Page 56 of Surprise Quadruplets for the Mob

I reach for him, my hand trembling as I touch his arm, but he pulls away from me. “Maks, please. Please, just listen to me. We can figure this out. Whatever has happened, whatever you’ve been told, we can work through it.”

“There’s no point.” He turns away from me, his jaw clenched.

“Yes, there is,” I insist, moving closer to him again. “We can figure this out. Do another DNA test. We can—”

“No,” he barks. “We can’t. We can’t because there’s nothing left. You’ve taken everything from me, Abby. Everything. There’s no way back from this. No way back to us.”

I want to argue with him, but the look in his eyes tells me there’s no point. He’s made up his mind.

“What are you going to do?” I ask, feeling desperate and broken and almost reckless because I’ve lost everything in a matter of seconds. I know what this man is capable of doingto the people he thinks have betrayed him, and that knowledge makes my blood run cold. “Are you going to kill me? Bury me in the courtyard? What about the kids? Your kids, Maks. You can think I’m lying all you want, but those babies in that room are yours.”

“Stop,” he says, his eyes flashing with anger.

“I won’t,” I say, feeling defiance rise up inside me. “You’ll have to kill me if you want me to stop. And then what will you do? Kill the babies, too? You’d do that, would you? Murder four innocent newborns?”

He doesn’t say anything, but the muscle in his jaw tics, and his fists are balled at his sides. I’ve pushed him as far as he’s going to go, and I have no idea what comes next.

“Answer me,” I demand, stepping toward him and looking up into his eyes. “What are you going to do, Maks? Are you going to kill me and our children?”

He looks down at me, his expression hard and unreadable. “Follow me,” is all he says before turning and walking out of the room.

I have two choices. I can run off and barricade myself in the other bedroom with my babies and, what? Call the police? Call Maggie? He’ll still get to me before anyone else can, and it would probably only fan the flames of his paranoia and rage.

Or I can keep trying to talk sense into him, keep trying to make him see the truth. With that in mind, I follow him downstairs and into his study. There’s glass from a lamp shattered in the corner and papers strewn everywhere. It looks like the place has been robbed, but I know better.

This is the result of Maksim’s pent-up fury. This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. He’s capable of so much more. So much worse.

“You have to believe me, Maks,” I plead, but he picks up a stack of papers from his desk and shoves them into my hands.

“Save your breath unless you can explain all of this.”

I look down at the papers, but everything is a blur through the tears that are spilling over. “What is all of this? It looks like bank statements. Financial records? I don’t understand.”

“You’re looking at the truth, Abby. Hurts, doesn’t it? You might be able to lie to my face, but the numbers don’t lie. The money in these accounts was stolen from donors. From people who trusted you and your sister. From me. Your name is right there in black and white, Abby. Right alongside Booker’s.”

I shake my head, unable to wrap my mind around what he’s saying. “I don’t know what any of this means. I’ve never seen any of this before in my life. Why would you believe any of this?”

“Stop fucking lying,” he roars, his voice echoing off the walls of the study. “You have no idea what kind of damage you’ve caused, and you’re still trying to play innocent? Still trying to pretend like you haven’t spent months scamming me, using me, and stealing from me?”

“No,” I sob, the truth slowly dawning on me. “No, Maks. Please, you have to believe me. I didn’t do this.

He shakes his head. “All I want to know is why you did it. Why, Abby? Are you spying for the Irish? For the government? Because if you think you’re going to take me down like this…” He barks out a short, bitter laugh. “A lot of other people have tried it. People who thought they were smart. People who thoughtthey were clever.” His eyes narrow and his jaw clenches. “Go and look for them now.”

I feel sick. “No,” I gasp, shaking my head.

“And the worst part?” Another bitter laugh. “I still tried to rationalize what you did. I tried to defend you, even in my own mind. Even when I had the evidence staring me right in the face. Until I saw this.” He holds up another piece of paper, this one hopelessly crumpled. “This is what made me realize you can’t ever be trusted again. This is what sealed your fate, Abby.”

I don’t even try to say anything in my defense as he flings the paper at me. I’m crying and shaking and almost certain he’s going to kill me once he’s done yelling. “I don’t even know what any of this is,” I say, more to myself than to him. “Is this the supposed DNA test?”

He scrubs a hand down his face and takes a deep breath, then jabs a finger at the paper in my hand. “You’ll notice the test is conclusive. Not a shred of doubt. None. I’m not the father of those children. And that’s why we can’t ever have anything to do with each other again. You’re a liar and a thief. Nothing else.”

He takes a step toward me, his eyes cold and hard, and I back away from him until my back is against the wall.

“Maks, please,” I beg, my voice shaking. “Please, you have to believe me. I would never do any of this. I love you. I love the babies, I would never endanger them by lying to you like this. Please, please don’t do this.”

His expression is unreadable, but I can see the rage simmering beneath the surface.

“If you really love your kids,” he says, his voice eerily calm, “then you will get them out of here in the next five minutes.You’ll catch a cab to your sister’s house. She should be there by now, I’ve already ordered my men to take her back. And you’ll never speak to anyone about me or my family—my real family—ever again.”

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