Page 6 of Secret Baby and the Bratva

I see the tenderness again, directed at Maverik. Maybe Harper and Sadie are right, these guys aren’t all bad just because they’re part of a Bratva.

He motions to the edge of the bed as if wanting to sit with us.

I nod, and as I shuffle to the side it occurs to me how comfortable I am with him. Is that post-partum delusion?

“Margot, the timing’s right. Are you going to deny that he’s ours?”

I was so close to being ready to tell them, and with how quick he was to ask for a paternity test, my hand is forced.

“Virgin Night is the only night I’ve had sex.

He gently strokes the arm Maverik has wiggled out of the swaddle. I make a note to perfect the swaddle a little more. But too late now; Yulian’s touching him.

Can the emotional whirlwind I’ve heard about already be setting in? How can I feel so close to Yulian when he’s part of a Bratva? So in need of his arms wrapped around the two of us.

“Maverik is the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen.”

I’m taken aback when he addresses the baby by name until I remember he read it on the birth certificate. There’s something right about hearing the name come from Yulian’s lips.

Nine months of fearing the father of my son has morphed into one of the sweetest possible outcomes. Dark storm clouds aren’t blowing in. He’s not outraged, or he’s hiding it. He’s not a savage.

The feelings I had for him and his brothers swirl back to life. It’s unreal how attached I got to the three of them in one night. If I hadn’t been so set on finishing school and getting a stable job, so I could secure my independence, I might have considered reaching out to them. I had to stick to my priorities and not fall into the trap my mom did.

I tried to be smart and strong and roll my adult life out in the right order. I didn’t want complications. And somehow, I ended up with the biggest one.

Yulian’s hand trails from Maverik’s arm to mine. His touch shouldn’t be so comforting.

The truth is that I’ve longed for it. All I ever had to do was reveal myself. Would it be so bad to have support in these early days of life with a child?

Maxim

My attempt to hang out and be the supportive cousin is failing. I have to clear my head. I nod at Harper, who doesn’t want an assassin in her room anyway.

Our family was good and solid. We had established systems. Why do my cousins want so much change? Why does Pakhan put so much weight on a fucking baby?

I stride down the hallway regretting there won’t be vodka in the water fountain. But before I even make it to the water, I catch sight of Yulian sitting on the edge of a bed in one of the rooms—not Harper’s. Does he know someone else here? He hasn’t mentioned anyone, and it’s too soon for Sadie to go into labor.

All I had on the books for today was to kill a scumbag. I checked that box. I should be home relaxing. Instead, I’m in a hospital with nervousness racing through me. Did Sadie go into labor early? With three more months to go, this could be bad.

I stop in the doorway.

“Yulian?”

As he stands, I see past him. It’s not Sadie.

It’s Margot, the woman who almost made me rethink my life choices.

Our Margot is holding a baby in a blue hat. I do my best not to jump to conclusions but I’m in a freefall.

“Feliks,” I call out sternly, then storm into the room, muscling my way past Yulian as I take my place beside Margot. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Shhh… You’re going to upset the baby.” She fusses with the blanket and shifts him to the far side, getting it away from me. Yeah, just like Harper did.

“We looked for you. Where have you been?”

“I’m not explaining right now.”

Feliks enters the room and stops short beside Yulian, who says, “Everybody stay calm. He belongs to one of us. We’ll work this out.”

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