Page 78 of Triplet Babies
The room around me is different from the cramped office where Alex trapped me before. This space feels larger, with concrete walls stained by years of moisture and neglect. A single window sits high near the ceiling, its glass so grimy that barely any light makes it through. Industrial fluorescent lights buzz overhead like cicadas, casting everything in harsh white that makes my head throb worse.
Alex sits in a metal folding chair a few feet away, watching me with that same unsettling calm he used to display after one of his rages. The storm has passed and now comes the aftermath. He’s changed clothes since the warehouse and is now wearing darkjeans and a black sweater that makes him look like he’s dressed for a funeral.
“You’re awake.” He leans forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees while studying my face like he’s memorizing every detail. “Good. We have a lot to discuss.”
I struggle to sit up straighter against the wall where I’ve been propped, testing the bonds around my wrists. The rope is rough against my skin, already chafing from my unconscious struggles, but there’s some give if I work at it carefully. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere private, where we won’t be interrupted while we sort this out.” He gestures around the space like he’s showing off a luxury hotel suite instead of what looks like another abandoned warehouse. “I’ve been planning this reunion for a year, Sarah. Ever since you disappeared like a coward in the night.”
The familiar accusation makes anger flare , momentarily overriding the fear. “I left because you were suffocating me, emotionally and literally. I left when you locked me in that trunk until I nearly passed out.”
Alex’s expression darkens, and for a moment, I see the flash of rage I remember so well. He clenches his hands before he forces them to relax. Then the storm passes, replaced by that cold calm that’s somehow worse than his explosive temper.
“That was a misunderstanding. You were hysterical, and I was trying to help you calm down.” He stands and begins pacing in front of me. The way he moves is almost vulturine. “You left because you were confused. Other people filled your head with lies about us and what we had together.”
I shake my head. “No one except you ever tried to confuse me. What we had wasn’t love. It was control.”
“It was protection.” He stops pacing and crouches down to my level, close enough that I smell that cologne that still makes my stomach turn. The scent brings back memories of being trapped in small spaces, of his hands around my throat, and grim promises he’d find me no matter where I ran. “I know you’ve been hiding with that Russian gangster, letting him use you while he plans to marry someone else. Is that really what you call freedom?”
The mention of Yarik makes my chest constrict with longing and regret. By now, he must know I’m missing. Nina would have called him when I didn’t return home. The thought of him searching for me brings both hope and terror—hope that he might find me, terror that Alex might hurt him too.
“Yarik isn’t using me.” The words come out fiercely despite my bound state.
Alex’s laugh is bitter and sharp. “Isn’t he? Where’s his protection now, Sarah? Where is he while you’re tied up in a warehouse, completely at my mercy?”
I turn my face away from him, refusing to let him see how his words affect me. He’s right about one thing. I am currently at his mercy, and Yarik has no idea where to find me. He reaches out to touch my face, and I jerk away from his fingers. “Don’t touch me.”
“I’m going to do a lot more than touch you.” His voice drops to that intimate tone he used to use in bed, and I shudder with revulsion. “But first, we need to discuss your condition.”
The words make me shudder. I force my expression to remain neutral, though my heart starts to race. He knows. I suddenly remember his earlier words before he drugged me, blaming that on the brief memory lapse, and I want to whimper, but I just glare at him.
His smile is sharp and knowing, the expression of a cat who’s cornered a mouse. “The pregnancy, Sarah. Did you really think you could hide that from me? I’ve been watching you for weeks, noticing the doctor’s appointments, the morning sickness, and the way you started wearing looser clothes.” He pauses before delivering another blow. “Triplets. Two girls and a boy, according to the ultrasound results I intercepted. Quite a surprise, even for me.”
The betrayal cuts deeply. He somehow got hold of my medical records, violating even that private space where I allowed myself to hope for the future. “How?”
Alex stands and pulls a manila folder from a nearby table, waving it like evidence in a trial. “Amazing what people will sell for the right price. Your doctor’s office has surprisingly lax security protocols.”
The sight of my stolen medical files makes nausea rise in my throat. “You had no right?—”
“I had every right. You’re mine, Sarah, which makes those babies mine too.” He tosses the folder back onto the table with casual disregard. “It doesn’t matter how. What matters is what we do about it.”
I stiffen. “There’s nothing to do about it.”
He resumes his pacing, his energy building as he warms to his subject. “I’ve given this considerable thought, and I’ve decided we can work with the situation.”
“Work with it?”
He turns to face me, his expression taking on the reasonable tone he used to use when explaining why his controlling behavior was actually for my own good. “We’ll leave the country together. Start fresh somewhere new, somewhere that Russian can’t follow. I’ve already made arrangements for new identities and a house in a country without extradition treaties. We can be anyone we want to be.”
I shake my head emphatically. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Oh, but you are.” He crouches down again, this time close enough that I can see the madness lurking behind his calm facade. “See, I know you, Sarah. You’ll do anything to protect those babies, even sacrifice yourself.”
“You’re insane if you think I’d ever choose you.”
“You won’t be choosing me. You’ll be choosing them.” His hand moves toward my stomach, and I try to twist away, but there’s nowhere to go. “Of course, the current situation is inconvenient. Three babies from another man, especially that man, complicates things.”
The cold way he discusses my children makes nausea rise in my throat. “Don’t you dare?—”
