Page 78 of Born into Sin

“I love you so much, Natalya.”

It’s the last thing I’m expecting her to say. I raise my eyes to meet hers, scared I’m going to see anger or disappointment, but she’s just looking at me like she always does, a look full of unconditional love.

“Did you know that the whole time I was pregnant with you your dad was sneaking off and buying little girl baby clothes?”

“What?”

My mom smiles at the memory. “Every time I’d go into our closet, I’d find new bags hidden away. Pink sleepers, cute little bibs with Daddy’s Girl written on them, pink blankets, if it was pink and girlie, he was buying it and hiding it away.”

“I never knew that. I thought for sure he would’ve been secretly hoping for a boy.”

“Nope, he wanted a little girl. He loves Sasha like crazy, don’t get me wrong, but he really, really wanted a little girl first.”

My eyes start to fill at the thought of my dad secretly buying me baby clothes before he even knew I was on the way. It makes me feel guiltier than I already do.

My mom squeezes my hand again. “I didn’t tell you that to make you cry,” she says, giving a soft laugh. “I just thought maybe you could use the reminder that your dad loves you more than life itself and that there’s nothing you could ever do to change that.”

“I don’t know about that,” I say, thinking about how I’d willingly dropped to my knees for his friend.

“I’m not asking for details. You know I can’t keep secrets from your dad, so I’d rather not know anything right now, not while he’s so worried about this threat, but I do know that your dad would never do anything that would risk him losing you from his life.”

I clutch my mom’s hand and squeeze it tighter. “That would never happen. I couldn’t survive without my family.” I say the words, knowing they're true, and knowing that Dominic would never ask me to. He wouldn’t ever ask me to choose between him and my family. I simply refuse to do it. I choose them both, and I’ve made up my mind that I’m never letting either one of them go. They’re just all going to have to learn to deal with it, because I’m keeping all of them in my life.

“He feels the same way,” my mom reminds me. “Your dad might show a tough exterior, but you and I both know what a big softie he is.”

“He really is,” I say, making her smile and give a soft laugh. Her eyes grow sad again, and I know she’s missing him like crazy. “I know this will be over soon, Mom. You’ll be back home with him in no time.”

She nods and gives me another smile before taking a drink of her tea. “I guess I’ll try to get some sleep. You should too, okay?”

“Okay.”

She walks around and pulls me in for a hug. Kissing the top of my head, she whispers, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

She gives me one more hug before walking back to the room she’s been staying in at the end of the hall. The house is quiet, but I know the guards are still wide awake and patrolling around outside, making sure no one approaches the house from any direction. I’m ready for this nightmare to be over, and after what my mom just told me, I’m starting to feel brave enough to think this might actually all work out okay.

I’m still smiling when I walk in the opposite direction to the room I’m sharing with Svetlana and Yelena. I’m almost to the stairs when a hand reaches out and clamps down over my mouth, stopping the scream before I have a chance to voice it. His other hand holds a gun to my head, the cold metal pressing against my temple and making me feel like I might faint. I’ve been around guns my whole life, but I’ve never had one pressed against my head. The sensation is downright terrifying.

“Don’t fucking try it.”

The words are in Russian, a harsh whisper in my ear when I move my leg to kick him like my dad taught me. I’m about to go for it anyway, but his next sentence stops me cold.

“Your sister is sleeping right in there.” He points to the closed door in front of us. “Want to know how I know that?”

He’s not expecting an answer, so he keeps his hand clamped down on my mouth.

“I was just in there watching her sleep. She really hates covers, doesn’t she?”

He gives a soft laugh, and I want to vomit. Mia always kicks her covers off. Every morning it’s like she’s had a violent struggle with her bed and won. We’ve always teased her about it, but there’s no way in hell this fucker would know that unless he really was in there watching her. I don’t recognize his voice, so I know he’s not one of the men who regularly watches over us. He must be one of the guys who were brought in for extra security.

“You’re going to walk out of here with me and not make a fucking sound. If you try to get away or scream, I swear to you that I will start killing your family. You and I both know there are enough men here to stop me, but trust me when I say I’ll be able to kill a few people you love before they do. Are you willing to risk your sister for that? Your brother?” He pauses and gives another soft laugh. “Your mom? I really doubt you want that after that sweet heart-to-heart you just had.”

He feels me tense and tightens his grip on me. There’s no way in hell I’m going to do anything that puts my family in danger. It’ll kill my dad if something happens to me, but it’ll completely destroy him if he loses all of us in one night. I soften my body, letting him know I won’t fight him.

“That’s what I thought. We’re going to walk out of here, and you’re going to be the perfect little docile princess I know you can be. If you fight me, I promise I’ll spend whatever is left of my life making sure you regret it.”

I believe him, so I nod my head as much as he’ll allow, letting him know that I won’t try anything. He keeps his hand on my mouth, the gun pressed to my head, and my back tight against his chest as he starts to lead us down the hall. My eyes dart around, and as much as I want free of this bastard, all I can do is hope like hell no one wakes up to find us. Niki, Damien, Evgeny, and Sasha are most likely in the media room that we’re about to walk past, and I know if one of them wakes up, I’ll be dying, because I won’t be able to just stand back and watch them get shot.

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