Lately, it had been more difficult to spend time with my daughter. As with Ruby’s first trimester, I was also plagued with severe morning sickness with this pregnancy.
Displaying positive emotions, or truly anything that wasn’t anger or indifference, wasn’t Andros’s forte—with one exception. The day Dr. Kotov confirmed my pregnancy was the happiest I’d ever seen the leader of the Ivanov bratva. From that day until today, I’d been pampered beyond measure.
It was difficult not to compare pregnancies; however, experiencing Andros’s joy made me constantly wonder how Patrick would have reacted if I’d simply told him instead of waiting for Kristine’s friend to confirm the pregnancy.
As it happened, I wasn’t the one who told Andros.
I had been given the confirmation by Dr. Kotov and was waiting for Andros to come back to our suite. I never knew if he would or not. Some evenings he arrived for dinner and others he didn’t. There were days that carried on into a week or more where he’d never show, not only missing dinner but being absent from our suite altogether. During those times, I believed he left the compound, perhaps traveling to other cities, states, or even countries. Truly, there was no way for me to confirm his whereabouts.
I wasn’t to question but to simply be present when he summoned.
Andros had provided me with a cell phone, but in no uncertain terms, I’d been instructed, was I to call him unless it was an emergency. Wondering if I would dine alone didn’t qualify.
The afternoon after my appointment with Dr. Kotov, I’d succumbed to the immense exhaustion that had been afflicting me, now realizing it wasn’t only me but because of a new baby inside me. When I awoke, after a day of rain, the spring sky had cleared, giving way to a beautiful red and orange sunset. For a few minutes, I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard.
When I did, I always scoured the opposite corner of our safe outdoor haven for my daughter. That was where her room was as well as Irina’s. Sometimes, I’d catch sight of them walking amongst the pathways. I wrapped my arms around my torso with a shiver. Though the sun had come out, the temperature hadn’t risen much. Michigan winters, like Chicago ones, had a way of holding on.
Going back into the suite with the knowledge that dinner would be soon, I decided to do what I often did. Shedding my afternoon clothes, I turned on the warm water for a quick shower, simply to freshen up. Wearing a long silk robe, cleaned, lotioned, and with refreshed mascara and light lip gloss, I had begun to brush out my hair when a loud noise startled me, echoing throughout the suite.
The double doors to the suite banged against the walls as Andros’s voice boomed. “Madeline.”
There was something in his voice that I didn’t recognize. My mind always went to the worst case.
Was he upset?
Was there trouble taking him out of town?
Had I done something I shouldn’t?
While I didn’t consider myself abused—does anyone?—Andros was quick to react. I’d been the recipient of his wrath in the form of a slap or a belt more times than I cared to recall. Truthfully, I blocked each incident away. But now there was a child inside me.
Squaring my shoulders and placing the hairbrush upon the vanity, I made the decision to wait until I knew his state of mind before telling him the news Dr. Kotov had shared with me earlier.
Wrapping the robe around me, I opened the bathroom door and called, “I’m in here.” I stepped through the bedroom.
In four, maybe five, strides he was before me. Andros wasn’t alone as we met at the doorway between the bedroom and sitting room. Adrik and Sasha were a step behind. Beyond his broad shoulders, I could see that the doors to our suite were left agape.
With my feet bare, Andros was easily a foot taller than I. He cupped my cheeks, pulling my face upward as his lips met mine in an unusual display of affection. His next words came in the language I was just beginning to understand, yet his meaning was clear.
I didn’t love this man. Most of the time I didn’t even like him. However, in that one moment, I felt his joy, the excitement and elation. Though every word wasn’t clear, he asked me to confirm Dr. Kotov’s findings.
“Detka, da?”
I nodded my head, a sincere smile coming to my lips. “Da.” Yes, I was carrying his baby. There had been no one else since before Ruby’s birth. I still didn’t understand why he’d orchestrated that.
Andros’s arms flung about as if he could fly.
I’d truly never seen him show any emotion other than anger, and in this moment, that emotion was the farthest from his mind.
Adrik and Sasha stood like statues, their feet spread and hands behind their back. It was as if even in the intimacy of our suite, they were at military parade rest.
“Vne,” Andros ordered, saying the word over and over, sending his men away.
That evening was nearly six weeks ago, and his joy hadn’t subsided. I wasn’t certain what it would mean to give him a child, and I worried that it wouldn’t be a boy as he proclaimed. We would learn once the pregnancy reached twenty weeks. Then again, Andros had a way of getting what he wanted.
Now, with Adrik at my side, I had been summoned to do the one job I detested. I’d asked Andros to relieve me of the position, especially while pregnant. This morning he’d gone out of town and not mentioned that I’d be called upon. This afternoon Adrik informed me that there were two women I was to prepare.
I wanted to protest and say no; however, even in my current state, my status was significantly lower than Andros’s second-in-command. Therefore, I did as I had done and dressed as I had been previously instructed. Thankfully, my midsection hadn’t yet enlarged to the point of needing maternity clothes, a luxury I hadn’t had with Ruby until the very end.
Taking a deep breath, I looked up to Adrik’s gaze. Instead of compassion for my nausea, I saw something closer to impatience.
With a nod, I stood taller. “I’m good. Let’s go.”
As we approached the door to the room where the women were always left, Adrik instructed me to present them in the usual hall in an hour.
“An hour?”
“There are only two,” he replied dismissively. “And then you can rest. Mr. Ivanov would want that.”
Only two.
Only two women who would be raped, used, and killed.
Two women who wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
I nodded as Adrik opened the door.
At that second, a surge of unease raced through my circulation. Something wasn’t right.
Not that there was anything right about the situation.
The woman before me wasn’t drugged as they usually were. She was blonde and nude, sitting with her knees to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs. Her gaze narrowed as I entered. A quick turn of my head confirmed the door to the dressing room was uncustomarily ajar.
“Hello, I’m Madeline,” I said, looking at the woman against the wall. When she didn’t respond, I continued, “Are you alone?” I thought Adrik had said there were two.
A few steps toward the dressing room and I stilled. The lights reflected unusually from the floor, sending prisms of light and colors over the dull tile. I barely registered what I was seeing when a second woman also with blonde hair came rushing from the dressing room.
It wasn’t until after I’d been stabbed that I realized she’d been holding a large shard of the broken mirror. My hands went to my side as the deep crimson flow covered my fingers.