Page 60 of Knocked-up Bratva Bride
“You can be a comedian in your next life, but for now, you’re the mother of my unborn son.”
“Or daughter.” She glared. “And that is why I came to see you. I want to know why you brought me here. What do you want me to do? Get familiar with the surroundings? Because if that’s the plan, then I hate to break it to you, but Katya gave me a tour of this house the first time I ever came here. So I won’t suddenly hit my foot in the kitchen or trip and fall on the stairs.”
After she mentioned my daughter’s name, her face fell like she suddenly remembered the reality of things. And very softly, she reiterated, “Why am I here?”
Fedor stared at me from the door with keen interest, and they both waited to hear what I had to say. Although I knew Fedor already had a fair idea.
I blew out a thicker cloud of gray smoke, and when I remembered I shouldn’t be smoking in front of a pregnant woman, I put it out in the ashtray and leaned forward.
“You aren’t only going to be the mother of my son, Elena. You’ll be my wife, too.”
She laughed. “What? You’re joking, right?” When I didn’t respond, she peered intently into my eyes, and she stood up so fast that her chair nearly toppled over.
For a split second, I thought she might actually throw it at me. Her eyes, usually soft like rain-soaked green moss, blazed with wildfire, and her lips trembled as she protested with a voice laced with fury.
“First, you show up at my workplace unannounced, claiming to want to invest, and now, you want to kidnap me?”
A scoff came from the door where Fedor stood, but I quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Are you sure you understand how kidnapping works?”
“I don’t care. Iwon’tdo it. I’m not sure how your life works; maybe you order people around, and they obey like mindless zombies, but I won’t do it! I won’t be one of your goddamn pawns.”
Her voice cracked at the end, the raw edge of desperation slicing through the room, and I could feel the storm inside her that let loose once in a while. The fight. The fear. The way she was teetering on the edge of her own convictions.
And I relished it.
My eyes narrowed as the smallest, amused smirk tugged at my lips. “But you will,” I said, my voice low, calm, sliding out like silk over steel. “And here’s why: I have an idea, or you could take it as me pitching a proposal, with a presentation.”
She stared at me like I’d slapped her. That defiance still flared in her chest, but now, it warred with the truth she didn’t want to admit. That she was already halfway to surrender.
I rested my elbows on the desk between us. “Now,” I said, businesslike, flicking ash into the tray, “your mother needs a liver transplant. I can arrange that. Find you a donor.”
I watched as her emotions shifted like a wave crashing against the shore. Hope. Fear. Desperation. All swirling in the span of seconds.
“I can get the best donor for her surgery,” I continued, savoring the way her eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope. But I knew, deep down, that it wasn’t just her mother she should worry about now.
“In return, I will ensure your family—your brother and grandmother—are well taken care of with full financial support. They can have whatever they need,wheneverthey need it; and your future, your life...it’s mine to control.”
She faltered, tears pooling in her eyes as her shoulders sagged. She didn’t sit back down. Not yet. But she didn’t walk away either. And that told me everything.
“So, now, it’s just business to you. This is a lifelong commitment you’re talking about.”
“A lifelong commitment with benefits you know very few people in this country, or on Earth, will ever have before they die. Take it like that promotion at work; this is an offer for you to level up. The only difference is, here, you don’t get to say no.”
“Oh, how convenient that you remembered I work, too. So, with this proposal, what am I supposed to do about that? How do I explain to Robert that I’m about to get married to my best friend’s father?”
“You don’t.”
She stuttered. “I don’twhat?”
“You don’t tell Robert anything because you no longer work there. He doesn’t mind, certainly not after the million-dollar investment I made in his business.”
“What? You…you bought me?”
“No, of course not. After I confirmed your pregnancy, I passed a message through to tell him I have bigger plans for you inmycompany. He will miss you, but he’s a businessman.”
I clamped down on my teeth, clenching hard when tears rolled down her cheeks.
