“It didn’t help! She got kidnapped because you didn’t give a shit about keeping her safe,” Artur snarls, his voice getting louder.
“Hey, keep your voice down!” Kaz huffs.
“Stay out of this,” Art snaps.
“Kidnapped?” I ask Joseph.
“My father kidnapped her,” he sighs, pressing his fingers against his eyes.
“Did he hurt her? Did he—” Artur looks ready to rip me to shreds.
“Stop!” Maria squeals in desperation. “Stop fighting,” she pleads.
We all turn to look at her, and guilt washes over me. I take a deep breath. Now really isn’t the time to be fighting. She needs us. Our emotions are a wreck seeing her like this, though, and things got out of hand.
Maria sighs softly. “It’s my fault. It’s no one else’s fault but mine,” she whispers.
“It’s not your fault, baby bird,” I say, reaching for her hand.
She pulls her hand away with tears in her eyes. “Itismy fault. When I was at the mall, I slipped away from the guard to meet my brother. I had to see him. I needed to know the truth,” she confesses. We all tense, watching her, listening.
She swallows and closes her eyes, then continues explaining what happened.
“Misha came to talk to me, and he wanted to take me home, but I asked him first. I asked him what really happened, and I thought he’d tell me there was a misunderstandingand then we could all work it out…but there was no misunderstanding. Everything you told me is true.”
“Did Misha hurt you?” Artur asks.
She shakes her head. “No, I caused a scene in the mall and got away from my brother. Paul took me. He has been watching for a very long time and just waiting for the opportunity to snatch me, and I gave him exactly what he wanted. I walked right into his hands.”
I sigh heavily, pushing my hand through my hair. No one was at fault. Not even Maria. “You were just trying to do the right thing, baby bird. You wanted to fix things between your brother and us,” I tell her.
She nods, but I can see she still feels terrible.
“My father called me and made remarks about Maria. I didn’t know he had her, but I went to meet with him to find out what he knew. He was asking me for assets…I said no until he brought her out and used her as a tool in his negotiations.” Joseph is distraught. “I’m sorry, guys. What choice did I have?”
“None,” I agree.
“So Joseph got her out of there, but…” Art says.
“But then what happened to you? Did Paul hurt you?” Kaz asks.
Behind us, a doctor walks into the room.
“I believe you are all her husbands?” he says, his brows knitted. “If this is not the case, we need to clear this room so that this young lady can rest, because…”
“We are all her husbands,” I tell him.
He swallows hard, nodding. “Alright,” he mutters. “Can I speak with my patient?”
We step away from the bed, allowing him to get to her.
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” he asks, checking her vitals on the monitor next to her bed.
“I’m okay,” she mutters nervously.
“We got the test results back. The important thing is that the baby is fine. Your pregnancy was not affected, and the bleeding has stopped, but we’re going to ask you to stay in bed rest when you get home. At least for a few days.”
“Baby?” Kaz blurts out.
