Page 37 of Crowned

“That is not how this works,” Elyah mutters.

I stare at the three men reverently touching my belly like I’m a living saint. A moment ago, Konstantin was threatening to choke the life out of me.

ThePakhanlifts his eyes to mine. “It’s mine. I was first.”

What the hell is happening?

“But the diamonds,” I choke out, but Konstantin doesn’t seem to hear me. I almost want to get down on my knees and beg him to be furious with me again.

Elyah shakes his head. “It does not matter who was first, the baby could still be mine.”

“I’m not going to—” I start to protest, but Konstantin and Elyah speak over me, their hands gentle on my stomach but their voices raised in fury.

“You have no right to claim Lilia and this child,” Konstantin growls. “She was part of my pageant, and she is in my debt. I decide what happens next.”

“It is my baby because Lilia is mine. She is going to marry me.”

The two men stand off against each other, nostrils flaring, ready to tear each other apart.

7

Konstantin

Of all the tricks and surprises I thought this woman would have in store for us, I never anticipated anything like this.

Lilia.

Havingmybaby.

I remember her spread on her back on the judging table, my cock buried deep inside her as I thought I was putting her firmly in her place, this woman who thought she could outsmart me. The woman whodidoutsmart me.

That’s when I got her pregnant. That wild moment.

“I’m not waiting around here while you two have a fist fight over a baby that doesn’t belong to you.” Lilia ducks under our arms and retrieves her handbag that she dropped on the floor.

Elyah follows her. “Not ours? Of course it is ours. Whose else could it be but mine or Konstantin’s?”

“My baby belongs to me and no one else. I absolve you all of the responsibilities of fatherhood. No father’s name will be listed on the birth certificate.” She changes into some sneakers, grabs a coat from a hook, and reaches for the front door.

I brace my hand against the wood and slam it closed. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Lilia gazes up at me with burning, sea-green eyes and a blood-streaked face. “Anywhere but here.”

I thought I’d walk in here to find the Lilia I saw every day at the pageant. Tense, scared, wearing terrible clothes. Here she is in a fashionable black dress with her long, golden hair in curls and makeup on her face. Smokey, dark eyes. Dusky rose lipstick. Like she’s been on a date.

Jealousy spreads through my chest. Carrying my baby, and Lilia has been dressing up for another man?

“You’re not going anywhere. What happened to you tonight? Who were you with?” She’s pregnant and she’s covered in blood. I need answers before I decide what happens next.

“Some man tried to put his hands on me and the baby without my permission. You’re next if you don’t back off.”

“Hewhat?” There are red marks and bloody handprints all over her neck and arms, and now that I look closer, I see that Lilia’s dress is torn. She’s been shaking slightly this whole time, but I thought that was because she was shocked to see us.

“What man? Where?” Elyah asks.

Lilia passes a forearm over her brow to wipe her face, but all she does is smear the blood. “I dealt with him myself. He’s dead.”

If I weren’t so fucking angry, I’d be proud of her.

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