“We have a short list, but nothing definite. Tori wants to actually see her and hold her in her arms before we make any final decisions.”
“That makes sense.”
“Pff. I told her the face on the sonogram picture looked like a solid Brunhilda to me, but she wasn’t having it.”
“You’re not naming my niece Brunhilda,” I said with a laugh.
“How about Gertrude? I think Trudy is going to be trending again any day now.”
Just then, Munchkin trotted into the kitchen, head up, stub of a tail wagging.
“Looks like Munch is the only one who got his eight hours in,” I said, kneeling to give him a good ear scratch.
“I never thought I’d be so jealous of a dog,” Stefan said.
When I looked back at my brother, he had the broody face on again.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Really. It’s not just the baby stuff, I can tell.”
He let out a sigh and lowered his voice. “I heard from the Bratva.”
My stomach dropped. “Again? What do they want?”
“Another payment. I have a little time to figure something out, but I already siphoned funds from our business loan and I can’t do that again.”
“Dad really fucked us,” I blurted.
I hated seeing my brother this way. He was about to become a father for the first time, and it should have been one of the best moments of his life, but instead he was tied up in knots over the Russian’s mob’s threats to blackmail us.
Stefan just shook his head. “I shouldn’t even be talking about this. I just…I don’t know what we’re going to do. WhatI’mgoing to do.”
But I did.
I had a plan, and it all crystalized for me right there at Stefan’s kitchen table. The Malones would take care of the Bratva. They had the money and they knew all about what was happening—they knew what the mob wanted from my family and they were willing to pay it in full in order to get me away from their son once and for good. I’d already said yes.
Despite trying to be pragmatic, though, I couldn’t help the heartache I felt when I thought about losing Ford. But it was complicated by my new feelings of utter betrayal over what he had done back in high school, and how he had lied about it for the duration of our friendship.
So. The Malones had promised to make all my family’s problems disappear as soon as I divorced Ford. All I had to do was make it happen.
He and I had initially agreed that our marriage would last a year, but that timeline was impossible now. With the Bratva breathing down my brother’s neck, I would have to file for divorce sooner rather than later. And maybe it was better this way. I had always known that the longer Ford and I stayed together, the harder it would be to protect my heart from getting destroyed when it all ended. But after Claudia’s big reveal last night, I wasn’t sure I could bounce back from the hurt Ford had caused. Perhaps the pressure Stefan was getting from the mob was a blessing in disguise. The extra push I needed to cut ties with Ford as soon as possible.
“I have a feeling things will be okay,” I said softly. “Call it female intuition.”
“I hope you’re right,” Stefan said, but he still sounded gloomy.
Under the table, I put a hand over my belly. The little life inside me was yet another good reason to call off my marriage. If we split before I started showing, no one would ever have to know the truth about the baby’s father. I could simply pretend the new addition to my family involved a sperm donor, or a one-night stand. Or that I’d had a torrid rebound affair after Ford and I broke up. I could make up any lie I wanted to—it wasn’t anyone’s business.
It was settled, then. Ford’s parents would pay out after the divorce went through, per our agreement. All I had to do was keep up my end of the bargain and go through with it. The longer I waited, though, the harder it would be to walk away from my marriage, from the life I’d built with Ford. So maybe the fight we’d gotten in last night was actually a blessing in disguise.
I wouldn’t get out of this with my heart fully intact, but I’d have enough of it left. The rest would heal eventually. It would have to. I’d soon have a baby to take care of.
I needed to save my family.
And if that meant lying to Ford and walking away from him, never telling him the truth, then so be it.
“I’m going to take care of it,” I told Stefan.
He looked over at me, his expression one of shock.
