Page 18 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

I stare at him, waiting for what I know is coming next—the cruel backhanded remark, the vicious reminder that I mean nothing to him.

But it doesn’t come.

He just breathes and stares at me with those impossible words floating in the air.

“Why are you making this so hard?” I whisper, my voice cracking with the strain of a thousand heavy emotions. “This would be so much easier if you were the monster they think you are.”

“Oh, don’t you worry—I’m still a monster.”

I smile at that one, and I feel a twinge in my stomach. My hand moves instinctively between our bodies.

And then I freeze.

Aleks registers my alarm. “What is it?” he asks urgently. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head, but make the mistake of looking into his eyes. We’re close, and his proximity is making it harder for me to stick to my loyalties.

I have a family who think he’s the enemy. But the child inside of me—the child he still doesn’t know about—is his as much as mine.

“Olivia,” he says, concern warping his features, “what the hell is wrong?”

He steps away, allowing me some breathing room. But he shadows me as I pace across the room.

I could tell him. I could let him know what we’ve made. What it might mean for us. I could take that one beautiful little sentence—When I said my vows, I meant them—and let it light the way into a future I never saw coming but that I can’t bring myself to look away from now.

Or I could hide it. I could go back to the family I love and the life that I know. I could find a way to raise this baby and recede once again into the quiet shell of a person I was before one little flight got delayed and a handsome man in an airport café asked if the seat next to me was taken.

The choices here are clear. And the moment to decide is now. There’s no more delaying what’s coming.

So with one last long, shuddering breath, I turn to him and say what I’ve chosen to say.

“I’m pregnant.”

Aleks blinks. “What did you say?”

“I’m… pregnant.”

His eyes dip to my stomach and then back to my face, looking for answers that aren’t there. “How do you know?”

“I suspected for a few days when I was still with you,” I admit. “And then the day I left, I took a test. It was positive.”

“You haven’t seen a doctor?”

I frown. “I feel fine. I’ll see a doctor when I’m ready to.”

He’s given no indication that he’s happy or sad. He’s just… in control. Making decisions. As per usual.

Finally, he lets loose a sigh. “How the hell did this happen?”

“I think it happened on the plane,” I say as my cheeks heat up. “You remember that day, don’t you, Aleks? Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you do that kind of thing with so many women that you don’t remember the—”

“Stop it,” he snaps, so firmly that I fall silent.

He moves forward and reaches out. Places his hand over my belly. Five points of heat, like a constellation of stars pressed against me.

“You’re pregnant,” he murmurs.

“Almost three months in, give or take.” I stare at his face, trying to figure out what he’s thinking. “Are you… happy?”

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