Page 64 of The Bratva's Sextuplets
“Mrs. Belsky—” Dr. Kozlova starts, but Tigran raises a hand to stop her.
“Give us a few minutes.” His voice is calm, but I see the tension in his shoulders and the careful control he’s exercising to keep from falling apart himself.
We step outside the clinic into an alley where Tigran’s men have established a secure perimeter. The cool January air helps clear my head slightly, but it doesn’t touch the panic that’s building in my chest like a living thing trying to claw its way out.
“I can’t do this, Tigran.” I lean against the brick wall, trying to steady myself. “Six babies who will be born early and fragile and completely dependent on us to keep them alive in a world that wants to destroy everything you’ve built. We can’t do this to them.”
“I know.” He moves closer, and I can see genuine fear in his expression: “I know it seems impossible.”
“Seems impossible?” I can’t keep the bitter laugh from escaping. “It is impossible. How do we protect six children when we can barely protect ourselves? How do we give them anything resembling normal lives when normal doesn’t exist in your world?”
Tigran is quiet for a long moment. “We make it possible. We find a way to give them everything they need, even if it means changing everything about how theBratvaoperates.”
I shake my head. “You can’t restructure an entire criminal organization because we’re having babies.” The obvious solution is an abortion, but as I open my mouth to suggest it, though it makes my chest tight, he speaks first.
“I can change anything I want.” The certainty in his voice stops my protests and ends the idea of terminating immediately. I never wanted to anyway, but it was the logical, emotionless answer. “I inherited an empire, which means I have the power to reshape it into something worthy of our children that will be safe enough for them.”
I still don’t think it’s possible. “What if other families don’t accept those changes? What if they see your evolution as weakness and try to exploit it?”
“I’ll destroy them before they can threaten what matters most to me.” Tigran steps closer with deadly seriousness in his expression. “I’ll eliminate every threat, neutralize every enemy, and build walls around our family that no one can breach.”
“I’m afraid of that too.” I press my hands against my stomach, where six children are growing despite the chaos surrounding us. “I’m afraid you’ll become so focused on protecting them that you’ll turn into your father. You’ll choose violence and control over everything else, until you’re no longer the man I fell in love with.”
The accusation makes him stiffen, and he pales as he considers what I’m saying. “You think having children will make me become Nicky.”
“I think having six children who are constantly under threat will test every promise you’ve made about being different.” I look directly at him. “I think when someone threatens our babies, you’ll forget about choosing love over power and do whatever it takes to eliminate the threat.”
“You’re probably right.” His honesty surprises me. “When someone threatens our children, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect them. I’ll kill anyone who poses a danger to them without hesitation or remorse.”
“That’s how it starts.” My voice is barely above a whisper. “That’s how good men become monsters, with just one justified act of violence at a time.”
Tigran is quiet for several minutes. I feel like I’m attacking him, since I would kill anyone who hurt our babies too, but he can do far more than I can, rending his soul into nothing with a thousand smaller acts that add up, until he’s cold and brutal like his father. I wouldn’t hesitate to protect my children from a physical threat, but I don’t have it in me to plan ten steps ahead and kill someone who might pose a risk.
“What if we left?” The question comes out of nowhere, and he seems almost surprised as he suggests it.
I frown. “Left what?”
“Everything. What if we took the children and disappeared? We could start over somewhere far away from theBratva, the Federoffs, and all of this violence.” Tigran’s voice carries a desperation I’ve never heard from him. “What if we chose our family over everything else?”
The idea is tempting in a way that scares me. “You’d walk away from everything? From your inheritance, your responsibilities, and your entire life?”
“For you and our children? Without hesitation.” He cups my face in his hands. “Nothing else matters compared to keeping you safe and giving our babies the chance to grow up without fear.”
“Your men would never let you just walk away. The other families would hunt us down to prevent any possibility of you returning to reclaim power so they can fill the vacuum.” I can see the flaws in the plan even as part of me wants to believe it could work. “Running away doesn’t solve the fundamental problem.”
“What fundamental problem?”
“That violence follows people like you whether we want it to or not.” I lean into his touch despite my fears. “Our children will carry the Belsky name no matter where we go, and there will always be someone who sees that as a threat or an opportunity.”
Tigran’s expression hardens with acceptance of a truth he doesn’t want to face. “Then we stay and fight. We build something so strong that no one dares to threaten it.”
“We stay and fight, and I pray the man I love doesn’t disappear in the process of protecting what we’ve created.” I press my forehead against his. “I hope when the choice comes between love and power, you’ll remember this moment and choose us.”
“I will always choose you.” His voice carries absolute conviction. “I will always choose our family over everything else.”
“Even when choosing us means letting enemies live who pose a potential future threat? Even when choosing love means accepting some level of risk that could endanger our children?”
The questions cut to the heart of what we’re really facing. Not just the practical challenges of raising six children in a dangerous world, but the moral compromises we’ll both have to make to keep them safe.
