Then his phone buzzed. Once. Twice. Three times in rapid succession.
He pulled it from his pocket, his expression darkening as he read the screen. Whatever he saw there made him curse under his breath in Russian.
“I have to go.”
Just like that. No explanation. No reassurance.
“What?” I blinked at him, still reeling from everything. “Kirill, we need to—”
He was already moving toward the door, shoving his phone back in his pocket.
“Wait—” I started to stand, panic clawing at my chest. “You can’t just—”
But he was already gone, the door slamming shut behind him with a finality that echoed through the room.
I stood there, frozen, one hand instinctively moving to my still-flat stomach.
He left.
Just…left.
Pregnant.
My mother had been murdered.
Sebastian had tried to kill me.
And the father of my baby had just walked out without a single word about what any of this meant.
Chapter 16 – Kirill
It had been a week since the hospital.
A week since I’d walked out of that sterile room with the doctor’s words echoing in my head and my entire world tilting on its axis. A week since I’d driven back to my penthouse in a daze, sat in front of my monitors, and stared at code I couldn’t process because all I could think about was the woman lying in a hospital bed, carrying my child.
A week since I’d done the one thing I swore I’d never do: called Vladimir.
The conversation still played on repeat in my mind, his words carved into my consciousness like code I couldn’t delete.
“You need to tell me what’s going on, Kirill.” His voice had been calm and measured, but underneath, there was concern. The kind only Vladimir could hide so well. “You haven’t checked in. You missed our scheduled call. That’s not like you.”
I’d told him everything I knew. Barbara. Sebastian. The blackmail I didn’t understand the details of. The attack that had nearly killed her. The pregnancy that had blindsided us both. The fact that she wouldn’t tell me more—wouldn’t explain what Sebastian had on her or what had happened in that building beyond the physical attack.
The line had gone quiet for so long I’d thought he’d hung up.
Then: “Secrets or not, she is carrying your child, and you don’t get to walk away.”
The words had hit like a physical blow. Because walking away had been exactly what I’d been considering. Not permanently, but giving her space. Letting her recover. Figuring out my own head before I tried to navigate hers.
“You protect what is yours,” Vladimir had continued, his voice taking on that edge that meant he wasn’t making asuggestion. He was giving an order. “That includes her. And the Bratva….” A pause. “The Bratva owns your bloodline now, Kirill. Your child will be born into this world. Into our world. You understand what that means?”
I’d understood perfectly. It meant no walking away. No half-measures. No pretending this was temporary or casual or something I could compartmentalize. Barbara Davis was carrying Bratva blood now, whether she knew it or not. And that made her family.
That made her mine to protect.
The conversation had shifted after that. Vladimir asking questions I didn’t have many answers to. About Sebastian’s connections. About the blackmail I still didn’t understand. About what had happened in that building that Barbara refused to talk about. About whether I’d broken my promise and killed anyone.
“Not yet,” I’d told him honestly. “But I’m going to.”
