Page 58 of Bratva Brother’s Bride

I want to argue, but I don’t have the energy. I sink onto one of the kitchen stools and watch her work. She pulls out pots and pans from the cabinet and sets to work.

It reminds me of the mansion. I spent hours watching Oksana cook, hiding in the kitchen while Dmitri raged in the other room. She never asked questions or pushed for details. She just fed me and let me be.

“Oksana,” I say after a minute.

“Hmm?”

“I need to ask you something.”

She pauses, knife hovering over an onion. Her eyes meet mine, and I can see the concern already forming there. “What is it?”

I take a deep breath. “If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell Roman?”

The concern deepens. “That depends on what it is.”

“It’s... it’s about me. I haven’t told him yet, and I don’t know for sure.”

She sets down the knife and wipes her hands on a towel. Then she comes around the counter and takes the stool next to mine.

“Tell me,” she says.

My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat. I’ve been carrying this secret for days, turning it over and over in my mind; now that I’m finally saying it out loud, I’m terrified.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

Oksana’s expression doesn’t change, but she takes in a deep breath. “Pregnant?” she repeats.

“I’m late, and I’ve been nauseous, and tired, and...” I trail off, unable to continue.

“Have you taken a test?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

I shake my head. “Because I’m scared of what it’ll say, Oksana.”

Oksana reaches out and takes my hand. Her grip is warm and firm.

“I thought...” I swallow. “I thought I couldn’t have children.”

“Because of what Dmitri told you?”

I nod. “Him... and the doctors. They all said the same thing.”

“So you believed him.”

“He was my husband. Why would he lie about something like that?”

She’s quiet for a moment, her thumb tracing slow circles over the back of my hand.

“Vera,” she says carefully, “Dmitri was a lot of things, but honest wasn’t one of them.”

I stare at her. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if he told you that you couldn’t have children, there’s a reason. That reason probably had more to do with controlling you than with any medical reality.”

“The tests,” I whisper. “The doctors...”