Page 47 of Defiant Devotion

She almost smiled, glancing at me as if she were proud I’d taken her virginity. Just as quickly, she scowled. “I heard them saying I would be taken to my fiancé soon. And I refused to let them take that one last thing from me. They’d taken my mother, they’d takenme, they’d taken my freedom, and I didn’t want them to have control over who took my virginity as well. It was the last thing I had, and I wanted to reclaim control, even just for a moment.”

“You wanted to stick it to them, huh?”

She nodded, lowering her hand to rest it on her belly. “And I don’t regret it.”

“You don’t regret that it was me? Or that you got knocked up?”

Now she really smiled. “Both. I’m glad it was you. And despite the hell that I am bringing this baby into, I can’t wait to be a mother. It’s a dream I never could’ve imagined being able to have. I feared being married off to someone I didn’t want, then bred and expected to let them take my children to raise as soldiers or future brides.”

I couldn’t help it. Leaning over, I claimed her lips in a kiss. I kept it soft and gentle, but once she sighed against me, I was relieved I hadn’t made a mistake. We hadn’t been intimate for the last couple of days—that was my doing. But with this little step of a kiss, I felt so much hope.

“And it’s why I escaped when I did. Once more, I overheard the guards talking about transporting me to my fiancé. I knew I was pregnant by then. I’d missed my period three times and I felt my body changing. So I worried not only to be forced into a marriage that I didn’t want but also that there would be no way to hide that I wasn’t a virgin anymore. I feared they’d take my child, and so I fought hard to run.”

I took her hand, glad when she didn’t flinch or retreat. Stroking my thumb over her knuckle, I waited for her to continue. “How did you get away?”

“I hid a butter knife under my pillow and waited for the guards to enter my room. I attacked them both, using the knife to kill one. Then, with…” She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe it herself. “Then with some kind of mother’s instinct to survive and see to my baby’s survival, I fought like hell and wounded the second guard so I could take his keys, climb out the window, and drive away. They chased me, but when I crashed, I got out and ran into the woods for hours to lose them. And I did.”

“Damn.” I picked up her hand to kiss the back of it. “I hate that you had to do that alone.”

“I wasn’t. I had him or her motivating me.” She smiled at her stomach. “And then I found a cabin with a small family in it. Jenny and Kyle Peterson.” When she described the young mother who was also a vet, I smiled along with her.

“As soon as I can, I’m paying them back.”

Me too.I wouldn’t hesitate to show gratitude for the people who’d selflessly saved my woman and child.

“If you took his truck, how come you didn’t drive straight to the Baranov home?” I asked.

“The truck died. So I hitchhiked.” She worried me with her telling of the woman who tried to rob her. “And I walked. And walked. I had no phone. Nothing. I couldn’t call for a ride. When I got into the city, the driver refused to take me there, too afraid because it was a Mafia residence. No driver wanted to drive there, and I suppose that makes sense. The Baranov name holds power still. It invokes fear.”

I nodded. “It does. Even with Oleg out at the moment, Lev and the others are making sure nothing happens.”

“I knew I needed more information before going home. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t entering a dangerous situation, thinking that without any leader, another family could be taking over. I just didn’t know. I didn’t know anything about what was happening, so I got a room to sleep in and catch my breath before trying to get home. That was how I ended up at Mancy’s. I recalled that it was Eva’s favorite restaurant, and I just so lucked out seeing her there.” She furrowed her brow. “But then when I saw that Petrov woman, I was confused and worried.”

“Irina Petrov,” I explained. “Soon to be Mrs. Vik Baranov.”

Her jaw dropped. “What?”

“Irina isn’t the enemy, even though her surname was—is—Petrov. She and Vik got together when he was undercover at the college, posing as a professor to investigate what the Petrovs and Ilyins were doing in regard to the drug trade there.”

“Vik is going to marry her?”

I nodded. “Yes, and it turns out that Irina has a younger brother who isyourbrother, too.”

Her jaw dropped. “What? What do you mean?” She furrowed her brow. “Mymother? No. That’s impossible.”

“Boris,” I explained. “Boris had an affair with Igor’s wife, and Igor pretended the boy, Maxim, was his. He planned to use Maxim as leverage with Oleg one day, having a Baranov offspring under his custody.” I held up my hand. “It sounds like a complicated story, and I know Irina, Vik, or even Oleg will be able to explain it to you better.”

She blinked. “Wow.”

“So Irina is not the enemy.”

“Okay, but I didn’t know that. I saw her and knew she was a Petrov, and I worried that Eva wasn’t safe, maybe not even safe to approach. When I saw them at Mancy’s, I was afraid I’d be captured, so I ran. I ran intoyou, precisely, at the strip club next door, and…” She shrugged. “We both know what happened there.”

“Yeah. You couldn’t resist me.”

She smirked. “Nor could you resist me.”

I smiled. “Guilty as charged. But why did you run again?”

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