Page 45 of The Pakhan’s Hidden Heir

“Thank you,” she says softly, on the verge of tears again as he wipes her belly clean and pulls her shirt back down. Then he offers a hand and she starts to sit but struggles. I step in, bracing my hand on her back and help her sit forward, and she leans into me, resting her head on my bicep.

The action tugs at my heart strings a little too much, and when I help her down off the table she doesn’t pull away. It’s like no one gave her this memo that we are crossing lines in this arrangement.

I can see how easily she thinks we could transition from her simply producing my heir to her being in my life permanently. I had a wife, after all.

I remember the feel of a woman in my bed nightly, the scent of her lingering on my pillow and my lips daily. But I also remember the jarring pain that ripped her out of my life and how easily my enemies got to her.

“Come see me in another month,” Dr. Nikitin says as he walks to the door and opens it. I’m not fond of bringing Raina out of the house, but I do understand the hassle of having him bring all the equipment to me.

“Of course,” I grumble, finding my hand still riding the small of her back. This internal fight with myself is getting to the point I almost can’t fight it. I need men like Akim around me to keep me grounded so I can stay focused and keep both Raina and myself safe.

“I think we’ll schedule another sonogram in six weeks too, that will give us the sex.” He follows us through the office and out the back door, away from the prying eyes of patients waiting in the waiting room.

“We get to find out?” Raina says, grinning. She slides an arm around my body, pulling herself into me closer, and I stiffen.

“It’s essential to having the right plan for the child’s birth.” Trying to keep this distant and professional is very difficult when she insists on clinging to me. “And I won’t have my son wearing pink for a single day.”

“But a girl can wear blue?” she asks, rolling her eyes. Then she turns to the doctor as he opens the door to the parking lot. “Thank you, Dr. Nikitin. We’ll see you soon.”

I nod at him, but he looks a little concerned as I walk Raina out into the chilly air. He sinks inside, shutting himself in, and I am instantly grumpy. “Don’t speak to me like that in front of my staff.”

“Then don’t treat me like a disease, Bastian.” Raina pulls away, now glowering at me as she carefully folds the strip of pictures.

“I didn’t treat you like a disease. You keep forgetting that this is nothing more than an…” We’re crossing the lot toward the car when I see a man moving down the row of parked cars with his hands buried in his jacket. It makes me lose my train of thought when he glances back at me for just a breath before he peels off toward the street.

“I didn’t forget,” she hisses, but my gut shoots up a warning signal brighter than a police spotlight at midnight. I take Raina by the elbow and turn her the other way.

“Come with me now,” I order, pulling her so hard she stumbles a few steps.

“The car’s back there,” she says, pointing.

“We’re getting ice cream first.”

She plants her feet. “You want ice cream? You just sat in there and let that man lecture me about sugar for twenty minutes, and now you want ice cream?”

“There’s a place across the street. Come on.”

“You are unbelievable.” She lets me pull her along, grumbling the entire way. “No cookie for me, but the second you get a craving we all drop everything.”

“It isn’t for me.”

“Oh, so now it’s a gift. You’re so romantic about this ‘agreement’, Bastian.”

I don’t answer her. I keep one hand flat on her back and my eyes raking over the street. Something about that man’s presence wasn’t right. He wore all dark colors, had his hood up, and hid his face. He wasn’t here to see a doctor; he was here for something else, and I don’t feel safe going anywhere near that car.

I reach for the door to the ice cream shop and all at once a blast hits like a brick wall collapsing on me. Heat and sound explode with such force the shop’s door blows inward ahead of us. I get an arm around Raina and drive her down to the floor, covering her with my body while screaming erupts and the noise swallows us whole. Something hard rains down onto my back and the air turns thick with the stench of smoke and sulfur. The whole building rumbles, and Raina lies under me screaming and shaking.

When I lift my head and look over my shoulder, my car is gone.

Where it sat there’s only a churning ball of fire and a column of smoke climbing into the sky, and people are scattering in every direction.

The cars around it are destroyed, and one of them is on fire, risking another explosion. But my attention turns to Raina immediately.

“Are you hit?” Turning her over, I check her for injuries, tipping her face up to mine. “Look at me, Raina. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I don’t—I don’t think so,” she whimpers as she shoves hair out of her face. Her eyes dart around frantically, and I see tear streak marks at her temples. “What happened? Bastian, what was that?”

“We’re leaving right now.” I pull her up to her feet, tucking her in against my side, and we start moving, cutting away from the fire and the crowd toward the edge of the building.