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“Tavia.” Mom’s voice was full of strength, but her face betrayed her concern and fear. “We need to hurry. As soon as she’s warm enough, we need to get her to the hospital.”
“M-m-my baby?” I whispered brokenly, looking up at her hopefully, pleading with my eyes for her to tell me everything was going to be all right.
“We need to hurry,” was all she said as tears filled her brown eyes.
* * *
There was an IV in the back of my hand, pushing warmed fluids into me along with pain medication and some type of light sedative to keep me calm. But no matter how many doses they administered through the little tube, it couldn’t stop my tears.
Across the room, two doctors were both speaking in hushed tones with my parents, but I could hear every word they spoke.
“She didn’t miscarry, but with the fragile condition she’s in right now, I want to observe her for at least the next twenty-four hours. The baby appears to be doing well. It’s Sofia herself that I’m concerned about. Are you sure you don’t know what put her in this state?” The obstetrician glanced back and forth between Mom and Dad, but they both shook their heads.
“Her brother said he found her running like she was being chased. Her wedding is today, so when I found her bed empty, I assumed she snuck out to see her fiancé. They’ve been practically inseparable since the day they met.” Mom sniffled, and I clenched my eyes shut, hating that she was crying for me. My idiocy should not have caused anyone pain but me. “But Theo said she was miles from Zak’s house.”
“The running could have contributed to the broken capillaries that caused her bleeding, and the extreme muscle exertion would explain her cramps. But as I said, it’s not the baby I’m concerned about at the moment. Your daughter is close to a complete mental breakdown. She’s already shutting down. The only thing that gets a reaction from her is talking about the baby.”
“Where is her fiancé now?” the psychologist asked, having let the OB-GYN take point for most of the conversation, while he stood there observing not just my parents, but me from a distance. There was no way he’d missed how I’d flinched when Mom spoke Zak’s name or when he’d just said “fiancé.”
“His phone is off,” Dad told him. “And when we sent someone to his house, the staff said he wasn’t there. They were questioned, but they said they hadn’t seen Sofia since yesterday morning. We have people looking for him.”
I averted my eyes from the doctors and looked down at myself. I’d been put in one of those thin hospital gowns. Tavia had blow-dried my hair after I’d gotten out of the shower earlier, and Mom had put it into a simple ponytail to keep it out of my face. The IV was necessary, and while I felt as if a light wind would finish shattering me before blowing me away like dust, I refused to be as fragile as the psychologist feared I was.
“Mom. Dad,” I called as loudly as my hoarse voice would allow. “I’m ready to tell you what happened now.”
They moved in tandem, coming to stand on the side of the bed to hold my hand that wasn’t hooked up to an IV. Mom’s fingers shook as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear. “Honey, you don’t have to tell us anything if you aren’t up for it.”
I lowered my lashes for a moment, unsure if I would ever be up for this discussion, but I couldn’t be a coward. I had to face reality, even if it hurt like a bitch. Opening my eyes, I looked right at the two doctors still standing across the room. “You can go now,” I told them with more strength in my voice than I actually felt. “I’ve got the call button should I need anything.”
The two men in scrubs hesitated for a moment, but my gaze never wavered from them, and they finally excused themselves. I watched them go and waited until the door was closed completely behind them before turning my focus back on my parents.
“I’m not going to tell you what’s going on between me and Z-Zak. That’s our business,” I told them point-blank, leaving no room in my tone for them to question my determination. “But I want you to know that I’m not going to marry him.”
“Did he hurt you?” Dad gritted out.
I swallowed hard, but I lifted my chin, trying to show him a strength I doubted I would ever truly have again. If I told him just how badly Zak had hurt me—not physically, but emotionally—I knew the father of my unborn child would be dead before the sunset that evening. “No, I lied. He didn’t hurt me. I just no longer trust him.”
“Sweetheart.” Mom sat on the edge of my bed and pulled my hand onto her lap. “Tell us what happened to bring you to make this decision.”
“It’s hard to talk about, Mom,” I whispered, fighting the lump that filled my throat once again.
“Did you go to his house?” I nodded, and she patted the back of my hand. “The staff said they didn’t see you. Does that mean you didn’t go inside?”
“I-I barely made it past the bottom step.” I gulped as everything I’d overheard replayed in my head. “Zak was standing in the doorway, talking to Yulia.”
“She was acting off at dinner,” Mom murmured. “I thought she liked you when she and her mother came to the final dress fitting. But it was like she was a completely different person last night.”
“I heard them talking.” I lifted my gaze to Dad. He stood there, as still as the predator his enemies claimed he was. His eyes assessing me like the wolf they all called him. “Yulia was yelling at Z-Zak.” Fuck, it was hard to even say his name.
The room suddenly felt so thick with tension it pressed down on me, making it harder to draw in oxygen. Or maybe I was just fighting another panic attack.
Gulping in a deep breath, I continued. “Yulia said…” I struggled to draw in my next breath, and the heart monitor attached to my chest started to beep unhappily. “She said something that made me believe she is the woman who gave birth to me.”
Mom gasped and covered her mouth with both her hands. “Oh my God,” she cried. “Are you saying… Is she… Yulia is your biological mother?”
“Maybe?” I whispered, tears blurring my vision once again as Zak’s words that had followed Yulia’s replayed in my head.
By marrying her, and producing a child with both our bloodlines, he would have it all. Just like he wanted when he married you off to Leonid. I set it all up so she would fall for me.
There was no way I could repeat any of those words, especially not to my parents. Not only did they make me feel ashamed and gullible, but my dad would kill Zak for sure. As much as I hated and distrusted the man who had made me fall for him, I couldn’t allow our baby to grow up without his or her father in their life.
I told myself it wasn’t about protecting Zak. This was about making sure that my baby had both parents in their life. Taking my child’s father away from them would be self-serving, and while I wanted to be the most selfish I’d ever been in my entire life, I simply couldn’t do that to an innocent baby.
“Danger isn’t the only thing you need to be prepared for. And if you pay attention, then maybe you’ll be lucky enough to be prepared for all the true ugliness that is out there.”
Quinn Hannigan’s voice floated through my head, haunting me. She’d been right. The world was dangerous, and I’d been too blind to see the ugly deception playing out right in front of my eyes by the man I’d fallen in love with.
