Page 9 of Brutal Bratva Boss

There, now he knows he has no obligation other than a lump sum of money. Hopefully, it is enough for him to agree for me to keep the baby.

At this, Theo’s head snaps up, and the fury in his eyes makes me take a step back. “You are thinking of doing what?”

Or maybe not. I plead my case more. “I’m leaving town. I need to protect the baby and my father …” I trail off.

“What about your father?” he demands.

I am not sure how to convey the gravity of the situation without telling him who my father is. And I can’t risk doing that.

“He will not approve of the pregnancy. He’ll tell me to get rid of it, and I will not do that.” I hope this helps him understand that I will not consider aborting the life inside me.

Theo is quiet for a beat, his eyes still ablaze. Finally, he takes a breath. “Tell him the child will be cared for. You can stay here.”

I shake my head, choosing my next words as carefully as I can. “It’s not that simple. My father is old-fashioned, and arranged marriages are still a thing he believes in. There is no place for a child in that world. And his business partners are not the kind of people I would want to spend the rest of my days with.”

“What world is that?”

Damn, I hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“It’s a figure of speech. I just mean they’re not very nice people.”

“The world is full of not-so-nice people,” Theo counters.

I shake my head, exasperated that he won’t just give me what I am asking for so I can get out of town before my father realizes I am gone. “Not like the people in my father’s organization.”

Theo’s brows draw together. “What do you mean, his organization?”

Crap. Again, I hadn’t meant to let that slip. The longer he questions me, the higher the chance of me outing myself as the daughter of a crime boss. I need to get out of here. Now.

“I mean his company. His businesses.”

“And what does your father do for work?”

“He has a few different businesses.”

Theo nods slowly. “What kind of businesses?”

“Mostly trading.” It’s the most generic thing I can think of that stops people from asking too many follow-up questions.

“Why are you so intent on leaving town, Kat?”

Because my crime boss father will lose his shit when he finds out I am pregnant. He will have me abort the child. Then he will sell me off like meat at a deli to some unrefined, ruthless half-wit whom he will share Scotch with on the weekends while they talk about all the ways he is making me suffer for being such a rebellious disappointment and a stain on his reputation. The only escape I would have from that hellish existence would be to take my own life and hope no one finds me in time to resuscitate me.

But I can’t say that to him, can I?

So, I settle for, “It’s the best outcome for everyone. I can’t stay here, not if I want my child to be safe and taken care of. And not if I want to be free.”

“Kat.” Theo says my name slowly as if testing how it sounds. “Is that short for anything?”

I don’t think much of the question. “Katherine, why?”

Recognition flashes across his face for a brief moment. “No reason.”

Theo regards me in silence for a few minutes, until I can’t take it anymore. I suck in a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Look, are you going to give me the money or not? I already told you I do not want anything else from you. I just want to be able to leave town and not have to come back.”

Theo pushes himself up to his full height, stalking slowly towards me. “And what makes you think there is anywhere you could go, anywhere you could take my child, that I wouldn’t be able to find you?”

Panic has me stepping back to put some space between us, but Theo wraps his hand around my arm and pulls me forward, bringing us nose to nose.

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