Page 25 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
Do I believe what she is telling me, that she truly had no idea what was going on with Artem when she started working for him? That she was just dragged into this because her deadbeat father had left her with debts that she could see no other way to overcome? I can’t imagine she would dare to lie to me, but in this world, you can’t trust just anyone.
My gaze flicks downward, towards her belly, and I recall what I noticed the day before, when I was going down on her. The slight curve to her, the fullness in her body. That has left me with questions—questions that I know I will need to put out in the open if I have any chance of moving forward with any of this.
“Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
She shuffles from side to side in her seat, sitting on her hands, and then shakes her head. “Uh... no, I don’t think so.”
I don’t break her gaze, practically daring her to lie to me, if she thinks she can get away with it. She looks back at me, and I’mnot sure if she is trying to throw me off my game or if there is just truly nothing there that she is trying to hide.
“You’re sure about that?” I lean forward, not breaking her gaze, and I see her draw in a sharp breath.
“What do you mean?”
“If there’s something you’re keeping from me,” I tell her, narrowing my eyes. “It could compromise our safety. I need to knoweverythingwe’re dealing with right now, if we’re going to get out of here alive. So, let me ask you again...”
I shift even closer, close enough now that I can see the goosebumps running up her arms. “Is there anything else I should know?”
And, at last, she comes out with it, blurting out the words before she can duck them for another instant. “I—I’m pregnant.”
There it is. I let out a long breath, reaching for my coffee, and she stares at me, gaze searching mine to figure out how I feel about all of this. Silence sits heavy between us as I process it, trying to figure out how best to react.
“Who’s is it?”
She hesitates, and then lets out a long sigh. “It’s yours,” she replies. “It has to be. I wasn’t with Artem for nearly a month before we met, and you’re the only person I’ve been with since him. I...”
She squirms in her seat as she waits for my response.
“Please, Anton, say something,” she begs me. “I know this must come as a shock, but I only found out a few days ago, and I was going to tell you, I really was?—”
“Does Artem know?” I ask the question calmly, almost coldly. It’s not because I’m not dealing with a wave of emotion right now, far from it—it’s because if I unleash everything that’s bubbling below the surface right now, I’m not sure this tiny cabin will be able to contain it. She shakes her head.
“I don’t think so,” she replies. “I don’t see how he could. But...” She furrows her brow, as if it’s the first time she has truly considered it. “I guess...I guess he might have...”
I rise to my feet at once. A baby. A goddamn baby. She’s pregnant with my child, after that single encounter—hard to believe, but I’ve seen the proof of it written all over her body and I know that she is not inventing it. No, she is going to be the mother of my child...
And my fucking brother set my house on fire with her inside. Whether he knows about my kid or not, that’s an attack on them, on my family. One that I will not let slide.
“He doesn’t want me to have anything,” I mutter, as I rise to my feet, pacing around the kitchen as I make sense of what she has just told me.
“What are you talking about?” she asks, shaking her head. “Anton, I don’t understand what’s happening?—”
“You don’t?” I reply, whipping around to face her, so fast that she jumps slightly. I don’t mean to frighten her, but the fury coursing through my veins right now as I think about everything that my bastard of a brother could have taken from me if I had been in the wrong place when he had attacked, it’s more than I can control.
“He thought he was just getting you back,” I explain. “And he was willing to take out my home, my men, my staff to make ithappen. Jesus, that would have been bad enough, but he could have taken my baby from me too...”
Her hand flies to her mouth, eyes glossy with tears as if it has just hit her how much danger she was in. “You can’t—he can’t have known,” she protests. “There’s no way he did this to hurt the baby. He?—”
“But he would have,” I growl. “And he’s going to pay for it. Nobody gets to make a move against my child without paying for it.”
“Your child,” she repeats after me, and I can see the pieces beginning to slot into place, the reality of this starting to take hold. She’s pregnant with my baby, and that means that she’s my priority right now.
I have to protect her. A surge of certainty runs through me, and I feel the blood pumping through my veins.
“We’ll stay here as long as it takes for my men to secure the city again,” I tell her. “And then...”
I glance to the window, to the thicket of trees beyond, that acts as our cover, at least for now. I don’t know if Artem will come looking for us here, but if he does, he’ll be met with the fight of his fucking life.
“And then I’m going to destroy my brother and everything he’s left behind.”
