Page 55 of Surprise Quadruplets for the Mob

His words send a chill down my spine, and I try to keep the panic at bay. “Maks, please. Just tell me what’s going on. Tell me what happened. Whatever it is, we can figure it out.”

“You can’t fix this,” he growls, coming to a stop just a step away. “It’s too late.”

“Please,” I plead, tears streaming down my face now. “I love you, Maks. I love you and our babies. Don’t do this. I don’t know what you’ve heard or what you think has happened, but I can practically guarantee it’s not true.”

“Stop lying,” he roars, his face inches from mine.

“I’m not,” I sob, desperately trying to get through to him. “I would never hurt you, Maks. Never. Just tell me why you’re angry.”

“The kids aren’t mine,” he snarls, his eyes blazing with fury. “None of it was real. You’ve played me from the beginning. The babies. The sex. All of it.”

“No,” I gasp, horrified by the accusation. “No, Maks. That’s not true. I would never do that. Please, you have to believe me.”

“Why?” he snaps. “Give me one good reason, Abby.”

I shake my head, struggling to think through the fear and the heartbreak. “I… I don’t know. You’re the only man I’ve been with since that night. Since nearly a year before then, even. How can I prove something like that? We—we can take a DNA test, I—”

“I’ve already got one of those,” he whispers, and it’s almost worse than his shouts. “And it tells me you’re lying. Try again.”

“What? How…”

“It doesn’t matter how I have the tests, Abby. Only that I trust the one who gave it to me.”

“But…” My mind whirls, and I try to process what this means. “I never gave anyone permission to take DNA from my babies for testing, and I’ve barely left their side. So unless someone snuck in here while we were making love one night—”

“I’m supposed to wait for a liar to give me permission to out her, now, am I? We took what we needed, when we wanted to. That’s all you need to know!”

“And you knew about this?” He growls wordlessly at that and looks away, and I feel the heat of anger swirling inside me rightalong with all the pain. “Didn’t even tell me, ask me? Is that how much you trust me?”

His hand snaps up to grip my throat, although he applies no pressure. “Trust you?” he says quietly. “Apparently, I don’t even know you.”

“Maks,” I find myself whispering desperately. “Please.”

“Save it,” he sneers. “I don’t believe a fucking word out of your mouth.”

“I would never hurt you,” I repeat, my words barely audible. “Please, Maks. Please, you have to believe me. The test is a mistake, they made a mistake somehow. I love you, and these babies are yours. Can’t you feel it? Here?”

I lift my hand to his chest, over his beating heart, but he squeezes his fingers against my throat and I gasp. He hasn’t cut off my air, he isn’t hurting me. Yet. But the threat is there, and for the first time since I’ve known him, I’m truly afraid of what he might do.

“Don’t fucking say that.”

“I love you,” I insist, taking my hand from his chest to rest on his fingers over my throat instead. “I love you, and I would never hurt you. Those four little bundles in the other room are our children, Maks.Ours.”

“No,” he snaps. “They’reyourbabies, Abby. They’re not mine.”

“But they are,” I say, my voice cracking with emotion. “They’re yours. You’ve helped me take care of them every day. You’ve fed them, changed their diapers, and rocked them to sleep. They stop crying for you, Maks. They know you.”

“Stop.” He glares at me, his expression full of pain and loathing.

“I’m telling the truth,” I continue, desperate to make him believe me. “I love you, Maks. And I know you love me, too.”

An ugly expression twists across his features, and he suddenly pushes me away from him, letting me go as if my skin burns him.

“That’s not possible.”

“It is,” I insist, taking a tentative step back toward him. “It’s the truth. I love you, Maks. I love you, and those are our children. You have to believe me.”

I can see the struggle in his face, the conflict warring within him. “I can’t,” he growls.

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