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I am nothing more than a means to an end.
It hurts so bad I have to bite down to keep the tears from spilling over.No. I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. Instead, I swallow my pain and stare back at him with an expression that I hope is as cold as the one he’s giving me right now.
Two can play at this game.
“I’d rather be separated now.”
He shrugs. “As much as I would prefer that, there are too many unpredictable variables at play. The people behind Josh’s kidnapping are still out there. For now, it’s better for you and the children to stay close. It’s the safest. You can’t exactly afford to lose the baby. You’d be losing your meal ticket, too.”
I flinch back, stunned by the casual cruelty. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he truly doesn’t care about me anymore.
And maybe I don’t know any better.
Maybe I don’t know any better at all.
“You’re right,” I hiss, springing to my feet and storming towards the door before I lose the battle with my tears. “I wouldn’t want that.”
15
RUSLAN
A baby.
Mybaby.
It feels surreal. And overwhelming. And completely fucking inconvenient. Was it so recently that I thought Emma was the answer to all my problems?
Despite everything that’s gone down, I don’t regret the pregnancy. I’m glad Emma’s pregnant. And that alone is confusing as hell. I should want nothing to do with her. I should want to move her into her own separate residence immediately, just as she’d asked.
But what’s the point of an excuse if you don’t use it?
No matter how foolish it might be.
My mood is dark when Kirill walks in, looking as though he’s spent an hour in the boxing ring. “Those girls,” he whistles. “They are a handful.”
“Babysitting again?”
Kirill collapses onto the leather sofa. “Someone has to.”
I ignore the subtle jab. “And Emma?”
“She came back from your rendezvous with a chip on her shoulder and ushered the kids to their rooms. So I assumed she had a ball during your little chat. No one else can inspire that kind of reaction.”
“Pregnant,” I spit in disgust. “How the hell did that slip past me?”
“Easy. Because you weren’t interested.”
“She should have told me herself.”
“Right, because you’re so easy to talk to,” he drawls.
“How exactly did she manage to wrap you around her little finger?”
Kirill chuckles. “She hasn’t wrapped me around anything. I simply decided to believe her.”
I get up and walk around my desk. “You spy and steal and torture people for a living,mudak.‘Simply believing people’ is not in your job description.”
“I torture people who deserve it.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “She doesn’t seem like the type of person to deceive intentionally. She didn’t tell you about the baby because she didn’t think she could. And she’d have been right.”
