Chapter 18

eighteen

Avery

We're sitting in class waiting for the Professor to dismiss us when nausea hits me again, I quickly grab my stuff and run out. I head to the bathroom with Mel running behind me, and as soon as I hit the toilet, everything I ate comes up, which isn't much; I've lost most of my appetite. Mel rubs my back until I stop dry heaving, and helps me stand. I go to the sink and splash water on my face while she hands me a bottle of water. I smile weakly at her and look in the mirror. My face is skinnier, my hair a little bit dull, and my violet eyes sad. I sigh and rinse my mouth with the water she gave me, and she clears her throat.

"Avs, is it possible you're pregnant?" I freeze at her words and my body stills. "You're sick all the time, you complain if I hug you too tight because your boobs hurt, and your emotions are all over the place. When was your last period?"

No, no, no, this can't be happening. I look at her wide eyed, and I whisper, "Just after Phoebe was attacked." Her eyes widen and she grabs my hand, dragging my shocked body out of the building. We head to the pharmacy, and she grabs three different tests. We pay, and head back to my crappy apartment.

Mel shoves me into my bathroom. "Okay, take all three tests." She says it so sternly, which doesn't suit her, and I'd laugh if my heart wasn't failing right now. I turn into the bathroom, shutting the doors to take the tests.

Ten minutes later, I'm sitting on the closed toilet lid, staring at the tests as tears run down my cheeks. I'm pissed that I got caught by a guy who's not only in the Mafia world but a guy who hasn't bothered to contact me in the past few weeks, a guy who only sees me as a quick fuck, a guy who broke me. And I'm pissed that I didn't catch it and Melanie did.

She barges into the bathroom. "You're taking too long." She sees my state and sees the tests, and quickly grabs me in a hug as I cry on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay, I promise." I nod but don't believe her. I spend the rest of the evening crying.

The next day, in between classes, I try to call Sergi, but he doesn't answer. At 6 PM I've given up calling him and decide to google the Volkov's businesses. I did a lot of searches when Sergi told me he was Mafia/Bratva, and I know they own several businesses. A strip club comes up on my search, and the offices to the other businesses are closed, so this is my only option. He told me several times that he has an office at a club, he just never said it was a strip club.

I scowl. More lies.

I grab my keys and bag, and quickly run out to my dad's SUV, and drive over to the club, which only takes me roughly fifteen minutes.

I get out and look at the black building with gold letters. It says: "The Gentlemen's Club." Hmm, classy. I walk over to the bouncer and smile a small smile at him.

He frowns and says, "No admittance without ID." I nod and show him mine, and he nods once and lets me in.

It's not very bright inside; the furniture is dark purple and black, there's a half-naked woman hanging upside down on a pole, and several walking around in just thongs and nipple pasties. As I get to the bar, a woman in a see-through thong and bra approaches me.

"Can I help you? Because no offense, love, this doesn't look like your kind of scene." Well, she's right about that.

I clear my throat. "I was actually looking for my boyfriend, Sergi. I know he works here some evenings."

She looks at me in shock. "Sergi's your boyfriend? Yours?"

I nod timidly. "Going on nearly eight months."

A nasty gleam appears in her eyes, and I don't like it. My stomach knots up.

"He's in his office, down the hall, second door to the right," she offers, then she walks away chuckling.

I take a deep breath. She knows something I don't, and I have a feeling it's going to destroy me. I head toward his office and decide against knocking, and just slowly open the door. Tears automatically fill my eyes as I stand stock still, not making a sound. Sergi is bent over a woman, fucking her from behind, while one hand grips her hair tight, and the other is thrusting fingers into her. Pleasure shows all over his face and she's moaning.

A sob builds in my throat, and I slowly shut the door and turn to walk away. The woman who directed me there stands at the mouth of the hallway smirking. I walk over to her, letting her see the tears falling from my eyes, so she can see the pain she just helped inflict.

"You like hurting innocent people? You could have told me what he was doing instead of sending me to see the love of my life, the father of my unborn child cheating on me."

Her face pales, shock showing in her eyes as she says, "I'm sorry, I thought, I thought you were just another girl claiming to be his."

I croak, "Want to make it up to me? You never saw me, and you don't know about the baby. I have some thinking to do and possibly a lawyer to see."

She nods, giving me a sad smile, and I leave without turning back. When I get to the car, I send him a text.

Me: I hope she was worth it.

Then I block and delete his number, as well as that contact information for his family members.

A week later, I'm at work, serving a customer, when the bell goes off over the door. I've been doing more hours now that I'm expecting. I've also decided to move. I've seen a couple of two-bedroom houses near Elm Street that I'm interested in.

After handing a customer their change, I look up to see who's next. The person I never wanted to see stands there smiling at me. Her blonde hair looks immaculate; not a hair out of place, and she's wearing a ton of makeup, and a tight mini red dress with stripper heals. She looks at me and smirks.

I keep my face devoid of emotions and ask, "What can I get you?" She looks around with disgust and shakes her head.

She sneers, "I just came here to tell you not to contact Sergi again. We've decided to give our relationship a try. I know you two were together for a while, but you need to move on."

I smirk at her, causing her to frown; this girl needs her head checked.

"I think you need to turn around and go back where you came from. I haven't spoken to Sergi in three weeks, and I blocked his number last week when you decided to whore yourself out to a taken man. Now, if you're not going to order anything, please leave, because quite frankly, the sight of you makes me physically sick." Her face goes from pale to red quickly. She opens her mouth to say something, but I put my hand up to stop her. "I don't know what high school drama you're trying to cause but if you don't leave, I will call the police." Her nostrils flare and I merely raise a brow at her, not giving into her pathetic games. She wants Sergi, she can have him. Him being in the mafia, I was willing to talk to him about. Cheating, hard pass—and it was cheating. I needed time, but he clearly didn't give a fuck. She huffs and stomps out, and I let out a breath and continue with my shift like she didn't tear my heart open. If that's who he prefers to be with, then so be it. My baby is my priority from now on. He or she is my only family left.

Just as I'm closing the coffee shop, my phone dings. I sigh, thinking maybe its Mel. I quickly look at it and tears instantly fill my eyes. It's a name I refused to block, hoping, and praying she'd come out of that coma.

She's finally awake after four months.

Phoebe: I've been awake for twelve hours now and there's no sign of my new friend. The men aren't here; please come see me. Don't make me leave this hospital bed to come find you.

I bite my bottom lip, debating going to see her. It's 8 PM. I huff and grab my keys, determined not to go. She's awake and that's all that matters. I should just go home instead and block her number now that I know she'll be okay. But my body didn't seem to get the memo as I head toward the hospital.

I sit in my car at the hospital for about ten minutes, before I get out and head inside. I head to the front desk and the nurse looks at me blandly.

"Can I help you? Visiting hours are over, but you can return tomorrow after 8 AM."

I clear my throat. "Phoebe Adino messaged me and asked me to pop by."

The nurse instantly pales, and I roll my eyes, not helping myself as she stutters, "Y-yes, fourth floor, room 265."

I nod and walk to the elevator, and press the fourth-floor button and wait for it to arrive. A few minutes later, I walk out the elevator and find her room number. My palms start to sweat, and I wipe them on my jeans, before I slowly open the door. Phoebe is sitting up in bed and smiles wide when she sees me. I can't help the tears that fill my eyes. She looks thinner, her curvy frame nearly gone, and the pink in her white-blond hair is fading. Her green eyes sparkle.

"You came." Her voice is raspy. I can't help myself; I walk over to her and hug her gently but tightly, and she hugs me back.

I whisper, "You're okay?" She nods, and I pull back to look at her. "You need to touch up your pink," I try to joke, and she laughs at my attempt.

I take a seat on the chair next to her bed and she grabs my hand, squeezing it tight. My tears fall and she furrow her brows, her face showing pain for me.

"I'm sorry he did this to you." I shake my head and wipe my tears with my free hand. When we met, we instantly clicked, and I knew we would be good friends. But now, I don't know if it's right; Sergi is her family.

She must read my mind. "I don't care that you two aren't together; we clicked. You're my friend, and I want to get to know you. I hate that you're in so much pain."

I wipe my tears again, and rasp, "I've been through worse."

She nods in understanding and asks, "Can you tell me about some of it?" I clear my throat, and she offers, "I won't tell anyone, including Sergi." I flinch at his name.

Instead of giving her what she asked, I stall. "A woman came to see me today. It was the woman I caught him with. She says they're going to try and be together, and I need to back off. She wasn't very happy when I put her in her place and told her I blocked him a week ago."

Phoebe's face goes from fury to amusement, "I don't think they are together, sweetie. Mindy has now officially slept with all the offspring of Dimitri."

I snort and shake my head, and I lean back, letting go of her hand. "Dimitri, not a very nice man, is he. When you were in surgery, he wasn't very welcoming to me, he said—" I sigh and pull my hair out of its messy knot on top, and run my fingers through it. "He said I was hiding something and if I didn't tell him, then I wasn't welcome around his family, including Sergi. He basically threatened me." Phoebe's eyes widen in shock, but I continue, my eyes staying glued to her hand on the bed. "But how do you tell someone you don't know that you don't want the man you've fallen completely in love with to look at you with pity—or worse, disgust? Like I'm tainted." She furrows her brows but stays quiet as I tell her some of my story, hoping I can trust her not to say anything. When I'm done telling her everything, I'm in shock that I gave her as much as I did.

"I'm guessing there's a lot more you haven't said, but does Sergi know any of it?" she demands, anger in her voice.

I shake my head. "And he's not going to." I made sure make eye contact with her, so she understood she wasn't to say a word. She sighs, but nods her head.

She asks, "Have you tried to find your biological father?"

I chuckle darkly. "I didn't need to; I saw him when you were brought in, and I made sure to leave before he saw me. Then he had the nerve to show up at my work. Obviously Dimitri said something to him, considering he and Maria are the only ones who knew who he was to me. They were there when I saw him. When he came to the café, I made sure he knew my father died seven years ago." She frowns and I tell her his name, making her mouth hang open. "I believe you know my dead-beat dad, Peter. Apparently, he works for your dad."

"Are you fucking kidding me!" she shouts, and I shrug.

The nurse comes in and smiles at us. "Okay, Phoebe, this is your morphine, so you're going to get sleepy."

Phoebe sighs, and I know it's because she wants to talk more, but I get up and place a kiss on her cheek.

"You're the only one I haven't blocked on my phone. We'll text, and I can pop by when everyone else isn't here." She smiles, obviously feeling special, making me chuckle as her eyes get droopy. I squeeze her hand before I walk out, letting her get her rest, completely shocked, again, that I told her so much. To be fair, she is a good listener, and I think she'll be an even better friend.

I get off the elevator on the ground floor and bump into Alexandr and Dimitri. I tense but keep going like I don't see them. Alexandr has a different idea.

He sneers, "So you're just going to walk by like you didn't come from seeing my woman?"

I'm tired, and when I'm tired I speak my mind. Clearly, by my talk with Phoebe, I'm irritated and upset with myself for telling her my story, and now is not the time to put my shy self away. But my mouth has a mind of its own.

I sneer, yes sneer , back at him, "Phoebe messaged me to come see her, so it has fuck all to do with you. Don't go acting all high and mighty when you failed her for years."

Dmitri's eyebrows shoot high into his hairline, and Alexandr suddenly has rage pouring off him. But I don't seem to care.

He growls out, "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

I smirk at him. "From someone who has been dealt with pain most of her life, I know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been given another chance, try not fucking it up." Then I walk away from them, leaving Alexandr with his mouth hanging open.

I stop in my tracks when Dimitri speaks, "I'm sorry, Avery. I misjudged you; tensions were high."

I turn my head a little and state, "Doesn't matter; we're over. You got your wish."

Alexandr looks at us in confusion, then Dimitri says, "He misses you. He hasn't been the same since you walked away from him."

This time I do turn toward them, and I get in the man's surprised face. I sneer, "I didn't walk away, I ran from the monster he was in that moment. He wasn't himself because, if he was, he wouldn't have threatened to kill me and send me to my adoptive parents, he wouldn't have bruised my arm. I needed time, but he decided to throw away what we had when he slept with someone else. He ruined us, not me, so don't you dare try and make out like it was my fault."

I turn away and head to my car. As soon as I get in the driver's seat and I look toward the doors, I see Sergi headed toward then. He must sense being watched, because he turns and looks around the parking lot, and when his eyes land on my car, they widen, and he starts to run my way, shouting my name. I shake my head and put the car in drive, skidding out of parking lot. I look in my rearview mirror and see him standing with his hands on the back of his head, watching me leave with tears running down his cheeks. Alexandr is with him, a hand on his shoulder.

I sob.