared at me with his typical scowl that I swore I’d never seen leave his face.

Why couldn’t Maxim have someone who was nice keep an eye on me, rather than a guy who clearly hated my guts.

Andrei impatiently tapped his foot, and snapped, “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”

“I’m sorry. I was heading to the bathroom.” Attempting nonchalance, I asked, “So, who’s pregnant?”

He swiftly turned on his heels and took three steps away from me, pausing before he turned back around. “Not that it’s any ofyourbusiness, my cousin’s dog is pregnant. He wanted to use his dog for Bratva business, but now that she’s pregnant, she’s useless. It’s too bad, because now that he can’t use her,the bitch is as good as dead.”

His eyes were mere slits on his glowering face. Was he threatening me? Something in the way he said that felt too personal, like he meant that message for me.

I wasn’t sure I believed his story about his cousin’s dog, but I muttered, “That’s too bad. I’d hate for anything to happen to that dog. It’s not right that it should pay the price for a business it wasn’t even involved in.” And with that, I turned and walked to the bathroom.

Closing the door behind me, I leaned against the wall and steadied my rapidly beating heart.

If Andreiwastalking about me, and he was talking to Maxim, then that meant that Maxim was still checking up on me. Maybe hearing the news would bring him back to Trancoso—or at least make him call me back. But if he was talking to someone else, then why would they care about my pregnancy?

Maybe I really was going crazy with paranoia, but the way he looked at me when he saidthe bitch was as good as dead, it felt like he meant it for me. And if that were true, could I trust him to watch over me?

When I stepped into the kitchen, Gemma had a piece of ice cream on her shirt that she was trying to suck up. I said, “I have to be heading to my shift at the bar, but thanks for the talk. It helped tremendously.”

Her smile held warmth as she escorted me to the door. “Anytime, girl. Stop by anytime. I love having someone else to talk to. It gets lonely around here.”

“I bet,” I said with a wave, heading to my car.

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