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“I don’t doubt that you two know what you’re doing,” I say, although that’s not entirely true, “but I’d like some reassurance that we’re going to be able to pull this off before the baby is born.”
Damien and Avraam both look down at my stomach, as though trying to figure out how much time they have before I’m waddling around, yelling at them that we’re almost out of time.
“We’ve figured it out, mostly,” Damien says after a moment of hesitation. “The real issue is that Leo doesn’t like to travel alone. He moves with a group of at least six men, and that means getting a hit on him while minimizing extra casualties is going to be difficult.”
“Why not kill them all?” I ask, realizing that I sound like a psycho. Is this what the Bratva has done to me? Or is it just fear that makes me not care about other people’s lives anymore.
Avraam puts his hand on my shoulder, giving it an empathetic squeeze. “Believe me, we’d love to gun all those fuckers down without remorse, but our reluctance has more to do with not drawing attention to ourselves, rather than being the good guys. As you know, we’re far past that point already.”
I still think of us as the good guys, but I don’t tell him that. I don’t want to be talked out of my comforting delusions.
I offer Avraam a weak smile as a thank you for his explanation, but I don’t feel that much better after discovering that we’re still trying to figure out how to kill Leo. I don’t even know what he looks like, but perhaps that would make this too real for me. I can’t imagine being the one to pull the trigger, so it’s better to keep some distance from this whole thing.
“Oh, but some good news for you,” Avraam says, squeezing my shoulder again. “The doctor is coming this afternoon for your first ultrasound.”
My heart leaps up into my throat. Why didn’t he tell me this before?! It’s not like I would’ve done anything differently, but I’d like to be mentally prepared for something so huge.
A nervous laugh escapes my tight lips. “We’ve vetted this guy, though, right? We can trust him?”
“You can trusther,” Avraam assures me. “Dr. Klara has been with the Family for a long time. She’s our cousin, actually.”
“Oh?” I ask, suddenly quite excited to meet her. Anyone who is related to these two is bound to be interesting. She might even have some stories to tell, secrets that Avraam and Damien wouldn’t dare talk about in front of me.
I nod, playing down my excitement with a calm expression. “Sounds good. Thank you. I’m actually going to go upstairs and get ready. You know, take a shower and all that.”
Avraam nods along with me, but he looks a bit suspicious of my sudden change in demeanor. “Yes, go get ready and we’ll work on this business with Leo. I promise we’ll get this resolved soon.”
“All good,” I chirp, skipping away and then running upstairs the moment I’m out of view.
I hop into the shower, scrubbing myself down with the rose soap Avraam bought for me, and rising the sweat out of my hair. I spend a lot of time in the attic because there aren’t any windows there – horrible paranoid of me – but the caveat is that it’s hot as hell without proper air conditioning.
I’m always so sweaty, but Avraam doesn’t seem to mind when he’s between my legs at night.
Every night.
I think he’s addicted, but so am I.
After I’m all toweled off and rehydrated, I hear a doorbell downstairs. Is it Dr. Klara already?
I jump off the chair in the bedroom and rush downstairs, pushing my hair back in a tight bun and smoothing the wrinkles out of my sky-blue silk blouse. I don’t want to look sloppy.
I have the impression that Russian women take very good care of themselves, and I feel kind of… eh. It’s not because Avraam hasn’t showered me with beauty products and treatments, but the pregnancy really takes a lot out of me. I’m tired all the time, and in the mornings I feel sick.
Maybe Dr. Klara will have some advice for me, a multivitamin I should be taking or some breath work that would help me stay calm.
The only thing I’ve been able to do these past few weeks is reading books. Avraam has a wonderful library, and I’ve horded half of the books in the attic where I’ve gone through them like a starved reader feasting on words.
But sometimes the sentences make me nauseous, like trying to read in a moving car, and I have to put them to the side and stare at the wall until it passes. I know having a baby is nothing less than a blessing, but the pregnancy aspect is downright brutal.
Avraam is already at the door when I get downstairs, ushering Dr. Klara in and helping with the cart full of medical equipment. It’s intimidating that all that stuff with the screens and cables are for me, but I remind myself that Dr. Klara is here to help me, not make my life harder.
She’s a tall woman, very thin, with violently blonde hair and a prominent nose. She’s wearing a white coat that would probably be long on a shorter woman, but on her it threatens to become indecent.
With nude heels on, she’s almost as tall as Avraam.
“Dr. Klara, this is Kimberly,” Avraam says, smiling softly as he takes my hand and pulls me into the limelight.
Dr. Klara’s green eyes dance over me, focusing on my belly for a moment before she smiles. “Avraam is lucky he’s found someone who tolerates him,” he says.
