Page 149 of Bratva Knight

“Tatiana, please let me take the blindfold off. You’re making me nervous.”

I glanced over at Nikolai in the passenger seat of the car, a flicker of amusement running through me at the sudden paleness of his complexion.

A week had passed since the hospital. Since I found out I was pregnant. And I still don’t think I’ve come to terms with it. Not really.

On one hand, I was excited. Happy. Elated. The idea of a little baby, the chance to do it all over again—the right way, with the right outcome—was an opportunity I didn’t think I’d get for a very long time…if ever.

On the other hand, I was absolutely stone-cold terrified. Terrified that what happened last time would happen again. It was a crippling kind of fear. The kind that literally took my breath away. I think I had at least ten panic attacks in the last seventy-two hours alone.

And poor Nikolai. He had no idea what was going on. Why, all of a sudden, I was gasping for air. Shaking. Feeling like I was going to pass out. But he would soon.

It was the day I was going to tell him. There was just something I had to do first.

“What’s the matter, Nicky? Don’t you trust me?” My hands glided across the steering wheel as I took a turn, a chuckle bubbling up in my throat when Nikolai released a high-pitched sound that I could have sworn was a squeal of fear.

“Behind the wheel while I’m blindfolded and can’t see what’s going on? No. No, I don’t.”

I rolled my eyes. “Relax. I’m not going to kill us.”

“Tell that to the cyclist you hit.”

“He was fine! He got right back up. I’m an excellent driver.”

“I’d believe that if you weren’t—” his words cut off as I swerved abruptly to avoid a car on the road, and he grunted when his head thumped against the window, “—driving like a goddamn manic,” he hissed. “That’s it. I’m taking this off—”

“No, don’t!” I slapped a hand over his eyes to keep him from removing the blindfold.

“Two hands on the wheel, Tati!” he screamed in distress.

“Alright, alright. Just don’t take it off.”

“I won’t, just tell me you have two hands on the wheel. Please.”

“I do. Jeez, you really don’t like it when I drive, do you?”

He chose not to answer. “This is ridiculous,” he breathed out, but he didn’t try to take off the blindfold again. “Why do I need to wear this?”

Because I knew once he saw where I was taking him, he’d want to turn right back around.

“Because I don’t want you to recognise where we’re going and ruin the surprise. Just sit back and relax. We’re almost there.”

“That’s impossible with you driving,” he mumbled. “By the time we get there, I’ll have aged thirty fucking years.”

“Oooo, silver fox Nikolai? That’s a version of you I can definitely get behind.”

He chuckled that deep, bassy laugh that always sent goosebumps crawling over my skin.

Sweat slicked my palms, nervousness flooding my veins. While I was confident Nikolai wouldn’t abandon me again, I couldn’t say for sure how he was going to react to the news when I told him. The first time he’d found out I was pregnant, he’d been ecstatic. But like for me, this news came with scars.

Would he truly be happy about it?

I honestly wasn’t sure.

We made small talk as I continued driving, being mindful not to do anything crazy or erratic that might send him into cardiac arrest.

Things had been hectic for the Bratva since the whole Til Death Games fiasco. Although all of the Volkovs had come out relatively unscathed, there was still a lot of unfinished business. Talon had made a run for it the moment we’d infiltrated the Arena. He was still in the wind. Dimitri was hell-bent on finding him though, devoting all of his time and resources to trying to locate him.

Illayana had finally gone back home with Arturo. I honestly didn’t think that man was ever going to let her out of his sight again. I felt a little bad for her. He was plastered to her side like a goddamn shadow. And her guards? Well, before they’d left, Arturo had burrowed the ring and absolutely demolished them. Poor guys.

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