Chapter 1
Sofia
New York City — First Snow Forecasted popped up as a notification on my phone, but I dismissed it.
In my other hand, I held the little stick. I’d stared at the pregnancy test so long I was pretty sure the little plus sign actually burned into my retinas. There were no simple “two pink lines.” I’d opted for the one that spelled it out for me. Pregnant. Not Pregnant. No ambiguity. No mercy.
And boy, had it shown none whatsoever.
My stomach rolled—not nausea this time. Nerves. Terror. Awe.
I kept telling myself to breathe. It’s not like I was dying. I wasn’t being hunted in a dark alley. I was pregnant. With a Bratva enforcer’s child. Had he ever specifically told me what he did? No. But I wasn’t dumb, and I could put two and two together.
Okay. So maybe dying was still on the table. Shit.
Telling myself to simply breathe, I paced the length of my tiny living room for the fiftieth time. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Every sound outside made me jump. A car door. A neighbor’s music thumping through the wall. Distant sirens.
I was wired so tight my teeth and jaw ached. My shoulders seemed to be up by my ears, and I could hear my pulse pounding in my head.
My phone buzzed.
Maksim: Parking.
My hammering heart tried to exit my body in one violent leap. I typed back with what felt like ten thumbs.
Me: I’ll come down and open the door.
He didn’t reply. Of course he didn’t. He didn’t text like normal people—he texted like each of the messages cost him freaking money. I rolled my eyes.
After a deep, fortifying breath, I went to head downstairs, nerves sparking like crappy wiring. I turned my knob and swung it open?—
—and yelped.
Maksim stood inches away, broad shoulders filling the hallway like he’d materialized out of thin air. A dark coat, darker eyes, snowflakes melting on his hair.
Trying to force my lungs to work again, I slapped a hand over my chest. “Oh my God, are you trying to kill me?”
His arm went around my waist instantly, gently pulling me aside as he moved inside. “What scared you?”
“What?”
“You… squeaked. You sounded scared.” He flicked a lethal look around the apartment, already checking windows, corners, closet, bathroom. Then his body followed the same path his gaze had. He moved like a man expecting to find an enemy in every shadow.
When he finished his sweep in under ten seconds, he came back, cupping my face, eyes narrowed. “Who scared you?”
“You did!” I hissed. “You weren’t supposed to be right there!”
“Not what I meant. You never call me to come over.” His tone was quiet. Deadly observant. “Something is wrong.”
Christ, I swore he could read me like a printed file someone had casually dropped in his lap. Shit, I needed a little time. A single goddamn breath. A second to figure out how not to faint dead away before I could spit it out.
So I blurted out the first thing that popped to my mind.
“How do you even get into my building?” I demanded as I narrowed my eyes into suspicious slits. You needed a key to get in the main entrance.
His mouth curved—not a smile. It didn’t come from happiness. Instead, it was a deadly weapon to my heart. “I have my ways.”
“That’s not an answer.” Arms akimbo, I scowled.
