14. Amy

14

AMY

B eing tossed into a room and trapped behind locked doors was becoming my life. I didn't like it. Not one bit. However, I felt like I was living a life I never could have dreamed of in here.

I didn't know where I was. I had no means to contact anyone, and Missy was the only person I would have reached out to. But I was as pampered as could be. All day, through the night, and into the next morning, I was treated well.

An older woman entered the room to bring me water and food. A soldier-like, hard-looking guard came with her, and it dispelled any hope for escape. I ran out of breath asking them to explain something, anything, but both the kindly housekeeper and guard remained mute, ignoring my constant questions and begs for information. They didn't react to my demands to let me go, either, but I said it anyway, too determined to survive this chaos and confusion of being a captive woman.

The longer Nik remained away—a lengthier amount of time than when he'd left me at the other apartment—the more I worried .

Could something have happened to him? I couldn't bear the idea of him in pain. He hadn't shown me pain and went out of his way to prevent it. I hadn't forgotten how he'd stopped his friend from slapping me.

Could he be wounded? All I knew was that the strip club was on fire, and it was a prompt to get him running. Maybe the strip club was his , a part of his family's business, and the more I picked at that specific idea, the deeper my uneasiness spread.

Family? As in the Family ?

I knew nothing about Nik, not who he really was, but I could have sworn those curses were Slavic or maybe Russian. If he had a "family" business, and he wasn't afraid to kill people or wear wigs and contacts to disguise himself… If he meant family in the way some criminals referred to a syndicated crime organization…

I rubbed my stomach, pacing and wishing the breakfast the housekeeper had brought in didn't smell so strong. I felt confident that I was on the right path of assumptions here.

I'm stuck within some twisted Mafia war.

A click sounded on the door, and I furrowed my brow at the noise. The housekeeper and guard duo had just come in. It couldn't be them again, and I hadn't seen anyone else.

Nik?

It wasn't him, either. A curvy brunette entered the suite. Dressed in a fashionable dress and wearing heels, she strode in with a guard.

I backed up, suspicious of her entrance. As I neared the pot of coffee on the cart the housekeeper had wheeled in recently, I gagged at the smell.

"I—" I swallowed, not wanting to puke on this lovely carpet. I ran instead, hurrying toward the bathroom to empty more bile and dry heave. After the spell was finished, I wiped my mouth and got up, wondering if that woman was still here.

She was present, patient and waiting for me, seated at one of the chairs near the table. The cart was gone, and a guard brought in a tray with simpler fare—toast and water. A plate of salted crackers confused me. "Leave it there, please," she ordered politely.

Whoever she was, she had a sense of authority, telling that man what to do. I sat opposite, wondering and hoping she could be an ally.

"Leave us," she told the man.

He didn't obey immediately, glancing at me as I rubbed my stomach. She arched a brow, and he turned to leave.

"What's this?" I gestured at the saltines.

"They've helped me so far." She tilted her head to the side. "How far along are you?"

"I—No. I…" I stammered, hating how she'd come out with that .

"Margie, the maid who's been delivering your food during your stay, has shown me how little you've eaten. You haven't touched the coffee, either." She raised her brows.

"That doesn't mean anything."

She leaned forward, clasping her hands together and sighing. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to start on the wrong foot like that."

I kept my lips clamped shut, unsure of her.

"I'm Mila Valkov, Alek Valkov's wife." She held her hand out, and I took it.

"I'm not… entirely familiar with those names." Valkov sounds familiar from the news, but… I couldn't place it.

"Alek is the leader of the Family, of the Valkov Bratva. "

I slapped my thigh. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That I've gotten messed up with some fucked-up organized crime crap," I growled.

"How?"

I gawked at her. "You're implying this is my fault?"

"Not at all. What's your name?"

"Amy," I spat, resigned. If she was the wife of a crime lord, she would be able to get my info sooner or later. If she didn't have it already. "Amy Simmons." I frowned quickly. "Nik didn't tell you?"

"Nik didn't tell any of us that you were in here. Or who you are." She smiled softly. "Margie brought it to my attention with the worry that you were ill."

I shook my head, lowering my face. "I… I don't know how far along I am."

She nodded.

"I haven't taken a test."

"But you know." She smiled freer, almost seeming happy for me.

I nodded. I did. I couldn't deny it.

"I'm only a couple of weeks in." She set her hand on her stomach. "And I am thrilled."

Damn. Maybe these pregnancy hormones were more potent when they were accumulated in one place. I smiled and felt my eyes water with happy tears for her. "Congratulations."

She smiled. "And to you, too."

I shook my head but stopped. My baby was a good thing. A blessing. Something I've wished for but never counted on happening, especially not like this. Mila was the first person I'd confided in, and that made this moment more sentimental "It's a lot. It's a lot to accept, and it's just me."

"No family?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"This girl will be the start of a new family here." She lowered her gaze, sighing. "And it's been a struggle to get to this state."

I didn't ask anything, knowing she wouldn't be likely to tell me much. I was captive here. She knew that, even if she was here to befriend me. Or to get intel from me.

"Where's Nik?" I asked.

"He went with his brothers to help with an attack on one of the family's businesses."

"He's been gone for over a day. All night and this morning, too." I heard the worry in my voice but I didn't care.

She nodded. "Alek is confident that he is okay, though. He has more brothers and men working to help Nikolai and the situation he's facing."

That sounded cryptic. I furrowed my brow, more worried for the man I shouldn't care about.

"The Valkov Bratva is all about family, Amy. We look after our own. We keep our own. Blood runs thick, and nothing stands in its way. Not even attacks from other Bratvas. Not the Cartel. No one will sever the ties of this family."

Must be nice , I thought bitterly. I'd never had a support system like that. All I'd ever dreamed of was a big family with lots of sources of comfort and help. To give and get love and security.

"Why am I here, then? Why keep me captive? I don't understand. "

"I can't explain much, Amy," she said gently, almost as though she wished she could be clearer. "I don't know why Nik wants to keep you here."

I shook my head, sour about my reality. "He's keeping me here as nothing but a whore. His personal whore."

"No." Mila shook her head too, confident. "No, Nik wouldn't do that."

I raised my brows.

"Nikolai is reclusive. He's one of the Bratva's best spies. I haven't known him for long, but I do know that he does not have a habit of bringing women into his personal life. At home ."

Tears slipped free at her words. They rocked me because I'd gotten as personal as possible. I carried Nik's baby, and he didn't even know.

"Have you been suffering all this time?" she asked, concerned with my crying and uneasiness.

I nodded. "I… I never thought I could get pregnant. I have a condition, and it's a shock."

And no one could know it was Nik's. If what Mila said was true, this baby wouldn't be mine . It would be theirs. All that talk about their family, looking out for and keeping them close. The bloodlines. My baby would be a Valkov baby, and I struggled with the instant fear that they might want to keep him or her.

What if they keep me captive until I deliver this baby, if I even can, and then they take him or her from me?

I'd never allow it. They'd have to kill me to get my baby.

"Do you know who the father is?" Mila asked.

I shook my head, scrambling for a lie. "I—I was raped."

She frowned, touching my knee gently and patting it. "I'm so sorry."

"By… by… a thug. "

She raised her brows. "Recently?"

I shook my head. "No. Um. A…" I racked my brain for what she'd said of their enemies. "A Cartel guy. He raped me a while back. I think… I think that's why they found me on the street." I assumed that the Cartel men were the kidnappers. They'd spoken Spanish, so maybe that was it. "They must have remembered me, and that's why they chose to take me off the street."

She sighed, worried and quiet for a long moment.

I needed her to believe my lie. If she thought I was carrying the baby of an enemy, they wouldn't start plans to keep him or her to maintain their family lines.

"I will keep this information as confidential as possible," she promised.

I shook my head. "Yeah, right."

"I will not lie to my husband. But I understand the delicacy of this situation." She stood. "Please understand that you are safer here than on the streets."

I nodded.

"I will do everything I can to help you." She smiled. "I can arrange for an ultrasound, basic prenatal care."

"No!" I sat back down from launching to stand. "I… I don't want to be indebted. To your family."

"Nonsense." She nodded once, like she was reaffirming the plan to herself. "Rest, Amy. And should I receive news about Nikolai, I will share it with you. Like I said, he is a private, reclusive man, but the fact that he's brought you here , to his private wing, must mean something."

I frowned, lowering my gaze.

"It tells me that you must mean something to him. "

I met her serious gaze. I was jaded, always skeptical to trust someone, but I saw no hint of a lie on her face. She really meant it, and as an insider to this Bratva family, I knew she would be someone who could make such a claim.

A deep, secret part of me wanted to cheer this news. Knowing Nik saw me as the one, unique woman to bring into his home made me feel good. Her remarks should have made me feel better about my future. If Nik went so far as to keep me here, in his space, then he couldn't fork me over to someone else or leave me to fend for myself, right?

"Coffee turns my stomach, too," she said. "I'll have Margie stop bringing it. Try the water and saltines as soon as you wake, though. The morning sickness is easier to handle when your stomach isn't empty."

Saying nothing further, she turned and left me alone in this empty but lavish suite.

Nervous and bewildered, I sat there in that chair and reluctantly took Mila's advice. I nibbled on the salty crackers, relieved when the urge to vomit didn't come. Maybe she knew what she was talking about, experiencing it firsthand and all.

I didn't want to lower my guard. It was difficult to accept that I'd lowered my guard and the walls around my heart to let Nik matter this much. I wasn't used to having friends. Knowing I could count on another woman was too great of a risk to take blindly. Mila seemed to want to help, but it was awfully telling that she would abide by my continued captivity here.

But I am safer here. I knew that.

So, what the hell is going to happen to me?

"To us?" I whispered, rubbing my still-flat stomach .

Eventually, the nausea subsided completely. And with that calm, I grew tired.

Returning to the big bed alone felt wrong. I didn't sleep well last night, wondering and wishing Nik would return. He'd become the constant in my life. I knew it was stupid to want him, but my body had proven how foolhardy it was to try to keep that from happening.

Every time I closed my eyes, I grew sleepy, but then jerked awake with a sudden pang of missing him. Of hoping he was all right.

This connection that kept us bound together lulled me into a false sense of security. When he was near, I felt safer. Grounded. With his touch, caressing me or gripping me tightly, I was soothed with the sensation of his strength and heat. Under his demanding kisses and smoldering stares full of heady desire and lust, I experienced a new sensation of belonging.

With him.

It couldn't be right to want him this badly.

He wasn't a stable man. I knew I wouldn't fit into this mega family this crime lord supervised here, with all these examples of wealth and opulence.

I didn't fit in here.

When Nik was near, though, challenging me to let go and just be with him, I was right where I needed to be.

Tears leaked to the pillow again. It was hormones or sadness. Worrying or wondering.

I wanted him here. I wished for his arms to hold me so I could drift to that soul-deep peacefulness like I had the first night I'd ever met him.

But that night, he'd left me. With lies about his identity, abandoning me with this yearning to have him close again, he'd left me without a word .

I was stuck in a nasty loop of that incident repeating itself.

Left behind.

Dismissed.

And praying I would see him again.

Nik. Please, please be safe.

It couldn't be right to be gone this long. Something bad had to have happened.

If Mila was right about this family business, about the Bratva looking after its own, I hoped he was safe and would be returning to me come morning.

Because despite the practice with being apart from him, I wasn't getting any better at overcoming the hole in my heart at the fear of losing him completely.