Page 57 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

"You're kidding, right? Don't tell me she has completely sunk her claws into you, too."

"She hasn't done anything...not since we locked her brother up," I returned, trying to reason with her. "Rurik was the reason she lied to us in Mexico."

"Bullshit," Olivia spat, not letting anything shake her conviction. "That's probably another string in her web of lies...I'm sure she knew exactly what she was doing and still does. And you're foolish enough to believe her!"

My jaw clenched at her claims, stepping closer to put myself in between her and Daria. "Watch how you speak about my wife..."

Her irritation flared even brighter, raising her voice at me. "Don't act like she's some innocent victim...she has already gotten exactly what she wanted...baby trapping you and everything!"

As her words sank in, my brows furrowed in my confusion, and I glanced down at Daria to find her tangle of mixed emotions. Above all else, she looked ashamed for everything.

It tugged on my heartstrings, and at the sight of what I took as her silent admission to the revelation being true, my chest ached at the good news.

"A baby..." I murmured just above a whisper.

Olivia growled under her breath and gave me a scalding look. "That's right...you knocked her up. And now she's going to pull this family apart."

My surprise and disbelief lingered all the while that fact settled in my skin, making me wish I had found out under better circumstances.

With Olivia's anger reaching its peak, she gritted her teeth and pushed past us, storming off towards the foyer.

Caught between me and his wife, Dima sighed, then gave me an apologetic look before following Olivia. Before long, he disappeared, too, then the front door closed behind them both.

The silence in the room was almost deafening without Olivia's shouting, allowing me to hear the quickened beat of my pulse in my ears.

Trying so hard to process everything that just happened in a matter of minutes, I turned to face Daria with a softer expression than I intended.

"It's true then?" I asked quietly, reaching out to cup her cheek, in silent awe about the idea.

To my surprise, Daria pulled away from me with her eyes averted, voice revealing exactly how hurt she had been by it all. "You should've known this would've happened..."

"What, with Olivia and Dima finding out?"

She forced out a breath before finally looking at me. "Yes...but you didn't tell them or anyone else in your family. You forced me into this mess when you should've just left me in Mexico."

My chest ached at her words, watching how her heightened emotions formed tears in her waterline. "I know I should've told them...I know I didn't handle it right, but we need to talk about this. The baby..."

Sniffling, she shook her head and stood, looking away from me again. "Not right now...I need time."

Watching while she walked away, visibly wrecked by the confrontation with Olivia, I felt more helpless than I ever had before.

I wanted to push my luck and chase after her, but I didn't want to overstep...I didn't want my usual abrasiveness to push her even further away from me. If she needed space, then I had to respect it, even if it physically pained me.

Left alone in the living room, I felt like I was floundering, wondering how such incredible news could be overshadowed so easily.

Chapter 24 - Daria

I didn't need Olivia to shout at me for that crushing guilt to sink in, but it certainly sped up the process and made it all feel so much worse.

She had every right to be angry with me, but the whole confrontation and how it went down caught me so off guard, that I couldn't even begin to know what to say to remotely defend myself, or even to apologize like I should have.

Truthfully, I felt awful about lying to everyone, especially since it tarnished my connections with them, which were so wholesome before.

I liked Olivia, and no part of me wanted to deceive her despite my hand in everything that happened in Mexico. She needed a friend then, and while I took advantage of that fact, I needed one, too.

Even if I manipulated things, I really did enjoy her company while it lasted.

Seeing her pure anger and disdain for me despite that fact only made my heart ache more, and I wished I could show her the extent of the truth, but she evidently wasn't prepared to listen.

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