Page 51 of Surrogate for the Bratva
Guilt ate me up over the fact that Ivan got stabbed. Sure, on a logical level I knew that I wasn’t the knife-wielding asshole who’d plunged the blade into his body, but it was my stupid pregnancy cravings that put him in harm’s way. Maxim assured me—more than once—that Ivan would be fine. That no major organs or veins had been hit. None of that, not even the weirdly delicious combination of dill pickles, both spicy and sweet, and peanut butter could ease the guilt.
It just felt as if everything was going wrong when this sacrifice, this odd agreement, this unorthodox arrangement was meant to make everything better. Jacob could live his life without worrying about how he would pay for necessary medical treatments and Igor would have an heir to secure his family line. All of thatwashappening but it just felt as if it all had gone wrong.
Totally fucking wrong.
Probably because I decided to get the money, though unknowingly, from a Russian mobster.
That was the part I hadn’t counted on.
My gaze slid from the beautiful and vibrant landscape of the compound to the half-eaten plate of food sitting on the table just a few feet away.Just a few more bites,I told myself. It was the least I could do since Igor hadn’t stormed into my room—yet—and asked why I was straying from the approved eating list. I told myself it was that he was a busy man, but my heart believedhe would rather have me eat pickles and peanut butter than deal with me and that stung.
A hell of a lot more than I anticipated.
“Whatever,” I groaned before I stood and walked a few steps to pick up the plate, hoping the beautiful view outside my window would be enough of a distraction for me while I finished the plate of food that was the rare combination of delicious and nutritious.
It didn’t matter that Igor was ignoring me because I decided that I was now—just in this moment—ignoringhim. I didn’t need him as a man, not at all. The only thing I needed from him was for him to keep his end of our agreement. The end.
Liar, my conscience taunted me.
Maybe. Maybe today it was a lie but tomorrow was a new day and one of these days it would be true.
With that thought buoying me, I finished every last bite with a satisfied smile and then I rewarded myself with a giant pickle slathered with crunchy peanut butter.
This grand plan to save my brother wasn’t working out the way I thought it would, but it was working and wasn’t that really all that mattered anyway?
Yep. Itwasthe only thing that mattered.
A quick knock sounded on the door and instinctively I rolled my eyes, but I stood up and reluctantly made my way to see which of Igor’s employees had decided to grace me with a visit, because I was certain it wasn’t him. “Mikhail,” I frowned. “What’s up?”
His gaze looked everywhere but at me, which put me on edge until he shoved a paper bag in my direction. “Ivan wanted me to give you this.”
My brows knitted in confusion, but Mikhail jerked his hand away so fast I had no choice but to grab the bag or let it fall to the floor. “Um, thanks. Is he around?”
“What? Oh, no he’s not here.”
“Okay. Well, thanks,” I offered up and closed the door before I looked inside. It was a sweet gesture but one that didn’t make any sense. Only Maxim knew how I felt about Ivan’s stabbing, and he surely wouldn’t have shared that information with anyone other than Igor. But the chocolate candy bars also threw me for a loop. Ivan and I weren’t familiar, and we weren’t friends so it didn’t make sense that he would give me chocolate when he’d been out to get my savory treats.
Stop reading into every damn thing.
It was a good point, still I shoved the chocolate into a desk drawer and went back to gazing out the window like some tragic fucking heroine.
Minutes later Kelsie’s ring pulled me from my racing thoughts and with a smile, I picked up the phone. “How did you know I needed to hear your voice?”
“April,” she began in a tone I hadn’t heard from her since she had to be the one to tell me she’d walked in on my boyfriend getting a blow job from someone who wasn’t me.
“What is it, Kels?” But of course I already knew what or ratherwhoit was. “What’s wrong with Jacob?” He was the only thing that would put that tremor in her voice. “Talk to me Kelsie. Please.”
There was a long silence followed by sniffles.Fuck, she’s crying so it’s bad. Really fucking bad.“J- Jacob was having trouble breathing,” she began. “He did all the things he’s supposed to do but it just kept getting worse. N- nothing was working and then he started coughing,” she stammered out. “Eventually passed out.”
Unconscious? “That’s not good. You have to get him to the—”
She cut me off. “I’m in the ER now. I rode with him in the ambulance, and I couldn’t call.”
Tears streamed silently down my cheeks as I listened to Kelsie tell me that my brother stopped breathing but that the paramedics had managed to get him to open his eyes and soon after he sent a flirty smile her way. It was a relief, but my focus was on the fact that Jacob needed me, and I wasn’t there. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I assured my best friend.
“April, I called because you needed to know but you don’t need to be here.”
“He’s my brother,” I insisted because that was easier than sayinghe’s all I have.
