Page 16 of Surrogate for the Bratva
“It’s an adjustment but no, not horrible. How are you, Roman? Excited about fatherhood?”
I smiled again, something I found myself doing even though we weren’t together like that evening at the lake. When was the last time anyone had asked me how I was doing? And when was the last time anyone gave a damn what the answer was? “I’m good and excited, but ready? Not even close.”
“You will be, I’m sure. Have you been reading those parenting books you haven’t ordered yet?”
“Guilty,” I replied quickly, still smiling.
The car screeched to a stop, and I looked up to see a red SUV blocking the path of my own SUV. “What is going on?”
Mikhail shrugged, one hand moved slowly to his gun. “Looks like we have company,” he sighed and stepped from the car.
As soon as I spotted a familiar and unwanted face, I made my presence known. “Voronov. You need something?” I looked around me to see at least a half dozen of Dmitry’s men had me surrounded and I wondered if this would be my ending. Would I live to see the birth of my child?
“Do I need something?” He flashed a wicked smile, his blue gaze full of hatred and fury. “No, Igor, I don’t need a fucking thing from you. Except your head, on a platter.”
“This is getting old, don’t you think?”
His nostrils flared and the hatred he’d carried for twenty years was aimed squarely at me. “Old? It is too bad you won’t live long enough to experience the pain of losing a child because then you would know.”
“It was one of my father’s men and they are both long gone, what the fuck else do you want?” I knew exactly what he wanted and now that April was pregnant with my child, it was time to turn my focus on Dmitry.
“To end the Romanov bloodline once and for all.”
I smiled. “You don’t have much time left to make it happen,” I taunted. “Better hurry.” I tapped my watch and stepped back inside the vehicle. If he wanted me dead, he would’ve led with bullets, not words. “Let’s go, Mikhail.”
It was no coincidence that Dmitry had stopped me where he had, at the halfway point between my home and Maria’s. Which didn’t make sense since no one but my men knew that Maria was in America or Georgia. It was a closely guarded secret for a reason.
Unease settled in my gut, and I sent a message to Maxim.
“Around the clock protection on Maria. Immediately.”
In the meantime I needed to figure out how Voronov had found me.
Chapter Eleven
April
“Guys we need to talk.” I invited Kelsie and Jacob to dinner so that I could break the news to them together but now that all three of us were gathered in Jacob’s small kitchen, my stomach thudded with ten-pound butterflies. My gaze landed on the buttery mashed potatoes Kelsie brought to go with my roasted trout and vegetables. The white wine sat chilled on the table, and I’d have to explain before she poured me a glass.
Kelsie’s gaze fixed on me first while Jacob’s lingered on her for a few seconds longer. “What’s wrong? Usually those words come right before a breakup.”
That drew Jacob’s attention, and his brows furrowed into a frown. “Is everything all right?”
This was it, my moment to reveal what I’d done. “Everything is fine, I promise. But I’m pregnant.”
“What?” Jacob’s voice came out as a roar.
Kelsie’s response was more measured. “I didn’t know you were seeing or banging anybody.”
“I’m not.” My shoulders fell because I knew that those three words wouldn’t satisfy the most important people in my life.
“You got pregnant by a hookup,” Jacob asked, his tone full of outrage. “You didn’t use anything?”
“Stop.” I couldn’t handle their questions or Jacob’s judgment. Not right now. “I’m pregnant on purpose and I’m not keeping it.”
“What?” Jacob’s question came out angry.
“Seriously,” Kelsie asked with wide eyes.
