Page 21 of Dark Bratva Christmas
“I will let you know when she is pregnant,” I cut him off, disgusted at the audacity. “All other information is private.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I just worry you're not trying hard enough. This whole deal rests on a child to unite our families. If we don't have that, then I don't think peace will be an option.”
“This was about a message,” I sneer, suddenly pissed the fuck off. I uncross my arms and take a step forward, towering over his smaller frame.Who the fuck does he think he is questioning me about my wife’s and my private fucking matters?
He raises his hands in a low surrender. “I just want to make sure you’re beingefficientin the bedroom.”
Before I can say anything to let him know how out of line he is, my phone buzzes in my pocket again. I'm tempted to leave it alone. But in the back of my mind, I hear Mikhail’s voice whispering, “Protect her.”
And there’s just something about it that I can’t ignore.
In spite of everything, I look at my phone and see that it's Helena calling. I sigh and answer. “This better be important.”
There's a moment of pause on the other end and I hear a sharp inhale. “She's gone,” Helena says in a sharp, panicked voice. “I've looked everywhere in the estate, she's nowhere. There's vomit in the toilet in her room, too.”
I pause, every cell in my body on high alert as I process her words.Catarina is missing.
Catarina is missingandthere was vomit in the toilet. It could be her having a bad reaction to breakfast, or it could be morning sickness.
Is Catarina pregnant?
Eto koshmar(This is a nightmare).
I eye Boris, and then hold up an index finger before taking a few steps away from him. “What do you mean? How could this have happened?” I keep my voice low, but the anger is already pulsing through my veins. I glance back at Boris, and inwardly wince.
His interest has already piqued, and his eyes are glued to me while I whisper on the phone.
“Is something wrong with Catarina?” There's panic in his voice as he asserts himself. I ignore him to listen to Helena.
“I left her in her room and when I came back with lunch, there was a makeshift rope tied to the bedpost. It seems like she climbed out the window,” Helena explains. “It’s the most… it’s like the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever seen. I never would’ve expected her to…You know.” Her voice shakes as she speaks. “I’m so sorry—”
I hang up the phone before she has a chance to beg for forgiveness. I might fire her on the spot, if I stay speaking with her any longer. Or maybe call in a hit. I can’t fucking see straight.
“Is my daughter okay?” Boris is now closing in on me, his eyes laced with frustration. “Tell me now.”
“Yourdaughter,mywife,seems to be one hell of an escape artist,” I snap at him, shaking my head and dialing Jed, my head of estate security.
“How the fuck did you let this happen, Jed?” I grit out, keeping my tone under control, if only by the skin of my teeth.
Jed is fired for this. I should kill him.
“I'm trying to isolate her on the surveillance cameras right now,” Jed replies, remaining calm even though this is the worst-case scenario. “I’m working on it. We just found out.”
I press my fingers against my forehead, trying not to lose it to anger or panic. Ihaveto go look for her, but I also have to know what direction to start looking. I'll waste more time searching everywhere without a lead than I will if I have an educated guess of where to begin.
“Ah, looks like she headed south across the yard toward the park,” Jed grunts. “I don’t think she’ll get too far. She’s got no way to get a taxi or—”
“I’ll find her,” I say, turning on my bike and quickly peeling away from Boris before he shares his own thoughts.
Fucking hell, Catarina. You’re going to pay for this.
It's only 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, but the sky is already dark. To make matters worse, it's fucking SantaCon in the city. Drunks dressed up like Santa Claus and elves are wandering around with shot glasses hanging from their necks on red and white beaded necklaces.
They walk in the streets like sidewalks were never invented, ignoring all the cars honking as they try to drive past all the obnoxious, drunken idiots in Santa and elf costumes.
Who the hell has time for this kind of shit?
I ignore all of the drunk pedestrians as I drive. They scream and shout, jumping out of the way to avoid being mowed down by me on my bike. I have no doubt I can handle a hit and run. I’ve handled much worse.
