“You ready?”
I looked up at the elevator doors sliding open, furrowing my brow at the informal greeting.
All the Ivanov guards and soldiers deferred to me more politely than that. They were trained to be polite and formal, always.
But it was Nik, Maxim’s brother, waiting for me with a cocky smirk instead of a guard.
“Nik?” I raised my brows. I didn’t have many chances to get to know the other Ivanov brothers. I seldom spent a long time with them, but between Damon, Nik, and Saul, I had to admit that I was getting along best with Nik. Maxim explained that he was often away as a spy, and I wondered if I was mistaking Nik’s charisma for a more cunning skill he relied on for espionage. “What are you doing here?”
He strolled into the apartment, hands in his pockets. “I’m your guard today.”
“You?” I stood, hating how nervous I was for this appointment.
He huffed a light laugh. “What? Not good enough?”
“No!” I shook my head, going toward him. “No, no. Not at all.” In fact, I was glad to speak with him. It beat the isolation that had become my life since I told Maxim I was pregnant. What should have ended up as a happy moment for him became the wedge that drove us apart.
He smiled as we entered the elevator. “Nervous?”
I nodded, not even trying to hide. “So fucking nervous.”
He chuckled. “How come?”
I furrowed my brow, wondering if he thought I’d just found out about this pregnancy.
“You’ve had a while to get used to being pregnant, so what’s new now?” While his question was given casually, I picked up on the sarcasm.
“He told you?” I peeked at him.
“That you were pregnant before he took you from the club? Yeah.” He watched me, giving me no chance to get shy or look away as we rode down.
“Well, I’m nervous that Maxim hates me for not telling him sooner.”
He shook his head. “I doubt that.”
“Oh?”
“He can’t hate you when he’s been so fucking miserable staying away from you.”
I laughed bitterly. “If he doesn’t hate me for keeping that secret, then why would he be staying away at all?”
He leaned in closer. “Because he’s never been in love before.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“That’s the only reason that you’re nervous? This lover’s spat between you two?”
I frowned. “I’d hardly call it a lover’s spat. I kept a big secret from him. I’m not ashamed that I did. It was the only way I could try to protect this baby from being taken from me, and I still don’t know if he’ll do that.”
He shook his head. “No. That’s not happening.” Holding up his hands, he seemed truce-like. “Look, it’s none of my business how you both got together. I understand that he, well…”
“Kidnapped me,” I said, deadpan. There was no other way to put it.
“Okay. But when you conceived the baby, he hadn’t.”
“Semantics.”
“What I’m saying is maybe the beginning was rocky. But I’ve seen the way you guys are together. You… fit. It makes sense. And even though it started not-so-stellar for whatever reasons you both had, it’s turning out all right.”
“It’s turning out all right?” I laughed once again. “He won’t face me or speak with me.”
The doors slid open to the garage level, and there he was.
Hands in his pockets, face blank but suggesting a flicker of hope. Maxim was waiting between the elevator and the car. The intensity of his brown eyes on me made my stomach flip with a stupid flare of excitement that I wanted to curse.
“What was that?” Nik said, his tone so mocking and joking.
That was sneaky. He had to have known Maxim would be here.
I stared at my kidnapper and hated how much I still yearned for him.
“Coming?” he asked, holding out one hand.
I looked at him and tried to find the right words, but none came to me. I wanted to be mad. I wanted to stay firm. But he really did call all the shots. I still had no control, and I couldn’t change the fact that he didn’t want me or love me.
“That’s all you got?” Nik asked, scoffing. “At least say you’re fucking sorry or something first.”
He narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Tell her that I’m sorry that she didn’t tell me about our child sooner?”
I leaned back against the wall and reached out to close the elevator. Fuck this.
Nik blocked my hand. “Okay, let’s start over. Sloane, can you tell him that you’re sorry for keeping that secret?”
I tipped my chin up. “I’m not sorry.”
Maxim smiled slowly. “So goddamn stubborn.”
I refused to let his grin be infectious. “And I won’t ever stop. Not when it comes to protecting my child. I won’t give up my baby and never see him or her again.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Maxim muttered, reaching in to grab my hand and pull me out of the elevator. “That’s not going to happen.”
I hurried to keep up with him on the way to the car. “Hey!”
“I’m not taking your child and kicking you out of the house as soon as you deliver,” Maxim said as he opened the door for me.
I glowered at him as I climbed inside.
“Keep going,” Nik advised dryly as he got in the driver’s seat.
Maxim got in the backseat with me, and Nik started to drive off.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, too cautious to just take his word for it that he wouldn’t kidnap my baby so he’d have an heir.
He gave me a look like it should be obvious. “I’m going to the doctor’s appointment.”
“You are?” I kept a distance between us on the seat.
“Yes,” he replied, eyeing me closely like he wasn’t sure what to do with me.
“Why?”
“Because.” He didn’t pause his inventory of me. “How are you feeling?”
I laughed incredulously. “Okay, the joke’s over. What do you want?”
“To go to this appointment with you.”
“So you can verify that I’m not lying anymore? To hover over every detail of your child?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Our child. And maybe if you never thought to lie to me in the first place, we could’ve avoided all of this.”
“Maybe if you asked me to come home with you instead of just taking me captive, we could’ve avoided—”
“Enough,” Nik coached. “Enough. Maxim.” He shot his brother a look via the rearview mirror. “I thought you understood what I was saying earlier. Get your head out of your ass and fucking apologize.”
I bit my lip at his stern words. Not many could dare to talk to Maxim like that.
He exhaled a long breath and watched me. “In hindsight, I can see why you wouldn’t trust me.”
I crossed my arms. “That’s an apology?”
Taking my hand and holding it, he stared at our fingers twined together on the seat.
“I’m sorry that you couldn’t trust me,” he tried again.
“That’s not an apology either!” Nik said as he turned toward the hospital that was nearer than I realized.
Maxim clenched his teeth and looked out the window. Then, facing me, he sobered up and looked me in the eye. “I’m sorry, Sloane.”
I dared to believe it. I wanted to believe him.
“I’m sorry that you felt like I didn’t value you for anything more than giving me a child. At first, that was why I took you. I have a duty to provide an heir, and with our father poisoned and someone threatening the family, it was more of an urgent matter.”
I blinked, suddenly more worried. “Poisoned? Is he okay?”
He chuckled. “You’re not concentrating on the matter at hand.”
“Seriously, is he okay?” I never had parents, but I had to imagine having one and losing them would be hell. And no matter how mad at him and hurt I was, I didn’t like the idea of Maxim suffering.
“He’s recovering,” Nik said from the front as he cruised into a parking lot.
“When I took you, that was what I had in mind,” Maxim admitted. “I knew I needed an heir, and you were the only woman I wanted after I saw you. I’ve never wanted to conform to the idea of committing to a girlfriend or marriage because of how our mother betrayed our father.”
I nodded, trying to stem the urge to smile widely as he explained.
“And I’m not surprised that you didn’t trust me to tell me that you were pregnant at first because I didn’t trust you either. You picked up on that.” He lifted our hands and kissed my knuckles. “You’re too smart to be conned like that.”
He got out of the car, urging me to follow after him. When I was on my feet, he kept me trapped between the open door and the car, his body blocking me in as he cupped my face. Feeling the fresh air of the breeze brushing my hair back, I felt like I was stepping into sunshine for the first time in years. Everything felt lighter, every breath filled me with more optimism as I gazed up at him.
“I’m sorry, Sloane, for any and every reason you might hate me.”
I shook my head slightly, setting my hands on his chest. His heart beat so rapidly under my touch. “I don’t hate you.”
“Is there a chance…” He leaned in to kiss my cheek and hug me closer. “That you might love me as much as I love you?”
Closing my eyes with his breath so warm as it teased my cheek, I nodded and smiled. “There’s a very big chance of that, Maxim,” I whispered.
He brushed his lips over mine. “And is there a chance you might forgive me for how I reacted to your keeping a secret like that from me?”
I kissed him back softly. “As long as you forgive me for keeping it from you at all, yes.”
Sighing heavily, he gathered me into his arms then kissed me harder, growling into my mouth.
My heart felt so full that it would burst if we kept this up. Making up with Maxim would be one of the best, most unforgettable moments of my life, and I mentally promised that I’d do all I could to never let any distance come between us again.
But it was an unforgettable moment in more ways than one.
Distracted in this kiss with him, I was slow to register the sound of guns going off.
Then as I was pushed down, with Maxim blocking me, I realized that we’d been so lost in the moment that neither of us had noticed men rushing up close enough to capture Nik and haul him away.
