Page 35 of Claimed By Desire

It’s about the baby, not about me.

“Come on, Natalya,” he says softly. “Take my hand. We don’t have much time.”

I want to do it. I want to control my own destiny for once in my life. I can run away from a second arranged marriage and roll the dice with him, the father of my unborn child.

And the sickest part of all is, I kind of like the idea of being his wife.

Even if I can barely stand him.

It’s just, when I picture myself as a bride, I can’t really see Adriano with me.

But Alex is bright and clear.

“I’ll always be in my child’s life,” he says, his hand wavering between us. “You can have your life back one day, but that baby will always be mine. Do we have a deal?”

This isn’t what I wanted.

But at least he’s giving me a choice.

I reach out and take his hand. I squeeze it hard.

“We have a deal,” I say.

And he sweeps me from the room before I have a chance to change my mind.

Chapter 13

Alexander

“It’s not too late,” Lev says, sounding like he’s struggling to hold it together. “You can turn this around. Bring my sister back and we’ll act like nothing happened. Nobody else knows, right?”

“Dasha’s already on her way over.” I pace back and forth across my balcony. Inside, Natalya’s using my bathroom to finish getting ready, or at least as much as she can considering I don’t have most of what she needs.

Lev groans. “Dasha? What the fuck?”

“I needed a witness.”

“I can’t believe you’re fucking serious about this.”

“I know, Lev. I’m really sorry, but I have to do this.”

I can practically see him right now, red-faced and fuming mad, but also desperate to salvage this situation before it gets worse. That’s Lev, always playing the peacemaker. When me and Step would get into a fight, it was Lev that helped smooth everythingover. When shit got rough at home, it was Lev inserting himself to divert their father’s temper away from everyone else.

Lev’s a good man. He’s the one I hate hurting the most.

I lost Stepan already, and now I think I’m going to lose him too.

“If you cross this line, it’s over,” he says softly, a hint of desperation in his voice. “You have to know my father will never let it stand. He’ll kill you, and then he’ll still marry my sister off to the Italians.”

“She’s pregnant and it’s mine.”

There’s a long silence. I look back inside and spot the priest getting set up. He must’ve just arrived. I check my watch—right on time.

“When?” Lev asks, but he answers for me. “Fuck, it was in Paris, wasn’t it?”

“It was in Paris,” I confirm. “Listen, this is happening. She’s pregnant with my child, and I can’t let her marry someone else. Just do me a favor and let me tell your father myself.”

Lev barks a laugh. “You’re insane.”

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