Page 66 of Secret Heir

Again.

A hysterical laugh bubbles out of me as I sink to the floor, my back against the wall, and let the panic consume me.

I’d always wanted another baby. Even while struggling to feed Daniel, some small lizard part of me had dreamed of giving him a sibling. I always wanted a big family and I wanted to experience pregnancy again without the terror and loneliness that had defined Daniel’s.

But not like this. Never like this.

Not trapped in a house with a man who kidnapped me and while my freedom is already gone and my choices have been stripped away piece by piece.

This traps me in every possible way.

I can’t run while pregnant. I can’t climb walls or squeeze through tight spaces or do any of the desperate things I’d been planning in the back of my mind. My body will betray me and make escape impossible.

Another child tied to this dangerous world. Another innocent life that will grow up surrounded by violence and secrets and men who kill without hesitation. Another child at risk from Alexander. Another target. Another person he can use against me if he decides I know too much.

My body—the one thing I thought I still controlled—has betrayed me. It’s created another chain tying me to Maksim and to this life I never chose.

God, how could I be so fucking stupid? How could I have had unprotected sex with Maksim?

Maksim. God, Maksim will use the pregnancy to justify keeping me here to cement his ownership of my life.

I press my hands to my still-flat stomach and feel a sob erupt out of me. I’m trapped. Completely, utterly, irreversibly trapped.

And there’s nothing I can do about it.

I try to hide my pregnancy and pretend nothing has changed, but morning sickness is a cruel bitch.

It starts a week after I take the test. I wake up feeling fine, then the smell of coffee makes my stomach turn. I barely make it to the bathroom before I’m retching into the toilet.

I tell Maksim it’s a summer bug. He frowns but accepts it.

The next morning, same thing. And the next. By the fourth day, I’m exhausted from lack of sleep and constant nausea, and I can see suspicion growing in Maksim’s eyes.

“You should see a doctor,” he says over breakfast. I’m sipping ginger tea, which is the only thing I can keep down while he and Daniel eat pancakes.

“I’m fine.” I force a smile. “It’s just a bug. It’ll pass.”

“Bugs don’t last a week.” He’s watching me too closely. “I’m calling the estate doctor.”

My stomach flips for entirely new reasons. “No,” I say loudly. Even Daniel looks up in confusion and I give him a strained smile. “I said I’m fine.”

His eyes narrow, but Daniel interrupts with a question about their fishing trip this afternoon, and the moment passes.

I think I’ve bought myself time.

I’m wrong.

The next morning, I wake up with nausea so intense I know I won’t make it to my bathroom. I stumble out of bed and rush to Maksim’s bathroom instead. I barely make it to the toilet before I’m vomiting violently.

I’m so focused on not dying that I don’t hear the door open or the footsteps approaching. I don’t realize Maksim is there until I feel his hand on my back, pulling my hair away from my face.

“It’s okay, moya,” he murmurs. “I’ve got you.”

The words go away, stop touching me are on the tip of my tongue but another wave of nausea hits and I retch into the toilet while he holds my hair and rubs circles on my back.

When it finally subsides, I’m shaking and sweating, my stomach muscles aching. Maksim hands me a damp washcloth and I press it to my face, trying to calm my racing heart.

“How long?” Maksim asks quietly.