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“Why?” I don’t see the point. My whole life has been one long mad rush toward oblivion.
“For me. For us.” She pauses, then sets her hand on my arm. “For our baby.”
Our what?
My breath catches in my throat. I release Cartwright so abruptly that he chokes and slides down the wall, collapsing onto the floor. I don’t give a fuck. I turn to face Scarlett.
“What?” I breathe out the word.
“Our baby, Anton.Yourbaby.” Her lips curve again, but this time, the smile is different. “I’m having your baby.”
The room has gone completely silent. Except for the pounding of my pulse in my ears. Carl and Luka know better than to interrupt right now.
“You’re pregnant?” It’s as if I’ve lost the ability to understand what she’s saying. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m pregnant, Anton.” Her smile widens. “I’m sure.” There’s a strange keening sound from Cartwright on the floor behind me. Her eyes drop to him then back up to mine. “I’d kind of hoped to tell you at a…better moment.”
“Bozhe moy,”I’m still staring at her.
“I… Is…” She gnaws her lip. “Is it alright?”
I’m shaking my head, but not to say no. “Alright? Fuck,Zayka, it’s better than alright!” I’m suddenly scooping her up against my chest. “It’s so much better than alright!”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” someone says from behind us. It’s Carl. I sense Luka hovering but I don’t look at him. I’m still staring at the woman in my arms.
“So you see,” she goes on, her hand cupping my cheek, “You can’t kill him. We need to stop running. This has to end now.”
I find myself nodding. Luka mutters something under his breath. Without releasing Scarlett, I look at him.
“Tie him up,” I say, jerking my head back toward the twitching man. “We’ll figure out what to do with him later.”
“Actually, I think I have an idea,” says Scarlett. I lift an eyebrow. “This wasn’t just about the diamond, Anton. I saw Cartwright murder his mistress. He’ll be a wanted man once the authorities find out.”
“That so?” I know Carl had said something about that, but in my race to rescue her, those details had meant little to me.
“Let’s tie him up here and call the police – anonymously,” Scarlett grins at me. Fuck, she’s resilient. “We’ll let them know where to find him. Jess and Cody can put together a dossier with enough information to lock him away for good. And then we can move on without any of this shit touching us again.”
I feel laughter bubbling up my throat. “You’re pretty smart, you know that?”
“Yeah. I kinda do.” Her grin is radiant. God, she’s incredible. There’s a whimpering sound from behind me, and I turn to look down at Cartwright.
“Did you hear that,mudak?” I say. “You’re going to jail.”
Luka starts to laugh. “You know what, boss? I know some guys inside. Some guys with influence. And with certain…needs.”
I join in the laughter. “Are you saying what I think you are,bratan?”
Luka nods then smirks down at the asshole on the floor. “You’re going to get yourself a big, strong Russian boyfriend in there, Mr. Cartwright.”
I slide an arm around Scarlett and tuck her close against me, listening to Luka’s laughter ringing out as he stoops to truss up the man on the floor.
“That worked out better than I expected,” I tell Scarlett.
“What about this piece of shit?” Carl pokes Hector with the toe of his boot. The man is writhing in a pool of blood and the water he’d been planning to use to fry Scarlett.
“Please,” chokes Hector, his voice laced with pain.
“Shall I put him out of his misery?” Luka asks as he straightens up from where he’s been tying up Cartwright. I give this some thought. I’d rather have him suffer as he slowly bleeds out. But that might lead to complications when the cops get here and find him alive. I’d rather pin his death on Cartwright and really seal his deal.
