Everyone in the room stopped. Daniil included.
He came back in a rush, moving me to a chair and placing his hands on my stomach, looking all kinds of nervous as everyone around us starting yelling about what to do. Christ. I hadn’t meant to make that big of a scene. Daniil glanced up at me, and back to my stomach before his eyes slammed back up to mine. And, yeah, I couldn’t lie so well, which I had already learned, but he got the hint that I didn’t want him leaving.
“Don’t do that again,” he hissed harshly, but quietly, before standing and lifting his arms. “She’s fine. She’s fine. Everyone calm down. It was just one of the babies kicking.”
“There are three in there. It’s bound to hurt,” mom stated, rushing to my side. “You should really be off your feet. I’m going to call Dr. Wisser tomorrow.”
Daniil actually grinned at that.
Whatever, jerk. Justice, and all that for tricking him.
He still didn’t leave my side, and thank God, five minutes later Eva came into the room dressed impeccably in a red velvet gown. Her chestnut hair was perfectly brushed, her make-up fully intact, and her dress thankfully zipped. However, to the trained eye, her red lips were fuller, and her eyes were still silently dilated, and she was a little breathless even though she hid it behind a small glass of vodka she quickly proffered.
Daniil caught all of it, too. Dammit.
His arm tightened around me, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he went over to his desk as everyone spoke and quickly typed into his computer, staring at his monitor no one else could see from here. And I knew what he was doing. He didn’t need to ask because he figured he could find out from the comings and goings of his surveillance system. But…oh, oh, shit…he looked furious as he typed in something else, his narrowed eyes scanning the screen.
Silently, and slowly, he turned off the computer. And his gaze met mine.
Stash must have done a stellar job with the system. That gaze right there told me he had figured out it had been tapped into. And he didn’t like it. Nope, not one bit.
“Time to go down,” Artur stated, checking his watch. “Everyone should be here by now.”
Oh, thank you, Lord. Saved by the bell.
I scurried out of the room quickly, trying to avoid that determined look in Daniil’s eyes.
“You sure you’re okay?” Ember asked quietly.
I took the opportunity given and wrapped my arm through hers. “Just stay next to me and I will be.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded. “Alrighty.”
The entire family descended the stairs, and I felt like a girl coming out with everyone below in their finest tuxes and dresses milling around, only to stop and stare up at us. Swiftly, all of their eyes landed on me. And my belly. I took a deep breath, and muttered, “I’m huge. Like a whale.”
Ember chuckled. “And you’re only going to get bigger.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
She shrugged, her arm solid underneath mine, keeping me steady. “You’re welcome. I’m always the bearer of good tidings.”
I chuckled at that because she so wasn’t. “Talk to Dr. Wisser yet?” She and Grigori had planned to speak with him about their options since Ember had difficulty becoming pregnant.
She nodded. “I start Clomid treatments next week. It’s how I got pregnant with Nikki and Beth, so I’m hopeful, but the doctor seemed to have a reservation because of my,” she cleared her throat, “advanced age.”
I chuckled even harder. Ember wasn’t even thirty-five yet. “I’m sure he’ll get you two all set.” I grinned. “At least, you two get to have sex.”
Ember chuckled at that, both of us landing at the bottom of the stairs. “Yep. And you’re abstinent for a few months.” She patted my arm. “Good luck with that.”
“Wicked redheaded bitch,” I muttered behind a fake smile, as people came up to greet us.
“Crazy preggo bitch,” she answered in kind, plastering a smile on her face just as fake as mine.
Daniil stopped behind me, resting a hand possessively, and a little tightly, on the back of my neck. Yep. He wasn’t pleased. Oh, well. There wasn’t much I could currently do about that. Now, I wanted to figure out who had killed all of my bodyguards and then kidnapped me.
Fun times.
Two hours later, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much as I met so many damn Russians my head was swimming. The house was packed, but I had yet to meet anyone who I thought might have gassed everyone in a church. Not that I wouldn’t put it past most of these people since they were like… No, they were, the grand total of the Russian mob, which I was sure was giving the US a full freak out. I was pretty sure I heard the word FBI and CIA a few times in reference to the reporters that surrounded the property. I guess we had a few more guests keeping tabs than our normal around here.
