Page 44 of Kidnapped Bratva Virgin

“Oh. I want her there. How can I inflict the maximum amount of heartache if she’s not,” I countered with a wry smile. “But I’m going to rip away everything she holds dear. Then she’s going to see what type of monster I can really be.”

So, it was decided my son was coming back to Chicago with me. I didn’t tell Cara the truth. Ethan is my son and she’s going to have to deal with it. With my shades on, I wait for Ava and Ethan to arrive. I don’t care about her fucking career, her happiness, or how badly I’ve fucked things up for her. She took something from me when I gave her my all, and I would never let a woman do that again.

She knew she had no choice but to come with me. My legal team is too strong for her, and it would have been an easywin for me in the courtroom. If she defied me, I planned to pull out all the stops, including her infidelity during our relationship, and showing how bad a parent she is for not telling me she was with child.

Ava never stood a chance. The sun’s direction changes, causing me to drop my sunglasses down on my head, covering my eyes. Despite the revenge I’ve enacted, I never planned to take Ava away from Ethan. No. That was a back-up plan in case she decided to make foolish moves.

She might be a high and mighty lawyer, but she’s not a stupid one. I hate Ava. With every bone in my body, I hate her for what she did to us, and the secret she carried for four years without my knowledge. She arrives and my heart rate picks up as Viktor walks beside her, making sure she doesn’t make a last-ditch attempt to escape.

It’s not as if she hasn’t done that before. I’ve got hired guns in place if she does, but given she’s walking with Ethan hand in hand, I assume she doesn’t plan on doing that. The anger lifts as Ava walks to the plane, sophisticated with her shades on. Ethan’s carrying some sort of bear in his hand, and he’s pointing at the plane.

A part of me softens when I see him. He has the same wide-eyed wonder about the world as his mother, but he’s too young. I can’t parent the little boy by myself.

Ava reaches me, her pretty mouth tight as she places a protective hand on Ethan’s back. He buries his face in Ava’s leg. I’m bringing her along for good reason. She’s his mother, and Ethan needs her for survival. If there’s one thing she is, it’s a good mother. I can see that, but once Ethan is old enough, maybe Cara can step in and play the role. She’ll have to learn to give up her coldhearted ways, but I don’t give a damn. I’m goingto send Ava away, dragging out my revenge over several years, just like she wants to milk the Raven’s Peak deal until the end.

She’s lucky I haven’t found some way to annihilate the contract and put her in the poor house on the street. Once Ethan sees my smile as I lift my sunglasses, I crouch down to his level, not wanting to intimidate the little fella.

He’s mine. My flesh and blood, looking up to me, and Ethan doesn’t think I’m a bad man. He doesn’t know that unless Ava’s tainted him against me already. She better not have, otherwise I’ll send her packing quicker than intended.

I can’t tell what’s behind her eyes, and I’m sure she won’t show me. Either way I don’t care because I’ve got what’s mine. A son. It feels good to meet him, and there’s something we both did right together producing him. I can’t believe I have one. There’s no shame, only happiness when I look into his eyes.

Ethan steps forward courageously, his finger in his mouth. “Hey, Ethan. Have you ever been on a plane?” I ask him, running a hand over the back of his neck, wanting to hug him, but letting him take the time to get used to me first.

“No. It’s loud! Big jet plane.”

“That’s right. A big jet plane. You’re going to be on it with me. Are you ready?”

Ethan nods, a big grin on his face. Looking into his innocent eyes makes me want to cry. I can’t believe I have a son. This is a dream come true. I didn’t know when I would have one or if it were a good idea, but seeing Ethan answers all those questions.

As much as I hate it, Ava is the perfect mother figure for Ethan. Cara is one I’m going to have to work on if I decide to go through with our marriage. “Dad?” Ethan says, chewing on his brown bear’s arm.

Tears glisten in my eyes as Ava watches the exchange from a short distance. “Yes,” I tell him enthusiastically. “I’m your father, Ethan.” I draw the little boy into a hug, my heart opening to him. He lays his tiny head on my shoulder, and I lift him up in my arms. “My big strong boy.”

He grins showing me all his teeth, holding his bear up to my face. “Can Mr. Bear come too?”

Nodding, I laugh a real laugh, like the ones I used to share with Ava.

“Yes. You can bring Mr. Bear and whatever else you want.” Ethan spreads his tiny arms open wide, his bright blue eyes shining as I take him up the stairs, Ava cutting a solemn figure following behind with a duffel bag.

“Yay! Mommy, Mommy, we’re going on the airplane! Mommy!”

“Yes, we are, Ethan.” Her voice is strained, but Ava’s sharp tongue has done nothing but get her in trouble. There’s no way out—I’ve banished any hopes she’s ever going to have. Soon she’ll be a washed-up lawyer who lost her son, broken and lost forever.

I’m Dimitri Utkin, and I always have a master plan. It’s how I got on top, and it’s how I’m going to stay on top.

Chapter Twenty-Five - Ava

One eye opens slowly, the environment foreign to me. Discombobulated, I panic, touching the sheets, opening both eyes, but looking around the room recognizing the furnishings, the bedding, the smell, the chair arrangements and the big screen TV on the wall. Mostly I recognize what happened the last time I was here.

Entrapment.I’m in Dimitri’s home, in the exact same room he kept me as his prisoner the first time. Doom sets in as I lay back down, the sun’s warmth shining on my back as I check the time. Normally I would be checking on Ethan and getting him ready for Emily. I would be feeding him, dressing him, ready to head out the door to Thompson and Associates. I hated telling Mark I had to resign. It took all my willpower to walk into his office and give up on my career, but it was either that or lose my son, and I couldn’t stomach being without Ethan, having carried him for nine months.

“Mark, can I speak to you for a minute?”

“Sure. Come on in. I wanted to talk to you too. You did a stellar job with Anatoly. Andy is impressed. He’s ready to come back onto the account and take the reins. I can tell you, that’s the type of teamwork that gets you a run at partner down the line.”Hearing Mark say that sent my heart plummeting to my feet, but making the ultimate sacrifice to be with my son was what I had to do.

“Then you’re going to hate what I have to say to you next,”I winced, sitting down, feeling like the most miserable woman in the world. The great irony of it all was if Andy hadn’t broken anything, I would have been able to go on with my life, and Dimitri might never have known of his son.

But in many ways that wasn’t fair to Ethan. As he got older, I suspected he would have asked more about his father, and I would have had to tell him the truth regardless.

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