Page 52 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

“It’s an exciting time, and hopefully, the nausea will subside soon,” Raf added kindly with his usual smile. “Just make sure you don’t overwork yourself. Your body’s working hard enough already.”

“Of course…but I’m still going to try and push through this anyway. The work doesn’t stop.”

He chuckled at that and nodded. “I couldn’t expect anything less. Gemma’s lucky you’re so determined.”

“That she is,” I said, looking at the candies again before I lifted a curious brow at him. “You seemed prepared with the ginger. Do you always have them on you?”

With a somewhat bashful smile, he let go of a quiet laugh. “I tend to feel nauseous some days, so I keep some around. I’m from the country, so I’m still getting used to the building’s elevation and the erratic city traffic.”

“Oh, I see…I guess that makes sense.”

“In any case, I hope they help…and congrats again,” Raf said, beginning to slowly step back from the desk and toward the door. “It’s just about the end of the day. I think I’ll get ready to head out for the night.”

“Raf?”

At the sound of his name, he paused, brows going up slightly at attention. “Yes?”

“Would you mind keeping this between us? Just for a little while anyway,” I asked him, wanting to make sure the whole building wouldn’t know by the end of the week. “It’s a bit early for everyone to know yet.”

At my request, he grinned and nodded. “Of course. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Easing into my seat a bit more, I smiled. “I appreciate it. And thanks again, I’ll let you know how I fare.”

With a final acknowledgment, Raf dipped out of the office after saying goodbye and disappeared before leaving to go home.

Left alone again, feeling a bit better and relieved that I could trust him to keep the news of my pregnancy to himself, I reached for one of the candies and unwrapped it. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the ginger to soothe the rest of my nausea to make it more bearable.

Given my previous interruption from not feeling well, I still had some work to do, so I kept going while everyone started heading home. Finally, I could focus again, and I wasn’t going to pass up on that concentration.

Chapter 23 - Damien

After Daniil left to get back to his work, I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling even more excited about the baby and everything that was going on. But of course, I had to push that aside while I focused on my investigation.

I spent those hours monitoring and doing as many extensive background checks as I could, hoping for something to jump out at me and give me the confirmation I needed.

My two most likely suspects were still at the forefront of my mind, and having to watch them closely made me feel coiled up and ready to strike at the first chance I could.

While I still had a bad feeling about Raf, I didn’t want to cloud my mind with preconceived notions. I couldn’t go in guns blazing and point the blame at him without knowing for sure—regardless of how badly I wanted to.

To remain unbiased, I continued monitoring Sarah with the same level of scrutiny. Like before, she kept getting up at her usual times, either acting like she was going to grab something like printouts or coffee refills, but in the end, she always ended up back at the washroom.

After getting far too curious to ignore it, I followed at a distance during one of her laps through the hallway. Even from that far back, I noticed something peeking out from beneath the short sleeve of her blouse—almost like a sticker.

I furrowed my brows at that and continued, wondering what she could possibly be doing heading there so frequently.

She glanced over her shoulder, but I was quick to avert my gaze while maintaining a casual air to my steps, pretending like I was just on my way somewhere else. Then, she slipped into the washroom as the door closed behind her.

Seeing my chance, I picked up the pace until I stood right out front, silently listening.

I had to shake off how weird it felt to be spying on her, silently praying she wasn’t actually using the bathroom.

Soon enough, I heard a deep inhale, followed by a calmer exhale.

Standing there for another moment, listening to a quiet crackling sound, a sweet scent seeped through the closed door, and I grew more confused as I registered it. It smelled like grape-flavored candy or something, and it had me stumped before the realization clicked into place.

The sticker on her arm wasn’t anything suspicious…but a nicotine patch.

With her deep inhales, the faint crackling sound, and the sweet smell, it all made sense when put together. She was hooked on nicotine and sneaking off to the bathroom to get another fix from vaping.

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