Page 51 of Knocked-up Bratva Bride
Robert didn’t deserve to be hurt. Since I started working here, he had been nothing but supportive, professional, and fair. Even kind. But I couldn’t return what he felt. I didn’t want to lead him on, didn’t want to poison the professional respect we’d built.
I pressed my hand to my hand, willing it to slow down. I had less than ten minutes to get my act together.
Grabbing my laptop and a stack of files, I started making my way to the conference room for a head start, when a shimmer at the edges of my vision caught my attention again. Then, the floor seemed to tip beneath me, and a cold wave swept over my skin.
The chair scraped behind me as I stumbled toward the door, one hand clutching my laptop, and the other brushing sweat from my temple.
This wave of dizziness had been recurring for some weeks now. Some mornings, nausea greeted me before my feet touched the floor, and I’d gag over the sink, or in the staff bathroom, then step outside because I always needed air.
I caught myself and stood upright before resuming the walk to the conference room. At least, that had been the plan until a certain redhead appeared in front of me.
“Elena?” It was Susan, the only person in Luxe Nest who thought we were in some silent competition. Her brown eyes squinted as they swept up from my shoes to my face. “I almost didn’t recognize you. What happened?”
I frowned. “I’m not in the mood for small talk, Susan. If you have something to say, just come out and say it. Otherwise, we have a meeting to prepare for in a few minutes.”
“No, seriously. These past few weeks, you’ve been coming into work looking…I don’t know, kind of washed out. Are you sick?”
That would have been convenient for her, wouldn’t it?
I laughed it off, but it sounded too loud and forced. “I’m not sick, but thanks for your concern. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a plan to present.”
***
Immediately after the meeting, I hurriedly ran outside. The cool breeze cut through my blouse, but I welcomed it. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, willing the spinning to stop, because it had happened again—the unwelcome wave of dizziness. And though it didn’t disrupt the meeting, Susan’s words clung to me.
If she noticed, it meant that a handful of others had, too.
It’s just stress, I told myself.
I hadn’t been sleeping well, had skipped too many lunches, and said yes to too many deadlines. That had to be it.
By late afternoon, I found myself wandering the pharmacy aisles with a basket on my arm filled with mundane things—granola bars for Jasper, dry shampoo, a new highlighter pen—like I could pretend this was a normal errand.
I almost walked past the real reason for my shopping.
Almost.
But then I turned back and stared at the rows of pink and white boxes. My hand moved before I could talk myself out of it.
In my checkout line, my heart thudded in my ears louder than the beeping scanner. I couldn’t look the cashier in the eye. My fingers curled tightly around the paper bag, like holding on hard enough would ground me in reality.
By the time I got home, it was dusk. The sun had slipped beneath the rooftops, and the shadows fell on me in the bathroom as I sat at the edge of the bathtub, the white stickclutched in my trembling hands. My eyes refused to move from the tiny screen, even though I already knew what it said.
Two freaking lines.
Pregnant.
I tried to tell myself the stick wasn’t accurate, that I needed to consult a professional healthcare expert, but the truth stung when all the symptoms were clear signs that I was pregnant. We didn’t use any protection. He wanted me raw. And I was too swept up in the euphoria of the moment to care about the repercussions of having sex without a condom or birth control pill.
My stomach turned, and I suddenly felt lightheaded.
I blinked hard, hoping that, somehow, the result would change. That maybe, just maybe, my panic had caused some kind of malfunction. But the word remained the same.
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, stifling a sob that burned its way up my throat.
What would I even say to him?
Hey, surprise. Everything’s about to change, whether we’re ready or not? Whether Katya’s awake or not?
