22. Bianca

22

BIANCA

I haven’t seen Alexei for more than a few minutes at a time over the past few days. He’s been arriving home at all hours of the morning, distracted and tired. And I swear one night, I spotted blood on his white shirt…

But I keep quiet, especially because I’m still throwing up.

The food poisoning excuse won’t work forever, and he’s bound to notice soon, and I’m not ready to have that conversation.

Not until I’m one hundred percent certain that it’s one we need to have.

I sit at my bedroom window, looking out over the drive as Alexei, Mikhail, and Danil climb into the Hummer. I’m well aware that Dimitri is downstairs, no doubt here to keep an eye on me. But I think the vomiting freaks him out, so he stays in the lounge, and I stay here, waiting for the nausea to pass.

The moment Alexei is pulling out of the drive and heading toward the gates at the edge of the property, I pull out my phone to facetime Zara .

“How’s the baby mamma doing?” She grins at me through the screen, her green eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Zara,” I groan, rubbing at my temples.

“Sorry.” She chuckles. “You know the only way I deal with stuff is through humor. Anyway, what’s up?”

“I’m calling in the ultimate best friend favor.”

“Hit me.”

“I need you to make an appointment with an OBGYN for me.”

“That’s easy enough.” She plops down onto her bed, resting on her front as she props up her phone against her pillows.

“Yeah, it’s getting me there that’s going to be the problem. Especially when Dimitri is downstairs.”

“I’m assuming you have a plan for that?”

I let out a long breath, knowing that Zara is not going to like my idea. “About that…”

“Let me guess. You want me to come over and pretend I’m into him in order to keep him distracted?” Zara screws up her nose in disapproval.

“He’s not that bad.”

“But I’d rather come with you to the appointment.”

“Someone has to stay behind and distract the babysitter. And Dimitri seemed quite taken with you the other day.” As much as I don’t want to leave Zara alone with Dimitri, I can’t think of a better option to ensure he doesn’t notice my absence.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, but whatever. I’ll help you. However, you owe me big time for this.”

“Distracting Dimitri is the easy part, it’s getting me to the appointment that might be an issue.”

“I have an idea.” A slow grin spreads across her face.

Dimitri’s eye are locked on me as I stroll into the lounge after showering and getting ready. “Feeling better?”

Zara messaged to say she managed to get me a last minute appointment with a doctor on the Upper East Side. A Dr. Waite who comes with great recommendations.

“Finally managing to keep a few crackers down, so that’s better than nothing.”

“Blink twice if you think Alexei’s poisoning you.” Dimitri chuckles.

He’s the picture of ease, leaning back against the couch with an ankle crossed over a knee. He’s swapped his usual black pants and white shirt for dark washed jeans and a pale blue button down.

I must be staring because he grins. “I’m off duty.”

“Ah, so that’s your babysitting uniform?” I plop down onto the couch opposite.

“Oh, I think we both know you can take care of yourself.”

“Try telling that to your brother.” I fold my legs up underneath me.

“He’s an overprotective bastard sometimes. He was the same with Mikhail and Danil after our parents died. Well, still is, to an extent.”

I try to hide my surprise at the mention of Alexei’s parents but it seems Dimitri misses nothing.

“He doesn’t talk about them much.”

“No.”

“He’s not much of a talker in general.” Dimitri shakes his head. “But you can’t deny he cares. I mean, the way he’s with you… I’ve never seen him like that?— ”

Heavy banging on the front door has us both looking toward the door.

My stomach knots as I glance at Dimitri, trying to read his expression.

“What the fuck…” Dimitri gets to his feet. “Alexei isn’t meant to be back yet.”

I try to keep my face neutral as I untangle myself from the couch and follow after him.

“Hello?” Zara bangs on the door again.

Dimitri freezes, his broad shoulders tensing. He slowly glances over his shoulder at me, his eyebrows raised.

“Can one of you let me in please?”

I shrug and do my best to feign surprise by the sudden appearance of my best friend.

Dimitri’s shoulders shake with silent laughter as he pulls open the front door and steps to the side to let Zara in.

“About time.” She flicks her ponytail over her shoulder. She wrinkles her nose as she looks at Dimitri. “Are you always here?”

“Nice to see you again, Zara.” He chuckles.

“Mmm, can’t say the same.”

“I take it Alexei is unaware of our little house guest?” He glances at me.

“I can explain…” I glance at Dimitri.

“Oh, this will be good.” Dimitri folds his arms across his broad chest.

“I got an uber.” Zara shrugs.

“You got an uber?” A deep frown appears between his eyebrows as he takes her in.

There are noticeable scrapes on her hands and the knees of her jeans are scuffed and stained.

She catches him looking and folds her arms across her chest, tucking her messed up hands beneath her armpits. The way she’s not even fazed by Dimitri’s towering build and endless muscles has me biting the inside of my cheek to hide my smile.

She nods. “Yes.”

“I didn’t see a car come down the drive.”

“He dropped me off at the gates.”

“I didn’t get a notification on the camera.”

“It must be broken.”

Dimitri’s eyes rake over Zara, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“With all this money, you really should invest in better security.”

“Duly noted.” Dimitri’s eyes are still narrowed.

“Are you done with the twenty questions or can I hang out with my friend now?”

“Zara.” I reach for her arm. “Why don’t we go and make some tea?”

I manage to pull Zara away and drag her into the kitchen where I busy myself with making some tea.

Zara on the other hand goes straight to the fridge and starts pulling out every snack she can find.

“Please, help yourself.” Dimitri chuckles, strolling in a few moments later.

I have no doubt in my mind that he sent Alexei a message to let him know about Zara’s arrival, and I know I’ll need to come up with a good explanation for how she got here, but right now I have bigger things to focus on.

“You’re rich as fuck, so I think you can afford to let me have some food.” Zara takes a seat at the island, tucking into some crackers and hummus.

I steal one of the crackers, hoping it will help settle my stomach.

“Oh, there’s plenty of things I could feed you, pcholka . ”

I almost choke on my cracker, and Zara’s jaw is on the floor as she stares at Dimitri.

Zara scoffs. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

“I’ve been told that once or twice.”

“Do you not have anything better to do than sit with us? Because last time I checked, I didn’t come here to hang out with you.”

“Ouch.” Dimitri puts his hand to his chest.

I look at Dimitri. “Do you mind giving us a minute?”

Zara rolls her eyes at me before popping a hummus-laden chip into her mouth.

“I’m not meant to let you out of my sight.”

“I won’t tell you if you don’t.”

Dimitri glances once more at Zara, narrowing his eyes at my friend as she sticks out her tongue.

“I think I’m starting to question your taste in friends, Bianca…” He slides off his stool. “I’ll be in the lounge.”

Neither Zara nor I speak until Dimitri’s footsteps start to fade. My hands are shaking so I wrap them around my mug of tea to try and keep them steady.

“This won’t work.” Panic is starting to set in. “There’s no way he won’t find out.”

“Shh!” Zara glances over her shoulder. “It’s all under control.”

“I have no way of paying for it.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“Zara, no. It’ll be hundreds of dollars.” I run my hands through my hair, trying to ignore my racing thoughts.

“You need the appointment, so it’s taken care of. I made it under my name to try and cover our tracks.”

“When I tell Alexei, I-I promise…” My voice cracks, and I have to fight past the lump in my throat.

“I know.” Zara reaches for my hand. “Let’s just cross that bridge when it comes to it. Now, you should probably get going.”

“About that, how the hell do I get out of the house?”

Once Zara has told me in great detail the steps I need to take to get to her car, I take a deep breath and wipe under my eyes. I don’t want Dimitri getting even more suspicious.

She squeezes my hand. “Ready?”

I nod, taking her hand as we exit the kitchen and make our way toward the lounge.

“Have you got anything a little stronger to drink?” Zara asks as we cross the threshold into the enormous living room. “Tea just isn’t cutting it.”

Dimitri looks up from scrolling on his phone, his eyes narrowing as he looks at us.

“You look like the type of guy to have a bottle of scotch older than my grandma just lying around.”

I swallow my laugh as Zara drops my hand to make a beeline for the bar cart in the corner of the room.

It’s overflowing with bottles of amber-colored liquid and countless crystal glasses that likely cost more than most people’s rent.

“Let me do that.” Dimitri gets to his feet.

“How gentlemanly.”

“I think he just doesn’t trust you with the glasses.”

Dimitri flashes me a grin.

Zara scowls but steps away to let Dimitri make the drinks. She plops down onto the couch, her eyes never leaving Dimitri as he gets to work pouring three glasses of scotch.

I catch a whiff of the smell, and my stomach churns.

“You know, I’ve got a really bad headache.” I wince as I rub my temple. “I think I might go lie down for a while. ”

Zara looks my way but doesn’t stand. “Oh, really? Are you ok?”

Dimitri pauses what he’s doing and looks over his shoulder at me.

I was worried I wouldn’t appear convincing, but the smell of the alcohol is doing wonders at inducing my nausea, and a thin sheen of sweat starts to coat my forehead.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You’re welcome to stay.”

“You want me to sit here by myself?”

“I can keep you company,” Dimitri drawls, grabbing two glasses of scotch and strolling over to the couch.

“Behave,” I warn Dimitri who only grins wider as he takes up the spot beside Zara.

“Never.” Dimitri chuckles.

Zara dips her chin slightly to let me know that she’s okay.

I take that as my cue to leave, knowing that I don’t have long to get to the city and back before Dimitri might come to check on me.

Though I’m hoping his keen interest in my friend will keep him occupied long enough not to notice.

I keep my footsteps unhurried until I reach the front door.

There’s no easy way of getting out of the house unnoticed. Every door has cameras, and some even have fingerprint access.

I didn’t have time to test which one’s are Bianca proof, so I’m being bold and choosing to slip out of the front door.

I’m only hoping that once I’m outside the property, I’ll be hard to track if I keep to the trees.

Zara’s left her car at the far side of the park that backs onto the house, so I only have to scale the fence.

If Zara could do it, so can I .

If all goes to plan, I’ll be back in two hours, and no one will be none the wiser.

Unless Alexei decides to check back through the security footage…

Maybe that would be a good time to hit him with the pregnancy news.

I have no choice. I need to see a doctor and confirm my suspicions.

So, ignoring the pounding in my chest and the ringing in my ears, I slip out of the front door and start sprinting for the trees.

The lack of food I’ve consumed over the past week starts to quickly catch up to me. I’m weak and lightheaded as I run through the trees.

It’s midafternoon, and the early May sun is beating down overhead, the trees around me providing little shade.

I’m sweating and exhausted, but eventually, the fence comes into view. It’s almost double my height with barbed wire running along the top.

“What the fuck, Zara?”

She warned me about the fence, but I didn’t realize it was so high and dangerous.

I look around. “I guess I’m going to have to climb a tree.”

I was never an athletic kid, and I haven’t changed in the meantime.

My fingernails are bleeding, and my knees are all scratched and bloody as I scale what I thought looked to be the nicest tree. Turns out, it makes no fucking difference. All trees suck, and I wish I could just spend the day hiding under my covers.

What sucks even worse is the drop on the other side. There’s no way I can balance on the top of the fence because of the barbed wire. I’m just going to have to take a leap of faith.

“Well, if Alexei won’t kill me, this might. So, here goes nothing.”

I take a deep breath and push off from the tree.

The ground flies up to meet me, and I let out a pained grunt as I hit the grass.

My knees buckle, and I collapse all of my weight onto my right shoulder, rolling once, twice until I’m flat on my back and staring up at the sky.

A hysterical laugh escapes me as I realize that was actually the easy part.

I know I must look like a wreck as I sit in the waiting room of the gynecologist.

My jeans have a huge grass stain on the ass, my hands are all torn, and my hair resembles more of a bird's nest than effortless chic.

All the other pregnant women have that glow that everyone talks about.

Will I have that?

As I take in their perfect bumps, my stomach twists.

What if I’m not pregnant?

The pang of disappointment takes me by surprise, but I don’t have a chance to dwell on it as the doctor appears and looks right at me.

“Zara Mullens?”

It takes me a second to register that the doctor actually means me.

“Yes.” I get to my feet .

“Hi, Miss Mullens, I’m Dr. Waite.” He holds out his hand for me to shake.

I cringe as he notices the bloody scrapes on my palms.

But he doesn’t comment on them. “Right this way.”

He leads me down a narrow corridor and ushers me into an examination room.

“If you’d like to change into this gown and get yourself situated on the chair, we can get started. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I make quick work of changing into the thin paper-like gown.

I feel ridiculous that I got myself into this situation in the first place, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Dr. Waite appears a few minutes later, a warm smile on his face as he takes a seat beside me.

“So, you’re wanting to take a look at your baby today?”

“I… Uh…I wanted to confirm if I am pregnant.”

“Right, that’s fine. I had you booked in for an ultrasound, but if it’s a blood test you need, then I can organize that. The results can sometimes take a few days, and then we can get you booked in for an early ultrasound?—”

“Oh, no, I…” I do my best to appear calm, but I can’t risk sneaking out again. I need to know now . “Sorry, I got mixed up. The ultrasound is fine. I-I’m definitely pregnant.”

“Do you know how far along you might be?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe six weeks? I’ve lost track…”

“Not to worry. I should be able to tell once I get a clear view on the ultrasound. If you wouldn’t mind putting your feet in the stirrups, we can get started.” He rolls over a cart with a small monitor and pulls on some gloves.

My heartbeat is ringing in my ears, and my eyes start to prick with tears as I lean back.

I wish Alexei was here .

I do my best to stay still as he slowly inserts the ultrasound probe. Dr. Waite’s eyebrows are furrowed which is making me nervous.

“Sometimes, it can take a moment for the fetus to appear…” He moves the wand a bit. “Try to relax for me.”

I try doing as he says and screw my eyes shut, trying to ignore the weird probe digging around inside me.

“Oh, here you are. Hello, little one.”

“Oh, god,” I open my eyes to stare at the screen. “Are you serious?”

“Here it is.” He points at a blob on the screen. “That’s your baby, right there.”

There is no more denying it. What am I going to do now?