Champagne Venom (Orlov Bratva, #1)(75)

“Whatever happened to ‘survival of the fittest,’ huh, Misha?”

He turns around abruptly, aiming the full blaze of his anger at me. “For someone who is so scared about this pregnancy, you don’t seem overly concerned that you just crashed into a fucking lamppost.”

His gaze falls down to my hand, which is currently wrapped around my pendant.

“Jesus Christ. That fucking thing is not magic, Paige!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Fuck!” he growls before grabbing me by the waist and hoisting me up into his arms.

“What are you doing?” I yell. “Let me down!”

He pushes past Inez and Rada and heads to the medical room, ignoring my protests and my hands beating against his stone-cut chest.

Dr. Mathers looks up in surprise as we burst into the room. “Check her,” Misha orders, dropping me on the exam table. “Now.”

Dr. Mathers nods and scurries to perform the examination. I just close my eyes and try to breathe. I could fight, but I also want to know if everything is fine. I was in shock after the accident. Everything was happening so fast that I didn’t even think about the baby. But now… I won’t be able to think about anything else.

I fall silent as the doctor squirts some ultrasound jelly onto my belly. All three of us wait for the monitor. Doubt and worry start to seep in amidst the silence.

Dr. Mathers pushes the probe around my stomach, searching for a heartbeat. Every second that ticks

by feels like a lifetime.

Please, let there be a beat. Please. Please.

I glance towards Misha, and the look in his eyes makes my blood run cold. It’s the haunted, desperate look of a man who has seen a lot of death. A man who’s preparing to see more.

But the expression on his face is not detached. It’s not impersonal. He’s right here with me, terrified that we might lose something that neither one of us thought we would have in the first place.

And then…

The gentle throb of a heartbeat echoes through the room. I cry out with relief and sink back against the table.

Instinctively, I let go of my pendant and reach for his hand.





55

MISHA

“The brakes were definitely cut,” Konstantin says grimly a day after the near-accident. “There’s no doubt.”

I expected this, but it doesn’t lessen the rage that burns through me. “He knows.”

Konstantin nods. “About her, yes, for sure. But, silver lining: he might not know about the baby.”

“It doesn’t matter. If Petyr Ivanov takes out Paige, he takes out the baby, too,” I growl, slamming my fist onto the table. I look up at Konstantin. “We have a rat.”

He sighs and taps his fingernails on the wood. “Yeah, that was my first thought, too. I’m already working on setting up some rat traps.”

“Good. Keep me posted.”

“Always.” He nods. “How is she?”

“Resting. Finally. We thought we’d lost the baby there for a second. That can take a toll on even the most stubborn woman.”

I wish my brother was here. Finally, I know exactly what Maksim went through all those years ago when he and Cyrille lost their first baby. That ripe, rotten hopelessness. The sense that no matter how powerful you might be, some things are just beyond your control.

Including the beautiful, unknowable woman who’s carrying your child.

“What about you?” he asks.

I look up and blink the memories away. “What?”

“Is it taking a toll on you?”

I clench my jaw. “I’m fine.”

Konstantin doesn’t look convinced, but he knows better than to persist with this line of questioning.

“Okay, listen: I’m not sure you have the bandwidth for something like this right now, but Anatoly from accounting gave me a call this morning. He said he tried to contact you a few times but you weren’t picking up.”

“I was with Paige,” I say dismissively. “What did he want?”

“He wanted to ask if there was a reason you were funneling off money into a separate bank account through the joint account you have with Paige.”

“I haven’t been…” The realization sets in like cold water down my spine. I stand, bones stiff, anger solidifying in my veins. “Excuse me. I have to go talk to my wife.”

He winces. “Go easy on her,” he calls. In a whisper I’m not meant to hear, he adds, “For my sake, if nothing else.”

Paige is on the sofa in front of the TV when I walk in. Rada is sitting right next to her, the two of them watching some 90s sitcom with a braying laugh track that grates on my raw nerves.

When she sees me, Rada jumps to her feet and flushes with color. “Sorry, sir. I… I’ll just be going.”

She scurries out of the room and I turn to Paige. “Good to know I pay her to put her feet up.”

Paige frowns. “You pay her to take care of me. Today, I was lonely. I needed a friend. Lay off her.”

I came here for a purpose, but I feel a little jolt of unease when she says the word ‘lonely.’ But I force myself to focus. “Why have you been siphoning off money into a separate bank account?”

She stiffens, but tries to remain casual. To her credit, she doesn’t deny it. “Because the other account is joint.”