Page 48 of Surrogate for the Bratva
Nothing else mattered.
No one else mattered.
Not even her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
April
Igor was avoiding me. Again. Four days had passed since he held me in his arms as ifhecouldn’t letmego. Four days since armed men had chased us from the doctor’s office and shot at us. Four days since a fucking high speed chase and nothing. He didn’t drop in to say hi or simply to check on me. He didn’t send a text message, and he didn’t call.
It was as if he’d simply vanished or maybe like he never existed at all.
But that wasn’t the case. I heard him come home very late some nights. I heard him when he stopped at my door for long minutes before he closed himself up in his own room. The meals were still delivered, and Maxim was never farther than a few feet away from me, which told me that Igor hadn’t simply vanished into thin air.
He’d just vanished from my life.
At the end of day one I was hurt. I cried because I was hormonal and also because I was hurt that once again Igor was pulling away from me. That he’d fucked me senseless, fucked me so damn good that my heart was now engaged in thisthingbetween us, and then he ghosted me. Again.
By the end of day two fury had settled deep into my gut and my heart.Fuck him, I told myself as anger rushed through my veins. Anger at Igor, sure but mostly it was self-directed anger because I knew what this was going in and still, I was the one silly enough to let my heart get involved.
Sex. Things between us were just sex. There was no elements of romance or love or affection, just hot, intense, raw sexual chemistry. Those glimpses of his sweet side were irrelevant. Just because he could be a good guy on occasion didn’t mean I mattered to him beyond my body, and I knew that’s all it was. He valued my body because it carried his baby and because he could lose himself in my body for a few hours to distract himself from the cold hard reality that was his life.
I spent all of day two and day three steeped in so much anger that I only ate enough food to satisfy my hunger. I didn’t even spare a glance for the slice of chocolate mousse cake Marta had sent up along with my prepared meals to nourish the baby properly. I ate enough to stop my stomach from growling and what I knew was just enough to keep Maxim from tattling to Igor that I wasn’t eating.
If he didn’t want to see me, I wouldn’t give him a reason to stop by. I took a walk in the garden to make sure the household staff saw me, and no one reported that I’d been holed up in my room for too many days in a row. I played the part that was expected of me because I was nothing if not a consummate professional. Ours was a business relationship first and foremost and as long as I did nothing to potentially harm the baby, I could guarantee Igor never came around.
Halfway through day four, I was simply over it. I no longer had the energy to give a damn about any of it. I ate because I was being paid to nourish the fetus growing inside of me and I walked around the suite of rooms to keep my heart healthy which would also benefit the development of the baby. I did everything that I could to do my job and not one thing more.
As day five rolled into day six, my appetite returned and I cleaned my plate—even dessert when it was served—and wokeup from the fog I’d been in for almost a week. Oh, I was still well and truly over the Igor saga, but I felt more like me even though my boobs were sore and everything I ate gave me heartburn.
The books I’ve read to keep my pregnancy anxiety at a manageable level said that my symptoms were all normal for week twenty, including the insatiable cravings that made me feel like a fiend. When I couldn’t stand the wanting and not having any longer, I went in search of Maxim.
“April. What’s wrong?” Ivan’s voice sounded behind me, and I turned with a slow smile.
“Nothing is wrong,” I answered carefully, fully aware that these people all worked for Igor. They weren’t my friends and therefore I couldn’t confide in them. “I’m just waiting for Maxim to finish his phone call.” Kelsie’s words rattled around in my brain for some reason, but I shook them off. Like I told her, Ivan was the nice one.
His brows dipped into a frown. “Are you sure? You seem unsettled.”
I smiled again. “Having a human being growing inside of me is unsettling as a general rule.”
“Right. How are you feeling?”
I shrugged it off because I knew he didn’t really want an answer. “As good as I can be, considering,” I said and rubbed my newly sprouted baby bump. It was as if the thing had popped in my sleep. One day I barely looked pregnant and the next day my belly entered the room before the rest of me.
“April,” Maxim’s deep voice echoed in the narrow hallway. “What is it?”
“Sour dill pickles and crunchy peanut butter. I need them. Now please.”
His brows dipped. “Those foods are not on the approved list.”
I knew that would be his answer. “Yeah well, I don’t give a damn. I’ve been craving them for days now and now I’m done craving and I’m ready to satisfy the damn craving.”
“April,” he sighed.
“Maxim,” I signed in return. “If you’re refusing to get it for me then I will have to go out and get it myself. Or have it delivered here. Your choice.”
Ivan snickered behind me, which earned him a death glare from Maxim.
