Page 2 of Secret Baby and the Bratva

Finding out I was pregnant threw a major hitch in my plan. I can’t explain why I decided to keep the baby, other than he’s a part of me. I decided to keep the pregnancy a secret and doubled down on transcription work and school so I’d be able to make a decent life for us.

I wasn’t ready to tangle myself in the Lazovski Bratva until I could fully support myself and my little one.

But, my friends have been assuring me the Lazovski Bratva is changing its ways and moving to less violent solutions. Nine months of isolation was hard enough. I won’t be able to do it forever.

I just want a little time to secure a good job, get used to being a mom, and sort out how I’ll tell my Bratva baby daddy I don’t want my son involved in criminal activity.

My cell phone rings but by the time I juggle Maverik, I miss the call. It was Harper.

With mixed emotions, I call her back. She’ll be excited, but I’ve sworn her to secrecy. I can’t risk any chance a Lazovski finds out about Maverik, not yet.

She answers right away. “Hi, Margot.”

“Hey. I couldn’t grab my phone in time. I’m a little busy.”

“I’m about to be busy too. What are you up to?”

“I’m at the hospital. Sorry I didn’t call you sooner, but my labor was really fast. I had the baby.”

“Oh my God, Margot. That’s wonderful news. A boy or a girl?”

“A boy.” I don’t have to explain the significance of this to her.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“You don’t have to come right away.” Other than really wishing my best friends were by my side, I’m not sure I want Harper or Sadie here. It would put the Lazovskis far too close for comfort.

“I’m not coming to visit. I’m in labor.”

The walls close in on me. The Lazovskis are coming to the hospital. There’s nowhere to hide.

I feign excitement, sort a few things out with Harper, then cut the call short.

I stand on wobbly legs, clutching my precious bundle, and close the door to my room.

Two

Feliks

Withmybrothersoneither side of me, I holster my gun while walking back to the car. We’ve eliminated one more heathen from this world. I’m not sure if I consider the villains of society to be more like a hydra, where we cut off one head and two more pop up, or are they like Doritos, wecrushall we want, they’ll make more?

Either way, I’m proud to be part of the Lazovski Bratva that eliminates as many of them as possible.

The dings of phones sounds in stereo, and I realize my phone, Maxim’s, and Yulian’s have gone off at the same time. We each check the message from our cousin as we continue to the car.

Grigory:It’s a boy.

Maxim grumbles on my left. “Well, fuck! Our cousins produced the first male heir. Grandfather’s idiotic challenge worked.”

I would have putidioticbefore grandfather but I’d never call my grandfather an idiot out loud. I have tons of respect for him. It’s his opinion about women not being capable of running our family that I take issue with. The belief that led to this challenge. His three children are girls, who gave birth to me and my eight male cousins. Grandfather challenged us to produce a male heir so he knows who he can pass the family leadership to.

The evolving agreement we have with our cousins gives me hope. “They won the challenge, but they swore our generation will work as a team.”

“They made the agreement before they knew they won.”

“They’ll honor their word.” The harder change will be finding less violent ways to keep our community safe. Yulian, Maxim, and I are the Ubiytsa—the assassins, which means we have the hardest transition since our role theoretically becomes extinct.

Going in for the kill, as we just did, is quick and effective, it’s how we’ve always operated. And it satisfied the request from Grandfather, the Bratva’s Pakhan, to demonstrate a show of strength.

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