Chapter 24

"Don't worry about us," Lia says over the video call about thirty minutes after we return from the studio.

I sit cross-legged on the bed, looking at the laptop, my body sore in the best way. My belly rumbles, but it's weird. It's not rumbling as badly as it usually does. It's like, somehow, being with Aiden is helping me get closer and closer to something normal.

"How are you doing?" Mila asks, seeming much brighter and more energetic than when she first came to the compound.

"You know? Actually, great."

My sisters-in-law exchange a look. "Okay … that's not what we expected you to say," Mila laughs. "You look good, Ania. Healthy."

I shrug. "I guess maybe kidnapping isn't so bad."

They laugh, Lia shaking her head in that knowing way of hers. Lia seems far more mature than Mila and me sometimes. It might have to do with how independent she had to be at such a young age. Mila and I have been in the Bratva forever.

"You're both okay? Drake is, too?"

Mila nods. "We're fine, being treated like royalty. There's a helicopter waiting for us, but nothing's happened. We're just lounging around and?—"

"Don't lie," I interrupt, smiling. "Lia, I know for a fact you've been painting. Mila, if you haven't somehow found your way to a computer, that will be about the most shocking thing ever."

They both smile, exchanging a look.

"Okay, not just lounging around," Lia says.

After a pause, I lean closer to the camera, lowering my voice. "I might have something to tell you. Something interesting."

"Don't keep us in suspense," Mila says.

"The man who kidnapped me, Aiden, is kind of technically my stepbrother. I know it's weird because he took me, but something really—I don't know—magical has happened?"

I turn it into a question without really meaning to. They exchange another look.

"Does this magic include some steaminess?" Lia says, seeming suddenly filled with purpose and excitement.

I swallow, thinking of the kissing and everything else, thinking of the way he can make my body feel like it's burning up from the inside. "Yeah, but it's not just that. It's the way he makes me feel. It's how he makes it easier to get over certain things." I won't go into detail about exactly what I'm getting over. I've done a great job of hiding it. Only Aiden, with his me-reading abilities, could see right through it so quickly.

"I know it's only been two days," I go on. "I guess almost three, but still."

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Mila laughs. "When I arrived at the estate and saw Mikhail, I knew, without a doubt. I was happy that Dad had sold me to this man; obviously, I thought he was Dimitri."

"It was the same for me," Lia says. "I knew right away."

I don't say it, but that seems nuts. I didn't know, just like that. Maybe on some level? Maybe deep down?

"At first, it was like we were both fighting it," I go on. "Like neither of us wanted to admit we could want each other. Yet every moment we spend together feels way more important than it should."

"Don't worry about ‘should,'" Lia says. "You're happy. That's all that matters."

"I don't know if it will go anywhere anyway," I say.

"Nah-uh. Maybe you'll have some exciting news of your own soon."

Lia is talking about her pregnancy, but I'm already shaking my head before she's done talking. I know what she's getting at right away.

"No way." I think of holding Henry and how natural it felt. There's plenty of time for that in the future.

"If he's anything like Dimitri, he'll be baby crazy," Lia says, laughing, but then she stops. "Sorry, Ania. I was only kidding! There's no rush."

"I'm fine," I say, but now she's opened up this new world of possibilities. What if Aiden wants kids? Why am I even thinking about kids? What the hell is wrong with me? With us? It's all too fast like events are stacking up heavily, pressing down on me.

"I have to go," I tell them. "I love you both."

"Ania, seriously, I shouldn't have said anything."

"I'm fine, Lia. I promise. I love you."

"We love you too," Mila says.

Closing the laptop, I walk to the window, looking at the city as the sun sets. As far as I know, there still have been no updates from the Kozlovs. I'm safe here, locked in this tower, like a princess with nowhere to go. No future. Just a man who wants to fill her with babies and take all her dreams away.

Panic smashes into me, and I rush into the bathroom. Then, I catch sight of myself in the mirror. It's like somebody else looks back at me, small and melodramatic. I'm. So. Sick. Of. Being. Weak!

I slam the toilet seat closed, then open it, then slam it, then open it and stare into the bowl, into the clean water. I can partially see my reflection. It's like a distorted version of myself—the Ania that only exists here in the bathroom, the shame-filled version.

"Fuck you."

I spit in the bowl.

"Fuck you."

We eat dinner in the large, fancy dining room. It's Teddy—I'm not sure when I stopped thinking of him as Theodore—Mom, Aiden, Mikhail, Dimitri, and me. If somebody had told me when this started that we'd all be sharing a meal together, I would've laughed.

"You must miss your wives," Mom says, looking at Mikhail and Dimitri.

Things seem awkward between the three of them. I get it. My big brothers are staring at a reminder of just how messed up Dad really was. They're also staring at a reminder that they weren't the ones to reunite me with my mother. Aiden was.

Aiden is watching me as I move my food around the plate, so I purposefully put a piece of pasta in my mouth and begin chewing slowly.

"Yes, of course," Dimitri says, "but they understand that we have to put Ania first in this situation."

"It's not like the baby's here yet anyway."

My tone must come out way darker than I meant. They look at me like I've just said something mean.

"Oh, a new life," Teddy says. "How wonderful."

"Two new lives," I say. "Mila and Lia both are going to have babies."

Aiden is looking at me closely. I wonder if he's thinking about making me pregnant, subtly telling me to stop ballet, putting me in my princess-shaped place.

"I never knew I wanted children," Dimitri says, "but I was so happy when I heard the news. I couldn't believe how happy I was, honestly."

Mikhail says nothing. He's watching me just as closely as Aiden is.

I turn to my plate, pushing some more food around.

"Why do you think I keep dropping hints to my son?" Teddy says, laughing.

I grip the fork hard, spear two pieces of pasta, and put them in my mouth. Maybe puking would be better than this conversation.

"But he won't listen," Teddy says with a chuckle.

"There's no rush, Dad," Aiden mutters.

"Thirty-three is old," Teddy replies.

"Not sure what that makes me, then," Dimitri says jokingly.

"You've always said you wanted children when you were younger," Teddy continues.

I look up at Aiden, my heart suddenly fluttering with confused urgency. "Do you?"

"I've said it a couple of times. Dad likes to exaggerate."

"I believe you once told me the world would make sense if you could find the right woman and start a family."

"Hmm. Maybe that was too much beer."

"Well, do you want kids or not?" I snap, doing my best to ignore how everybody is looking at me like I've gone nuts.

"I think most men do," Aiden says noncommittally.

"You told me if you found the right woman, you'd waste no time?—"

"Dad, cool it," Aiden grunts.

Teddy, red-faced and happy, puts a hand on his chest. "Excuse me." He rolls his eyes at the table. "For such a big, tough guy, my son can be prickly."

"You might as well say," I tell Aiden. "We're already talking about it."

Aiden runs a hand through his hair exactly when Mikhail does. It would make me laugh if I didn't feel like I was about to pop with tension. "It's true. I've told Dad I want kids, but that doesn't mean it's all I want. It doesn't mean I'll put it before everything else."

"What if you find a woman who doesn't want kids? What then?" I question.

"Oh, he'd throw a fit!"

"Dad," Aiden snarls, slamming his fist on the table.

Silverware leaps up, and a glass slides off and almost falls, but then Dimitri catches it instinctively, putting it back in its place.

Aiden stands, both fists clenched, staring down at his father. "Read the room, for fuck's sake."

He storms toward the door, looking like a man on a mission and ready to turn into a wrecking ball.

"What did I say that was so terrible?" Teddy asks Mom, seeming genuinely confused.

"I think there's more going on here than we realize," Mom mutters, giving me a knowing look.

I try to shake my head, but I can feel how false I must look and how make-believe this is. Everybody knows—apart from Teddy—why everything just got so tense. Dimitri frowns at me, and Mikhail is still watching closely, his programmer's mind ticking away as though I'm an app that needs fixing.

"I just want to eat my dinner," I tell them. "Is that so bad?"

"No, Ania," Mikhail says. "You deserve to do whatever you want—whatever you're comfortable with."

Things haven't always been easy between me and Mikhail, but ever since Mila came into his life, it's like he's able to let out his softer side far more easily. He can put away the darkness and let the light shine through. Can I do the same with Aiden? It just feels like the world is moving so, so fast.

At least I can eat, though. Somehow. Miraculously. I'm sure there will be backsteps. I'm sure there will be more visits to the bathroom, but here and now, this pasta tastes damn good.