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Zak
The first placeI thought to look was the Volkov compound. But the guards at the gate told me they hadn’t seen Sofia. The majority of the lights in the mansion were off when I glanced at the house, and I had to make the hard decision of calling the man’s bluff and demanding to be allowed in to see for myself, or risk waking Adrian and Victoria if their daughter wasn’t inside.
If she was in there, then at least I knew she was safe with her parents. But if she wasn’t, then I would be wasting valuable time searching for her.
I chose to believe Sofia hadn’t returned to the compound. For hours, I searched the entire city with my men. Every back alley and hospital between the compound and my house. But there was no sign of her. Yulia kept blowing up my phone to the point that my battery died, and I didn’t stop to charge it in my anxiousness to find Sofia.
As dawn broke across the sky, I walked into a hospital emergency room and nearly fell to my knees when I saw two of the Volkov guards sitting in the waiting room. Every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire as I jogged across the room to the men.
Seeing me coming, the two shared a look before slowly getting to their feet. “Who is here?” I croaked out. “Is it Sofia? Is she okay?”
Both men clenched their jaws. “If you want any details, I suggest you speak topakhan,” the older of the two men informed me.
“My phone is dead,” I gritted out, balling my hands into fists so I didn’t put one through the motherfucker’s face. “Where is Adrian?”
The other man blew out a fed-up sigh and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Zakhar Morozov has just arrived,pakhan.” He listened for a pause, but his facial expression never changed, leaving me wondering what was being said. “Yes, sir.”
Replacing his phone in his suit jacket pocket, the younger of the two guards lifted his chin toward the elevator. “Third floor. He will be waiting for you when you get off.”
Above the elevator call button was a directory of what specialty was located on each floor. When I read Obstetrics was the entire third floor, everything inside me seized. I tried to tell myself it was because of Tavia. She was pregnant too, and maybe she’d had complications. It would explain why Adrian and the rest of his family were there.
But in my gut, I knew it was because of Sofia.
By the time the doors opened on the third floor, sweat was beaded on my brow and my stomach was trying to revolt. On shaking legs, I stepped off and came face-to-face with Adrian Volkov and his son. Theo took a menacing step toward me, but his father held up his hand, halting the younger Volkov’s movements.
“Where is she?” I choked out, swallowing the bile that was trying to suffocate me. “Is she okay?”
“There was some bleeding. The doctor wants to keep her for observation.” With a flick of his hand, Adrian motioned us away from the elevators and down the corridor a few yards. Lifting his chin, he nodded toward a closed door. “She knows you’re here and wants to see you.”
“The bleeding,” I rasped, my hands shaking so bad I could barely clench them into fists. “Is it serious?”
“You’ll have to ask her that,” her father said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. “Go. Talk to her. And when you’re done…” He shrugged. “Whether you’re still breathing by the end of the day, well, that’s all up to her.”
I would have had to be an idiot not to understand the threat in the man’s voice. But what he didn’t know was that if Sofia threw me out of her life, then there would be no reason to make threats. I’d happily let him end my life so I could escape the agony of the emptiness my existence would be without her.
Fear was not something I was used to feeling, but as I stepped into that hospital room, it made it difficult to breathe, let alone walk. The sun coming through the window was the only illumination other than a dim night-light over the bed. Sofia was propped up with a pillow behind her head. Tavia sat in a recliner chair beside the bed, while Victoria sat on the edge of the mattress, holding her daughter’s hand.
The women who were supposed to become my mother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me hard glares, but Sofia wouldn’t even look my way as I walked farther into the room. Her gaze was trained out the window, at the sun as it lifted higher into the sky above the surrounding buildings. It seemed unnaturally bright after the heavy rainstorm the previous night.
“Are you okay?” I questioned through the knot in my throat. “The baby?”
“The baby is fine.” Without turning her attention from the window, she spoke to the two women. “It’s okay. I need to talk to him. We have to figure this out.”
Victoria made an unhappy noise in the back of her throat, but she stood and leaned over to kiss her daughter’s forehead. It was then I took note of the IV in the back of one of Sofia’s hands and the monitors hooked up to her.
Fuck.
“Tavia and I are going to get something warm to drink,” her mom said as she straightened. “If you need anything, press the call button. Your dad and Theo won’t be far and will see the light when it comes on.”
“Okay,” Sofia whispered, her eyes never leaving the city view.
Tavia threaded her arm through her mother-in-law’s, and the two women waited for me to step aside before walking to the door. Their cold shoulder meant nothing to me, though. It was the way Sofia wouldn’t even look at me that made me want to puke my guts out.
I waited until the door closed behind them before crossing to the bed. “Dragotsennyy.”
Her head shot around so fast, it was a wonder she didn’t get whiplash. “Don’t,” she snapped. “Don’t call me precious or any other of those endearments you like to throw my way while you pretend I mean the world to you.”
“But you do, Sofia.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You and our baby, both of you are my entire world.”
