Within seconds, she's asleep again, the resilience of childhood allowing her to slip back into dreams without worry. I stay there for a long time trying to prepare myself for the terrifying reality of doing this all over again with another child.
Eventually, I force myself to stand and leave her room. I head to my office with every intention of drinking several glasses of vodka to dull the panic. I hate this feeling. It’s like a hair shirt. Everything feels wrong. I don’t have control. Ialwayshave control. But damn, Hannah is sending me into a tailspin. I have to find my footing.
I'm two drinks in when Bogdan appears in the doorway.
"Heard about Hannah's accident," he says. He walks to the bar to pour himself a drink without invitation. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine." I take a sip from my glass. "Concussion, some stitches. No broken bones. She'll recover."
"Good." He studies me with those eyes that never seem to miss anything. It would be disturbing if he wasn’t family. "You look like hell, though. What else happened?"
I take another drink and ponder the words. I don’t want anyone to know about Hannah yet. Not until I get some safeguards in place, but Bogdan is someone I can trust with the secret.
"She's pregnant," I hear myself say.
The silence that follows is absolute. I look up from my drink to find Bogdan staring at me, his expression frozen in something that might be surprise or might be something else entirely.
“It’s mine,” I clarify.
For just a moment—so brief I might have imagined it—I see something dark flicker in his eyes. Something that looks almost like anger.
Then it's gone, replaced by a broad smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Congratulations, cousin." He holds up his glass in salute. "Another Sokolov heir. The family will be pleased."
"Will they?" The vodka is starting to soften the edges of my panic, making me bold. "Or will they see it as another weakness to exploit?"
"That depends on how you handle it." Bogdan settles back swirling the liquid in his glass. "The elders respect strength.Show them you can protect your family while still leading the organization, and they'll accept the child."
"And if I can't?"
"Then they'll remove the weakness." He says it so casually, like he's discussing the weather instead of threatening the life of my unborn child. "But you're strong enough, Dante. You've proven that."
Have I? Because right now I feel like I'm barely holding on, like one more crisis will shatter what little control I have left.
"The Quinn situation," Bogdan continues. "That's going to be resolved soon, yes?"
The abrupt change of subject catches me off guard. "I'm still investigating."
"The elders gave you two weeks. That deadline is approaching rapidly."
"I'm aware."
"And what have you found?" He leans forward, interest sharpening his features. "Any evidence that Quinn is innocent like his daughter claims?"
“No.”
“Now she’s carrying your child,” he says. “That complicates things.”
“She wants me to make sure he truly stole the money,” I reply.”
"Hannah is emotionally compromised. Of course she wants to believe her father is innocent." Bogdan stands, finishing his drink. "But we both know the evidence is overwhelming.Sometimes, we have to make hard choices for the good of the family."
After he leaves, I sit alone in my office and finish a third drink. I’m not drunk. Not even buzzed, but I feel like I can function again.
I pull out my phone and call Alexei.
"How is she?" I ask when he answers.
