Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Maksim

Ican’t remember a time when I’ve smiled this much. Maybe after my very first night with Abby? After I learned about the quadruplets? That was probably the best day of my life, but today is definitely coming in a close second.

Even as I flip through paperwork at my desk, I can’t help but think about Abby’s beautiful face as she moves around upstairs with the kids.

The babies are getting bigger and stronger every day. Abby is such a wonderful mother. I’ve been helping her take care of them as much as I can, but there’s nothing like the bond she has with our children. It’s a sight to behold.

I can’t wait until they start to crawl. And walk. And talk. It’s going to be crazy around here with these little troublemakers learning to communicate. They’re already so damn smart.

It’s not long before I’m interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching, and a moment later, there’s a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I call, and Alyosha is already stepping inside, his expression unreadable.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, sensing the tension in his posture.

“We have a problem.” He pauses, then adds, “Several problems, actually.”

“What kind of problems?”

He slides an oversized, padded envelope across my desk. “I’ve finished analyzing the zip drive we got from that scammer in the warehouse, and, well, you’re not going to like what I’ve found.”

I already don’t like the sound of this. “What is it?” I start to open the envelope without waiting for an answer, my jaw clenching as my mind races with possibilities.

“There are pictures,” he begins, measuring each word carefully as several photos slide out onto my desk. “Of Abby. There’s data, too, and…”

His voice fades out as I focus on the photos in front of me. There’s Abby smiling with Booker, his arm around her like they’re old friends. There’s another where they’re both at the hospital together and he’s giving a thumbs up, and another where they’re speaking to a doctor.

“What is this?” I growl, a pit growing in my stomach. “What the fuck am I looking at? Why is she with Booker in so many of these pictures?”

Alyosha swallows hard, no doubt seeing the flash of rage that’s starting to build inside me. “They’re, uh, well, I think you should also take a look at the reports. The information we’ve gathered from the servers point to Abby and Booker collaborating. Siphoning money. Together.”

“No.” I shake my head without bothering to look at anything else. My gaze locks onto Alyosha. “That’s not possible. Abby isn’t a scammer. I refuse to believe it.” I shove the envelope toward him. “Get this shit away from me and get the hell out of here.”

He gathers everything up and takes a step back, but doesn’t turn to leave. I’ve never wanted to hit something so badly in my life, so he’s in a very, very dangerous spot right now. Alyosha isn’t an idiot, so that can only mean one thing.

“What else is there?” I grumble, almost afraid to ask. “That’s why you’re still here, right? There’s more? If there are more pictures, I don’t want to see them.”

He shakes his head, shifting from one foot to the other as he looks through the envelope and pulls out another sheet of paper to slide across to me. “No more pictures.”

“The fuck is this?” I pick up the paper and the first thing that stands out to me are the letters DNA. “You’d better start explaining, because I’m not in the mood for guessing games right now.”

“Your father,” he pauses to clear his throat, “requested a DNA test. For the babies.”

“Wait,” I say, bringing a palm up as if the motion alone could stop time and give me a second to process. “Wait a fucking second. My father?”

“Yes.”

“The man who’s been off in Russia the past five months on some secret fucking mission, who has cut all communication with us save for a fortnightly check in for safety reasons… That man knows about Abby and the kids?”

Alyosha clears his throat. “Uh, yes…” he draws out, his eyes darting to the side with a guilty squint. “That may have been my fault.”

“How the fuck, exactly?”

“Last week,” he says hesitantly, “when you had me be the one to take his call so I could finally give him a briefing on the digital side of things. I, uh, may have mentioned…”

“Alyosha,” I interrupt through clenched teeth, doing my absolute best to keep my temper in check. “It’s supposed to be a minute long call, a quick fucking update, an overview on the absolute basics so he isn’t completely in the dark. Why the fuck—” I take a quick, sharp breath, pinch the bridge of my nose, and lean back in my chair.

“I’m sorry, boss. I made an innocent comment about his grandchildren, I thought he must have already known, and…”

“And now he’s interrogated you on all you know about Abby and the babies.”

“Yes…”

“And he thinks the kids aren’t mine.”

“Uh, yes…”

“And you’ve, what, taken a swab from each of my babies while I wasn’t looking, sent it off for processing, and got the results done in the week since you last talked with him? Behind my back, no less.”

He shifts his weight from foot to foot, before clasping both his hands before him. “I was just following orders.”

If my father, our pakhan, is giving orders behind my back from the other side of the globe, it can only mean he’s suspicious and doesn’t trust me to make the right decisions.

“Fuck,” I growl, waving the paper. “What does it say? I’m not going to read this. I want to hear it from you.”

The color drains from Alyosha’s face as he takes the paper from me and starts rattling off a bunch of numbers and percentages and words I’m only half absorbing, until he says; “What it means is there’s basically zero chance the babies are yours.” He takes another step toward the door. “You aren’t the father, boss.”

I stand and slam my fist down on the desk, sending papers flying. “Get the fuck out,” I yell, pointing at the door. “Get the fuck out and let me deal with this!”

I can hear his footsteps rushing away, but the anger and hurt and disappointment is already bubbling over. It’s like a switch has been flipped and everything is suddenly red.

How could she? How could she do this to me? I never doubted her when she told me about the babies, not even for a second. Now it’s like my world is crumbling apart.

I grab a lamp from my desk and hurl it against the wall, letting out a guttural yell. I can feel the blood pulsing through my veins, the adrenaline surging through my body, and it’s all directed at the woman upstairs with my kids.

Herfucking kids. They aren’t mine.

What game is she playing at? It almost doesn’t make sense. Is she after protection? Trying to ensure I’d do everything to keep her and the children safe? But I’d have done that for her anyway, children or not. I think she even knows that.

Is it money, then, that she’s after? A monthly child-support check to set her up for life?

That doesn’t feel like Abby, but what else could she have been lying to me about? I grab the sheet and re-read everything that Alyosha just said to me, to make sure. But it’s all right there, I can’t ignore what the evidence is telling me.

There’s nothing of me in those children. It’s been vetted by one of my most trusted men.

I can’t stand to think about it, and I scrunch the paper in my fist and throw it to the side. The pain is like a knife in my gut, twisting and cutting, and I can’t believe how blind and stupid I’ve been. Too caught up in the idea of being a dad, of the future that could be, that I’ve always dreamed of but could never believe would happen to me.

Too caught up in her.

But not anymore.

Fuck her and her bullshit. I was an idiot to trust her, and now she’ll be lucky if I don’t kill her myself.