Page 10 of Hostage of the Bratva

Sitting in the waiting area, I felt my stomach turning. The nausea has been killing me for the last three days. I must have caught some kind of stomach flu. I didn’t know how, though. I took my vitamins, ate right, kept fit, and never went out in the cold.

Heck, I didn’t even get close to people when I knew they were sick. Not even Mathieu. I haven’t been sick in four years, and now everything around me makes me feel ill.

The receptionist came out and called my name. Walking into the doctor’s office, I felt my insides turning wildly. I was here yesterday for blood tests and didn’t expect any results until tomorrow. But the woman at the front desk called and said the doctor wanted to see me.

Taking a seat, the doctor smiled at me as he spoke. I couldn’t believe my ears. My mouth hung open as I listened to the doctor's diagnosis. This couldn’t be; how did I let this happen? I felt the tears burning my eyes as reality sunk in.

“Miss,” Dr Richards said as he stepped around his table and touched my shoulder. “I take it this was not planned.” He took a deep breath as I shook my head. “Are you okay?”

I closed my mouth and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, I will be fine. Thank you, doctor.”

Slowly, I rose from the chair and clutched my purse to my chest as I started for the door. Opening the door, I glanced back. “Thank you again,” I said as I stepped out.

My legs felt heavy, as if they were suddenly filled with lead. My heart seemed to have sunken to my stomach and was about to stop working. I took a couple of deep, slow breaths, trying to regain my composure before moving.

The waiting room was full of people, and most of them appeared happy and excited. To me, the room seemed to beclosing in. The furniture and walls were floating and turning; my head felt light as my vision blurred.

I felt a hand taking my arm, “Are you okay, miss,” a woman asked. I looked to my side, and an elderly woman in a nurse’s outfit stood beside me. I nodded to indicate I was fine but knew I wasn’t. My whole life had been flipped over. “Maybe you should sit for a moment,” she said as we walked forward. “You look a bit pale.”

The woman assisted me to a chair, and I sat down. I sunk my head between my hands and bit back the tears. Shortly afterward, the woman came back, bringing me a glass of water. “Here, drink this,” she said as she held the glass for me to take.

I took some deep breaths and then a couple of sips. The water tasted sweet, and the turning room started slowing down. Sitting up in the chair, I felt the blood returning to my face and the lump in my throat settling. I emptied the glass and handed it back to the woman standing beside me.

“Thank you,” I said as I rose, feeling slightly better. I felt all eyes on me and only wanted to get out.

“Can I call someone for you?” she inquired as I started to walk towards the door.

Glancing back, I lifted my hand as I spoke. “No, thanks, I’m fine.”

There was a refreshing, cool breeze outside. I stepped to the curb, took out my phone, and booked an Uber. While I waited for the driver, I inhaled deeply, allowing my lungs to absorb the coolness in the air. By the time the Uber arrived, I was actually feeling much better. Not about my predicament, but most of the sudden nausea and lightheadedness was gone.

The driver didn’t bother to ask me any questions, which was welcome. The drive home was quick.

Opening the door, Bunny was there to greet me with a loving bark and wagging tail. “Hi, Bunny,” I said as I closed thedoor and fell to my knees. “What are we going to do with a baby,” I said as the tears started streaming down my cheeks. Bunny nudged my side and settled next to me.

For the longest moment, I simply sat on the floor, hugging Bunny and allowing my emotions to run out through my eyes. After a while, the shock started to subdue and was replaced by fear.

I rinsed my face and studied the puffiness around my eyes in the bathroom mirror. “How could you be so stupid,” I told my reflection. “It had to be his baby, there has been no one else.”

Feeling the lump returning to my throat, I swallowed it down. No, I couldn’t let the situation turn me into a baby myself. I was stronger than that. After rinsing my face again, I headed to the kitchen. I put the percolator on for coffee and pulled my laptop closer.

Opening the browser, I sat glaring at the screen, wondering how I would find him with only a name. He drove a fancy car and wore suits, yet he owned a gun and went around shooting people. I typed in his name and ran a local search for bachelors, criminals, and anything tied to those. There was nothing else I could do about the information I had.

While the internet worked on the search, I poured some coffee. Sitting back down, I wondered if there was anything else I shouldn't be taking in now that I was pregnant. Staring at the cup, I decided not to and pushed it to the side.

My screen was filled with articles and profiles of men with the name Luder. It was surprising that it was not such a rare name. I started scouring through the information one page at a time. There were a couple I left open as I felt he might be one of those.

Once I had gone through everything, I returned my attention to the three men left. There was a Luder Pantonio, a Luder Morozov, and one Luder Argustus. The first surnamesounded more Italian to me, so I closed the page. The second one sounded more on target than the last one.

I decided to stick to the second one as I felt sure he was Russian, and the surname also sounded Russian. “Bunny,” I said as I grabbed a glass of water and poured out the coffee. “I think I’ve found him.”

Sitting back down, I dug in. I looked for anything I could find on the surname Morozov. There was more information than I expected, but nothing concrete. After hours and hours of reading articles and searching all avenues, I came upon something.

This was it. The owner of this club had the same surname, and his cousin owned a warehouse. I was sure it was the one where he held me, as the location on Google seemed about right.

Sure, it had to be his family. I searched more. I could be wrong, and it could only be my need to confront him driving me. There were a couple of other people with the same surname, but I couldn’t explain it, this one just fit. After looking up the club, the warehouse, and the owners some more, I found more than I had hoped for.

I pushed the laptop back on the counter as I stood up. “No, no,” I exclaimed as I turned and walked to the window. Bunny jumped up from his mat by the couch and came tripling over, whining. I grabbed hold of the windowsill as I stared out.

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