Page 76 of Married to the Bratva

I cut him off. “You’re under a DDoS attack, aren’t you?”

There’s a brief pause before he stammers, “How did you?—?”

“Your firewall logs flagged unusual traffic spikes from multiple IPs in different regions.”

I switch to the other screen, pulling up the encrypted system I built for their company. “The logs were set to auto-sync with my servers for exactly this scenario.”

“Yes,” he says, his voice tight with worry. “We’re locked out of the admin panel, and it’s affecting our client-facing apps?—”

“Relax, Blake. I’ve got it.” My fingers fly across the keyboard, navigating through layers of encrypted data. “It’s a botnet attack. Pretty rudimentary, actually. Whoever’s behind this is using an open-source script. Amateur hour.”

I hear him exhale, like he’s gripping his desk for dear life. “What can we do?”

“Already doing it,” I say, typing rapidly. “I’m throttling the incoming connections and rerouting legitimate traffic to a backup server. Your admin panel access should be restored in three… two… one. Try it now.”

There’s a pause, and then his voice comes back, awestruck. “It’s back. Everything’s… back. Mrs Abramov, you’re incredible.”

“Just doing my job,” I say lightly, hiding my smile as I adjust my position in the chair.

My belly makes sitting upright for long stretches a challenge, but I manage. “I’ll patch a vulnerability I noticed in your backend while I’m at it. No charge. Consider it a baby shower gift.”

“Uh… congratulations?” he says, his confusion making me laugh. “When are you due?”

“Any day now. Keep an eye on your logs, and if anything else happens, the rest of the team are online 24-7.”

I hang up and set the phone down, leaning back in my chair with a sigh.

I glance at the second monitor, which is open to a document far more important than any cyber-threat.

“How hard can naming a kid be?” I mutter to myself, scrolling through the options. “Seriously, why does nothing sound right?”

“You could always name him Maxim Junior,” a deep voice rumbles behind me, and I nearly jump out of my chair.

I turn to see Maxim standing in the doorway, arms crossed, his dark eyes glinting with amusement. He’s in paint splattered coveralls.

“You scared the hell out of me,” I say, glaring at him as I place a hand over my racing heart.

His lips twitch in a smirk as he strides into the room. “If you’re this easy to surprise, maybe I need to upgrade your security protocols.”

“Funny,” I say, shooting him a look as he leans over my desk. “How’s painting the nursery going?”

“Would have been done a month ago if you hadn’t changed your mind on the color.” He glances at the screen showing my list of baby names, his brow arching. “Still stuck?” he asks, his voice softer.

“I feel like I’m naming a future world leader or something,” I say, waving a hand at the screen. “Every name sounds either too ordinary or too over-the-top. How does anyone make this decision?”

His expression softens as he places a hand over mine, his touch steadying. “I offered to make it for you.”

“Haven’t you got painting to do?”

He kisses my cheek. “Yes, my queen.” Then he’s gone, leaving my cheeks tingling as much as my insides.

Turning back to my screen, I scroll past a name that catches my eye. Alexei. Strong, timeless… maybe it’s the one. Only one problem. We’re having a girl.

57

SOPHIE

I’m halfway through a call with another client when the door swings open, and Grandma marches in like she owns the place.

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