The door opens and Dr. Kovacs walks in. She smiles warmly as she greets us, then flashes me a quick look. “Is everything alright?”
“She was recently in a stressful situation,” Roman answers.
Dr. Kovacs doesn’t flinch at his peculiar phrasing—one of the perks of having a personal doctor who knows all about Bratva life, I suppose.
“I heard about what happened last night at the gala. How awful. Thank God there were no major injuries.” She shakes her head, as if putting it out of her mind. “Anyway, the ultrasound will tell the full story, so let’s not waste another moment.”
She sticks her head out into the hall, and moments later a nurse enters with an ultrasound machine. Dr. Kovacs explains each step of the process as she does them.
Roman takes my hand when the gel hits my skin. It helps.
When Dr. Kovacs puts the wand to my stomach, the ultrasound screen flickers to life. At first, it’s just static. Then, I hear a sound. Fast and rhythmic.
I gasp when I realize what it is.
A heartbeat.
“There we are,” Dr. Kovacs says. “The heartbeat is nice and strong. Exactly what we want to hear.”
The room seems to tilt. I gasp again, one hand flying to my mouth. Tears flow instantly. I had no idea that hearing the heartbeat would feel like this.
Roman’s hand slides from mine, his breath catching. He stares at the screen like he’s witnessing a miracle.
“That’s…” His voice breaks, just a tiny bit.
Dr. Kovacs smiles. “That’s your baby.”
Roman swallows hard. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s completely undone.
He moves closer to the exam table. Then he leans forward and presses a kiss—gentle, reverent—against my side. Then another. And another. I can’t help but giggle, my heart happy.
He rests his forehead against my thigh, eyes closed. “I hear you, little one. I hear you.”
When he looks up at me, his eyes are sheened with wetness. No tears, but as close as I imagine I’ll ever see from him.
Dr. Kovacs goes through the rest of the process, then gives us a moment alone.
“We keep this our secret,” he says. “At least for now. Until I’m sure no one can touch you.”
I think about my mom and Kyle. Am I really supposed to keep this a secret from my family? I push the matter out of my mind for now, focusing on the baby, on Roman.
“My heart,” he says, his hand on mine. “You gave me my heart twice over.”
Outside the clinic, the world goes on.
But in that room, in that moment, it’s just us.
The three of us.
I don’t tell Roman where I’m going. It feels like a betrayal, but I have to see Kyle.
I slip out while he’s gone for the day and while Sasha is with his private tutors. A few lies to the guards about a gyno appointment was all it took. Men tend not to ask too many questions about matters like that. It kills me to do it, but there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to cut my family out of what’s going on.
Kyle chose a quiet diner for us to meet. It’s near the river in neutral territory. I clock the scene without thinking as I ease my car into a spot. I’m in two different worlds between Kyle and Roman, but both of them require the same attention to possible danger.
I turn off the engine. Is this the kind of life I’m bringing my baby into? Am I going to raise him or her on the battleground between the law and the Bratva with my family on both sides of the war?
With all my mental effort, I push those questions to the side as best I can.
