Emilia sits beside the bed with one hand around mine, while Fiona stays close by like she has no intention of leaving. The two of them barely know me and they don’t owe me this, but they’re here anyway, doing what they can while I sit in this hospital bed trying not to fall apart.
“They’re going to find them,” Emilia attempts to reassure me. “Kirill and the guys will bring them home.”
Fiona nods. “Those men don’t fail when it comes to their family.”
I want so badly to believe that, but all I can think is, what if he’s too late? What if Eli already…
My eyes squeeze shut, panic hitting so hard it’s as though it’s an extension of me now. Without thinking, my hand drifts down to my stomach, trying to protect the other child we now have.
The thought is surreal. My boys are out there somewhere, terrified and alone, and somehow in the middle of all this chaos, there is another tiny life growing inside me, depending on me to stay strong.
Think positive. Focus on something good.
Before I can even try, my phone rings on the small table beside the bed. My eyes fly open and lock on the screen lighting up with a number I don’t recognize. The room spins, my nerves hitting all at once.
Emilia and Fiona both notice the way I tense up before I’ve even reached for the phone.
“Do you want me to answer it?” Fiona asks.
I shake my head. “No. I’ll do it.”
Pushing myself a little straighter against the pillows and ignoring the thumping in my head and throbbing in my arm, I reach for the phone and answer. “Hello?”
There’s nothing on the other end except static, and that tiny stretch of silence makes my whole body go cold.
Then his voice comes through. “Hey, Eden. How are you? I hope you didn’t get hurt too badly.”
The air in the room turns too thin to breathe.
“Where are my boys? What are you doing with them?” I get the words out, but my hands are shaking so hard, the phone nearly slips from my grip.
Fiona goes still beside me, and Emilia’s expression sharpens.
“They’re safe.” The bastard laughs. “For now.”
“Why would you do that to innocent children?” I choke out, fighting to keep the dread from spilling out of me. “They haven’t done anything. Just let them go. You can have me. I told you that.”
“Nah.” He snickers. “This is better. He’ll pay top dollar for those kids, and if he doesn’t…you know I’ve got no problem shooting them both.”
“Don’t touch them, you sick son of a bitch!” Rage explodes out of me. “You’re a fucking monster!”
Fiona grips my shoulder, while Emilia is already typing furiously on her phone, probably sending a message to Konstantin.
Eli makes a clicking sound with his tongue, and it slithers across my skin like something filthy. “I’d be careful what you say to the father of your son, Eden. He might hear you.”
All the blood drains from my face.
“Wha-what?” The words stumble out of me before I can even process them. “What the hell are you even talking about? Milo isn’t yours. Are you insane? Have you let all those drugs rot your brain?”
He chuckles. “You don’t remember anything, do you?”
My thoughts race, scrambling to make sense of what he’s saying while every part of me fights against it.
“I mean, it’s no surprise,” he continues with a mocking sigh. “You were so drunk, you could barely stand on your own two feet. If it hadn’t been for me helping you, you probably would’ve fallen in the pool and drowned.”
Barrett’s party. The memory flickers through my mind like a broken film reel, but I don’t remember much.
“I…I was with a stranger…”
