Page 95 of Deceitful Vows

“You didn’t bring the Rover?” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just glad you’re here.”

Climbing into the Lamborghini feels like squeezing into my old jeans, but I manage to do it nonetheless.

Then realization hits me.

“Where are the Rovers, Andrei?’

He doesn’t answer as we pull out on the road.

“Andrei?” I ask again. “Where are the Rovers?”

“It’s done, Paige.” He holds the wheel tight. “Talia, the war, the Bratva. All of it is done. I’ve left it all in the past where it belongs. Because the truth is, none of those things are worth a damn if I don’t have you by my side.”

Stunned, I sit there staring at his profile. He embodies grace under pressure as he focuses on the road. But I know him. His adrenaline is ramping up, and he excels in moments of crisis. He’s focused until another contraction jabs into me and I scream.

“Are you all right?” Andrei shouts in a panic as his gaze shifts between me and the road.

“I’m having a baby,” I reply through gritted teeth and then I laugh hysterically. “It’s the contractions.”

Tears cover my face but not from pain. I realize how long we’ve been apart. How much I’ve missed Andrei. Absence slams me in the heart like a sledgehammer, chipping away all resistance.

Pain explodes through me again, but I grit my teeth to ride it out. I want to talk and hear what happened, but I sigh with relief when I see the hospital come into view.

I do my best not to curse everyone out in Admissions, but it’s a futile gesture. In a moment of pain-induced delirium, the vision of a Bratva man giving birth enters my mind and I manage to muster a smile like a madwoman.

Andrei is stoic as ever as I lash out at everybody. He remains by my side, speaking with the authority that comes so naturally to him. The workers hear me, but they listen to him.

God, I’ve missed him. I missed him so fuckin much.

And when they try to stop him from coming in with me, he is calm yet demanding. The tone of his voice remains steady and only I can hear the urgency underneath.

“I am her husband,” he tells my bewildered doctor, who has never met him. “And you will not keep me in the waiting room. I’m staying here with my wife.”

I settle down on the hospital bed and do my best to manage the pain. All of my anxiety is gone, and the only thing I can focus on is Andrei’s fingers interlaced with mine. A million questions continue to race through my mind, but all of them are pushed away for a single thought:

He’s here, Paige, and he won’t ever leave.

***

Emma races in from school an hour later. Her hair is windswept, and she’s out of breath. She looks at Andrei, then at me, and immediately starts texting. Twenty minutes later, Sonya arrives with Natasha. I have to laugh as they enter the room. The two of them look like fairy godmothers, Maleficent and Glinda, standing side by side.

“What, still no baby?” Natasha scowls at me and then at the nurse for wasting time.

Sonya glares at Natasha. “Tell us, what would your mother do if we were in the old country?”

“Fresh, sweet butter,” replies Natasha stoically. “And you rub it all over the tummy. The baby smells it, and pop! Comes right out.”

The nurse, frustrated at the crowd, speaks up. “There are too many people in this room. Father only!”

Andrei’s hand is still on mine until I squeeze it too hard. He stares at me, surprise and shock clouding his vision momentarily.

But then he smiles. “A girl?” he asks.

I nod. “I’ve picked out a name; I hope you don’t mind.”

“For you?” The smile never left. “Never. What will her name be?”

“Veronika.” I stare into his eyes. “With a K.”

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