Page 21 of Secret Baby and the Bratva

Yulian shakes his head. “It’s not going to be enough, is it?”

“Probably not,” I say, “But we have to try.”

“So how do we do this? How do we make sure she doesn’t walk out the front door?”

“We’ll stay here. We’ll stand guard overnight. We need to get some sleep. We need to be fresh to talk to her.”

“Why don’t we take turns? If she comes out, we make sure she doesn’t leave.”

Fifteen

Margot

Maveriksleepssoundlyinthe crib as tears well in my eyes. I fight back the sob that begs to release from my throat. He stirs, so I step away across the room and gather my thoughts.

I grabbed my phone and laptop before locking myself in the nursery. I’ve had a backup plan from the early days of worrying I might need a quick escape. It seems so long ago that I even thought of it.

I’d believed we were past the violence.

How many other incidents have happened? How many of the meetings…the urgent text messages have been so they could go kill people? This is exactly the world I didn’t want to raise my child in.

I send a text to Harper:Complete secrecy

Harper:Of course

Me:I need help. Can you meet me outside your house in twenty minutes?

Seconds later, a text comes back.Are you okay?

Me:Yes but don’t even tell your husbands

Harper:I won’t but you’re scaring me

Me:I need a ride

I open my app for the security system and turn off the alarm for Maverik’s window. I stare at the glass panel as if something’s going to happen. It’s not. I have to trust the icon on the screen that it’s turned off.

Grabbing clothes from the clean laundry pile I dumped on the extra bed in the nursery earlier, I quickly do some combination between folding and balling them into the large diaper bag. I mostly fill it with diapers. It’s not much to go on, but it’s enough.

I stare at the door, questioning my sanity. Am I blowing this out of proportion?

I only asked for them to give up the Ubiytsa, not the entire Bratva. They didn’t, and there’s no way to know any change has been made.

I have to hurry before they realize what I’ve done.

If only I had been able to let go of the sense of right and wrong, that the father had the right to know he had a baby, I would have moved far away when I found out I was pregnant.

Time to do what I should have done long ago. If we get into a custody battle, what judge is going to believe a child should be with men who instigate gun battles? Of course, the Lazovski family has enough money, they might be able to pay a judge off, but I have to try. I have to know I did everything in my power to protect Maverik.

I step to the window, tug at the base, and cough exactly at the moment it cracks open. I freeze with fear that the alarm will sound, but nothing happens.

I gently slide it the rest of the way open, pull the tabs to pop the screen out and drop it outside the window then rush back, throwing the strap of the diaper bag over my head. Wearing it across my body, I shove it out of the way as I put Maverik in the front-pack baby carrier. The pacifier helps keep him quiet.

Suddenly realizing I’ve never climbed out a window, I stare at the sill, unsure of what to do, especially with an infant and an overstuffed diaper bag in tow.

I sit on the sill, hike a leg out, steady my foot on the ground, do a combination of duck and lean and get myself and the baby the rest of the way out. Then I speed-walk the distance to Harper’s, where she’s waiting out front.

“Margot, what’s going on?”

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