Page 30 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

Mom’s smile falters and Mia looks at me sharply. “Morning sickness?”

“I dunno, maybe.”

“That must suck.”

In another life, my mom and Mia would have fawned over me. They’d be excited about morning sickness because it meant there would be a baby soon. They would have catered to my every need so incessantly that I would’ve had to beat them off of me like mosquitoes.

But the frosty distance in their eyes says that this isn’t another life. This isthisone, and in this one, my pregnancy is not a source of joy for them.

It’s a nightmare.

“I think I’m just going to lie down for a bit, if you guys don’t mind,” I say, standing up again.

“And miss breakfast?” Mom asks. “Are you sure?”

“Just for a bit.”

Mom points to her bedroom door. “You can sleep here, if you like.”

“Thanks, Mom, but I’m right next door.”

Neither one of them protests too much as I make my way out of the suite. I know them well enough to know that the minute I’m gone they’re going to start talking. So when I’m in the hallway, I lean back and press my ear to the door.

I hear the murmurs of their conversation, but I can’t make out much.

“… so sad…” Mom says.

“… hate seeing her like this. It’s wrong. It’s so damn wrong.”

I pull my head back and stare at the door as though it’s personally offended me. It’s strange to know that I’m the topic of discussion now. And suddenly, I’m not so sure I want to hear it.

I back away and walk down the hall, but when I get to my bedroom, I keep on going. A set of emergency stairs takes me to the greenhouse atrium on the twelfth floor. I step out from the stairwell and into the greenhouse, hoping for nature to take the edge off my anxiety.

But it feels off, somehow. It’s nothing like the gardens at Aleks's mansion.

Walking through the garden there felt like escaping to another world. Like slipping into a magical forest.

The gardens at The Imperial remind me more of an amusement park. It’s all beautiful, but the grandeur makes everything feel artificial.

A stone swan perches on top of a gurgling stone fountain. Fish swim in the too-blue water below, but there are so many people gathered around the edge that I can’t get a good look.

“Not exactly the Trevi Fountain,” I mutter under my breath as a woman elbows past me in her haste to get a prime position.

I glide around the herd of people and through the garden, searching for a quiet corner to avoid the tourists. Before long, I find myself in a back area that looks like it’s under construction. Cones block off the pathway and the shrubs are overgrown, hanging past the edge of the sidewalk.

I step into the shade and tilt my head to look up. From here, I can see through the greenhouse ceiling to the hotel stretching above. The mammoth building nearly blots out the blue sky. It’s a cold pillar of glass and metal with no personality.

Nothing like the home I grew up in.

“Ugly, isn’t it?”

I gasp and spin towards the familiar voice.

Aleks is leaning against a low hanging tree only a few feet away from me.

“What are you doing here?”

He shrugs. “I wanted to check out the garden.”

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