Page 55 of Pregnant Prisoner By the Bratva
“Of course, I did. I’ll always come. I’ll always find you,” I replied, already at her side, unstrapping her limbs, ripping cords from her arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is the baby…?”
Once free, she wasted no time throwing her hands around me, her face pressing against the side of my neck. “We’re fine. Thank you. Thank you so much,” she whispered amidst sobs. Her body trembled like a live wire, heart racing against mine.
“Shhh.” I held her tighter than I ever had, my hand cradling the back of her head. I placed my other hand protectively on her belly as if to be sure the baby was okay. “I swear to God, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. Both of you.”
“I was so scared, Yulian,” she sobbed, holding me tighter. “I thought I was going to lose our baby.”
Our baby?That sounded nice. It had a ring to it.
I pressed a kiss on her forehead. “No one will ever get close enough to try this again. Not onmywatch. I promise,” I assured her, voice low and fierce.
She lifted her head and met my gaze, her expression so soft it melted my heart. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if anything had happened to her or the baby. It would have rained hell and brimstone here in Chicago.
I wiped her tears with my thumbs, my lips curling into a smile of relief. I carried her in my arms, bridal style, her hands around my neck, head resting against my chest. As my menstormed through the hallway behind us, clearing what was left of the enemy, I carried Ester out of the chaos—the blood-soaked clinic.
She’d see enough death and violence for one day. She deserved hours of rest and a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 21 – Ester
I held on to him tightly, my heartbeat steadying by the minute as he carried me in his strong arms like I was something fragile. I listened to the beat of his own heart—a heart I’d once thought was made of stone and not flesh. A heart I’d thought was incapable of love.
How wrong I’d been.
Yulian was not the heartless monster I presumed he was; he was nothing like my father. Not even in the slightest. There was a huge difference between those two men. One only cared about what he’d gain by selling me off for his own personal interest. The other genuinely cared for me and the life in my womb.
When Yulian realized I was taken, it only took him a few hours to find me—something my own father never did when I was kidnapped by the Russians. He let me rot with the enemy because rescuing me was inconvenient for him at the time.
How lovely!
But with Yulian, it was different. He came raiding the clinic with his men, causing chaos and raising hell just to save me. That was more than anyone had ever done for me. He didn’t care about the casualties, about who’d get hurt in the process. All this man cared about was getting to me before the procedure started.
And he did. He got there in the nick of time to save the damsel in distress. When he found me in that surgical room, the panic in his eyes melted my heart. Concern and fear etched his gaze, as if he was hoping he wasn’t too late.
If that wasn’t an indication of love, then I didn’t know what was.
Right now, in his arms, I felt safe—untouchable and at peace. His men were cleaning up the mess behind us, gunfire echoing through the clinic walls, muzzle flashes lighting up the windows. Yulian’s boots scuffed against the pavement as he headed toward the getaway car across from us.
Maxim, his right-hand man, opened the backseat door, and Yulian gently lowered me inside. He shut the door, walked over to the other side, and then slid into the car. I lay down on the seat, my head resting on his lap as the engine started and we drove into the night.
I’d always known my father was evil. But this…this was on a whole new level. He didn’t just pay some doctors to get rid of my baby; he also subjected me to marrying his bodyguard. That asshole Franco. Dad was the weapon fashioned against me; he was put on this earth just to make my life a living hell.
First, he killed my mother, now this?
No.
There was no way in hell that I’d ever forgive this easily. Yulian was never my enemy. My own father was. And tonight, I’d made up my mind that he would never hurt me ever again. With or without Yulian’s protection. I’d had enough of his tyranny. No more.
His hand smoothed my hair, the other one sitting protectively on my belly like he was keeping the baby safe. His chest rose and fell in a way that indicated the monster inside him was only half-caged. He was quiet, and I didn’t bother asking what was running through his mind.
I had a couple of questions of my own: Now what? What was the plan? What was my next move? What did this mean for us, Yulian and me?
I just shut my eyes and drew a deep, long breath, feeling the wind from the broken window caress my face. One step ata time. I may not have all the answers at the moment, but one thing was certain: Yulian and I would figure it out.
The lesson I learned tonight was that there was nothing this man wouldn’t do for me and his unborn child. No lengths he wouldn’t go to. That, on its own, was comforting, a testament to the fact that I wasn’t alone anymore. We were in this together.
Yulian was with me; he was by my side. What could possibly go wrong?
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, fate answered.
