Page 44 of The Bratva King's Pregnant Bride

“What about you, Maya? How’s pregnancy treating you?”

I groaned. “Not very good, but that’s okay, I guess. Dominik has been taking very good care of me.”

I heard Jenna’s laugh from the other side of the line. “True.” She paused. “Speaking of the devil, how’s everything going with your husband?”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s fine. He’s being dominant. Taking charge. You know, the usual.”

“Oh? What has he been teaching you?”

“Sex,” I answered, though to me, my voice sounded all prim and proper.

Jenna laughed.

“Really,” I insisted, “he knows his way around a bed. In my state—my hormones have made it so that I’m literally always horny—he doesn’t fail to please. He’s a good teacher.”

“I guess I’m happy for you?” Jenna answered, and we both broke into giggles.

“Sorry, girl,” I said once I’d caught my breath. “That might have been a little TMI.”

Jenna laughed it off, and we talked about various things—friends, family, anything we could touch—till Jenna told me she had to go.

“I’m going to miss you,” I said, suddenly wistful.

“Sweetheart! I always miss you,” she replied. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

She ended the call, and I sighed, staring out the window.

Some minutes later, there was a knock on the door to the hallway.

“Come in,” I said.

The door opened, and Olivia, our maid, walked in. “Mister Sharov will be back in half an hour, ma’am.”

That brought a smile to my face. It was like whatever weight I felt around me had suddenly been lifted; it left me wondering, What’s this feeling?

Olivia turned to leave, but paused as she caught the forlorn expression on my face.

“Is everything alright, Mrs. Sharov?” Olivia asked, tilting her head.

Mrs. Sharov. I really was Dominik’s now.

I made a feeble hand gesture, and said, “So many things, Olivia. I just finished reading a good story, and now, I don’t know what to do for the rest of the day.”

“What are your hobbies, Mrs. Sharov?”

“I like cooking. I like swimming, and I love reading books.”

“I guess the first two, your condition won’t allow. But as for the third, you are in luck. I see you have a good book in hand. There are others in Mister Dominik’s study. Those are far more interesting than this. Believe me. I’ve tried them myself.”

My eyes lit up at the idea of going to Dominik’s study. I wondered if this was where he kept all the best books, due to how interesting they were.

With slow footsteps, my legs feeling very much like lead, I made my way to Dominik’s study.

I began to browse each shelf, looking from one book to another, enjoying the smell of old books. Indeed, this was a treasure trove. My fingers stopped on some old classics, such as Aesop’s Fables and The Arabian Nights, then moved onto several works by Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, and finally to books on witchcraft and magic: A History of Modern Witchcraft and Demonology by Sir Philip Waggoner; On Being Witches and Sorcerers by Lady Catherine de Medici; The Magician’s Apprentice by Henry Fielding; and The Dark Arts and the World According to Newton by Robert Burton. These books were by some of the greatest scholars of the late nineteenth century, and the sheer number of books that appeared here suggested a man who liked to travel widely.

My gaze moved to Dominik’s table to find it empty. The lack of dust and how well arranged the room was told me the maids don’t fail to get in here. However, the room somehow lacked life, which made me wonder how long it had been since Dominik visited this study.

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