Page 32 of A Surprise Baby for the Russian

Tomorrow is probably going to be an absolute clusterfuck. This peace we’ve been slowly crafting—the shifting dynamic, the quiet softening of her edges, the beautiful thing this is slowly becoming—it’s all about to shatter. The real world is coming to smash our little bubble to pieces, right when I’m finally getting a taste of what it feels like to really have her.

If I could keep her locked inside this house forever, safe and protected from the blood and the noise outside, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I can’t stop the storm from hitting us. All I can do is brace for the impact. And when the glass fractures and everything breaks apart, I will pick up every single piece of us, one by one. I’ll glue our world back together with my bare hands, even if it means cutting my fingers wide open to do it.

Chapter 16 - Raya

I wake up confused. I’m in the bedroom, which I know for a fact isn’t where I fell asleep. I was curled up on the couch with my paperback. I slowly blink open my eyes; it’s still dark out. Yakov is lying on his back right next to me, perfectly still, his sharp jawline set as he stares at the ceiling. He has the rigid, hyper-focused look of someone awake for hours, chewing on a dark reality he hasn’t shared with the room. He turns his head the second he feels my gaze. The hard, icy gray of his eyes instantly thaws, and he gives me a slow smile that does several dangerous things to my heart rate. I smile back. I can’t stop myself. It’s mortifying.

Then, my phone violently vibrates against the nightstand, shattering the spell. I reach for it without sitting up, my skin still warm from his side of the bed. I glance at the screen, and the warmth drains out of my body. Matvei. My oldest brother does not call in the early hours of the morning unless something is dead wrong, and the only dead wrong thing I can think of that would have him calling is us. I look straight to Yakov to warn him, but his expression has already locked down into a stone-hard mask. He already knows exactly why he’s calling.

I press answer and bring the phone to my ear.

“Raya,” my brother’s deep voice rumbles.

“Matvei—”

“Come outside.”

The line goes dead. I’m already throwing the covers off and rushing to the bedroom window before the echo of his voice fades. Yakov is a shadow right behind me, his solid heat pressing against my back as we peer through the glass. Down on the asphalt below is—my brain slams into a complete, disbelieving halt.

What in the actual hell?

They’re all here. Matvei is standing at the front of the driveway, his arms folded across his massive chest, wrapped in that dead, unyielding silence that means he’s already played judge, jury, and executioner. Adrian is to his left, Egor to his right. Behind them is a small army of heavy-set Volkov soldiers I don’t immediately recognize, but given the tactical vests and the visible gleam of automatic weapons, they didn’t come for a family breakfast. High beams light up the entire driveway, a deliberately theatrical power move by Matvei because he has always loved a good entrance when he gets to make one. Thank god there are no neighbors around to witness this and call the police. Simon is standing slightly off to the side, his hands raised in a stiff gesture that screams, I tried to stop them.

“Yakov,” my voice comes out hollow.

“I know.”

“My entire family is outside this house with assault rifles.”

“I know.”

“How do they know where this house is?” Adrian Nikolai. It has to be. Sofie let it slip that Matvei had him hunting for a location—I should have known my brother wouldn’t just sit around waiting on me to be ready. I bolt for the front door.

Yakov’s left hand shoots out, his fingers catching my arm. “Raya, wait—”

“Don’t,” I snap, wrenching my arm free and looking him dead in the eye. “I am handling this.”

A flash of raw surprise moves across his face, followed by something fiercely respectful. He drops his hand.

I fling the front door open and march down the steps barefoot, wearing the same wrinkled leggings and sweatshirt I slept in, my dark hair a wild, tangled mess. I am fully aware that I look a crazy mess, and I do not give a single damn. Yakov steps out onto the porch behind me. I can feel his protective, heavy presence in the space behind me without even turning around.

Adrian takes a menacing step forward, his hand resting on the grip of his holstered piece. “Raya, get over here right now. Step away from him.”

That is the wrong thing to say to me. In the history of stupid shit my brothers have said to me, I’m pinning this one right up there. Adrian really should know better.

I halt right in the center of the concrete path, the early morning dew freezing my bare soles. I look at Adrian. I look at Matvei. I look at every single one of them lined up in the dirt with their shiny trucks, their drawn weapons, and their arrogant certainty that they have this entire situation figured out.

“You didn’t think to ask me first?” My voice isn’t a scream, though god knows I want to scream at them. “I already told you this, Matvei. On the phone. Word for word. I told you my security failed once already, and more of it wasn’t going to fix that. I told you I felt safer here than I did with your men. You heard me say it, and you got in your trucks and came anyway.”

Matvei parts his lips to bark an order.

“I’m not finished, Matvei,” I slice right through him.

His jaw clamps shut. I don’t think a single human being has told Matvei Volkov to zip it in the last decade. I don’t care. I’m past the point of caring.

“Do you understand what you’ve actually done? You’ve driven a small army to a location his father has been trying to find for weeks, at the crack of dawn, loud enough that I’m amazed half the town hasn’t tracked in behind you. If Alek has eyes anywhere near here—and after everything, you should assume he’s following you at the very least—you’ve just handed him exactly what he’s been asking for. A war, out in the open, that he gets to point to and say I told you so. Did any of you stop to think that might be the entire point? That he wants exactly this?”

Nobody answers.