by Bethany-Kris
“Tell you what?” Ana asked.
Viviana smiled. “You know what.”
Ana tried to seem dumb. “No, I don’t.”
Butterflies beat around in her stomach. Nervousness had never worked out well for Ana.
“What, Ma?” Demyan asked.
“Ana is pregnant,” Viviana said.
Koldan’s arm tightened around Ana’s waist. Ana wondered how her mother could possibly know that. She was only a couple of months along in her second pregnancy and she certainly didn’t look pregnant.
“Mothers know,” Viviana said before Ana could ask.
“Or someone else spilled their guts,” Ana said, giving Koldan a look.
“I said nothing,” Koldan murmured before kissing her lips quickly.
Heat and desire swirled around Ana’s insides. Her second pregnancy was turning out to be different in the way that it took barely any prodding at all and her libido was up and revving, demanding attention. Koldan was more than happy to feed into that need, thankfully. Unfortunately, this was not the right time or place.
“Stop,” Ana whispered at the sight of Koldan’s growing, knowing smirk.
“So, when?” Viviana asked again.
Ana laughed lightly. “Why should I tell you anything? You just did it for me.”
“A girl this time, maybe?” Viviana’s smile was almost conspiratorial in nature. “You can name her after me.”
Ana guffawed at her mother. “What about my name?”
“You were named after me … and your grandmother, but me, too.”
Koldan hummed, dotting kisses along Ana’s cheekbone as he said, “I don’t know how well I would do with a girl. Let’s just say I’m hoping for a second boy.”
Ana poked her husband’s stomach. “We might have a girl.”
“Nope, God’s only gonna give me boys, Ana. It’s decided.”
Oh, was it now?
Chapter Twelve
“Ah, the little boss’s wife is in the house tonight, I see.”
Ana turned at the sound of the gravelly voice. A large, overweight man with a loosened tie and a wrinkled suit sauntered over to their table. His voice held the distinct accent of a Russian’s, but Ana didn’t recognize the man, as far as that went. When it came to Koldan and his work, Ana tried to stay out of it.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew Koldan was a brigadier—a Captain—for his father’s Bratva and that he often acted as Adrik’s right-hand man in most things where business was concerned. Koldan never pretended to hide the things he was involved in, but he always made sure to keep Ana at a safe distance away from the men he controlled and the darker side of business.
Ana didn’t mind, really.
“And getting larger by the day, I must say,” the man said, looking Ana’s rounded stomach over.
Ana’s hand fluttered up to her midsection, unnerved by the man looking at her. Sitting at the club’s table with a few of Koldan’s men while her husband dealt with some issue in the backroom didn’t bother Ana. Koldan wouldn’t leave her alone, especially not pregnant, with people he didn’t trust. But the guys were lost in conversation and gawking over the girls working the floor and serving drinks.
This man, however, Ana didn’t trust at all.
“Hello,” Ana said to the man.
“Hey there, pretty face,” the man muttered. “You’re Anton’s kid, yeah?”
Ana felt dirty as the man looked her up and down again. After her rape years ago, it took Ana a long time to feel completely comfortable in an enclosed space with men she didn’t know well. But once she had jumped over that hurdle, the anxiety rarely reared its ugly head.
The panic seemed to be thumping right in her throat at this man.
“Anton is my father,” Ana replied.
“Good man,” the guy said. “Damn good boss, but that boy of his … Demyan … he’s a nasty fucker. He’s the boss now, yeah?”
Ana didn’t answer that question. Apparently, the guy wasn’t looking for one. Leaning down over the table, he reached out and caught one of Ana’s stray curls in his fingers. Tugging just enough for it to hurt, the man grinned.
“Good to see Koldan’s doing something right—he’s got you knocked up, prettied up, and sat down to be admired by the rest of us. Seems the boy does know what to do with a wife like you.” He tugged again on her hair and said, “But we all know that with a little liquor, you’re just the kind of girl who’ll give a man whatever he wants, right? What was his name … Cavan, was it?”
Ana jerked away from him, a pain splintering in her chest at the sound of her rapist’s name. How and why did this man know that? “What in the fuck are you doing? Don’t put your hands on me! Get the hell away from me or I’ll make sure my husband has the pleasure of cutting your dick off and shoving it up your own ass.”
Finally, the other men at the table seemed to notice Ana’s predicament.
“Mud, didn’t Koldan say you weren’t welcomed back until you cleaned up your shit and opinions?” Ana’s bull for the night asked.
Mud—odd name, Ana thought—shrugged. “Just came to meet his wife. Heard he brought her in for the boys to gawk at.”
Ana swallowed hard, feeling something awful well in her gut. It was Koldan’s birthday and he had to work late because of some shipment or truck of shit he needed to handle. Ana convinced him to let her tag along for the night so that he wouldn’t have to spend the majority of his birthday without her.
With a sharp order in Russian from Ana’s bull, Mud disappeared back into the crowd of club goers. Not three minutes later, Koldan was sitting back at the table. As they usually did when they went out together and were seen in a space where other Bratva was present, Koldan was careful not to shower too much affection on Ana. She understood why—because it wasn’t safe for him to show where his weaknesses were.
Even still, under the table as he talked to the man at his other side, Koldan’s finger drew soft, tantalizing pathways on Ana’s exposed leg. It was just one of the ways he always let her know that he was there, loving her and wanting her.
Despite being eight months along in her second pregnancy and feeling like a giant balloon, Koldan never made Ana feel like anything less than beautiful and sexy to him. Even with the young, gorgeous women working around them and the ones dancing and drinking on the floor, Ana’s husband didn’t give them a single ounce of his attention.
She still felt sick in the seat, unsure if she should tell Koldan what happened before he arrived back at the table. She would tell him, to be sure, but not when his men were around. Ana didn’t want to seem like some petty, frightened wife. A person’s character and reputation was everything in the Bratva world. A man like Koldan couldn’t have a wife who needed coddled from all the bad things in life. His wife needed to appear as strong as him in all things and at all times.
Ana didn’t need to tell Koldan a thing, apparently.
“Who?” Koldan demanded.
The bull muttered something in Russian. Ana wished she had taken the time to learn more of her family’s second language growing up than just the little bit she did.
Koldan pushed out of the booth, turned, and offered Ana his hand without a word. She stared at it, confused. “Come.”
“Don’t you have that truck to handle when it comes in?” Ana asked.
“I have men for that. Come, Ana.”
Ana took Koldan’s hand and let him help her out of the booth. Without a word, he placed his palm over her stomach, put his other hand to her lower back, and directed her through the crowd of people, keeping her close to his side.
Lowly, Koldan asked, “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Ana assured.
“What did he say to you?”
“He asked about Anton and Demyan.”
“What else?” her husband pressed.
“He asked about Cavan and he made a remark that seemed like I asked for what happ—”
Ana didn’t get to finish her sentence. Koldan spun her
around so that they were facing one another. In the dark back hallway, no one could see them though she could still hear the sounds of the music and people.
“Don’t you dare,” Koldan growled.
“I don’t think that,” Ana said, recognizing the anger in Koldan’s stare. It wasn’t often they talked about Cavan Dolan or Ana’s rape. They didn’t have to, really. It happened and she’d dealt with it through therapy and time. Eventually, she moved on. It was her past but it didn’t define her future. “You know I don’t blame myself.”
Koldan weaved their fingers together and tugged Ana closer. “I think I’m going to send you home with a bull. Okay?”
“Why?” Ana asked.
“Because I have something to deal with,” Koldan replied simply.
Ana didn’t feel like she had to ask, but she did anyway. “That man?”
“Has seen his last day.”
“You can just … let it go, Koldan.”
Koldan’s mouth drew into a tight, unhappy line. “No, krasivyy, I can’t. Letting someone off with behavior like that is asking for trouble. If I allow even one man to disrespect my wife in front of others, I’m allowing every man the same permission. Don’t wait up for me, okay?”
Nothing she would say could make a difference. Sometimes, this was just how their world worked. She was Koldan’s unrelenting cornerstone—she would support and stand by his side no matter what he did. He needed that from her and she was more than happy to give it. It didn’t matter to her if she didn’t like all of the things he did. She didn’t have to like them.
Because she loved him.
Entirely.
Ana smiled, shrugging. “I’m still going to wait up for you.”
Koldan bent his head down just far enough to capture her lips with his. “Yeah, I know.”
Chapter Thirteen
The sound of running water woke Ana. Blinking away the sleepiness in her vision, she glanced around the dark bedroom. A light filtered out from under the door connecting the bedroom to the master bath. Adrik barely stirred next to his mother as Ana pushed the blanket away and stood from the bed.
Apparently Ana had been more tired than she thought if she had fallen asleep waiting for Koldan. Pregnancy could do that. Plucking up Adrik from the bed, she smiled as the toddler snored against his mother’s shoulder. She walked him to his bedroom and put him in his small bed, covering him up snug under his Thomas the Train blankets.
Making her way back to the master bedroom, Ana wondered why Koldan hadn’t woken her up himself after he got home. Ana knocked on the bathroom door, hearing Koldan’s quiet cuss on the other side.
“Go to bed, Ana,” Koldan said loud enough for her to hear.
Something in the lilt of his tone brokered no room for argument. That told Ana she couldn’t let it go. Well, she wasn’t going to now.
“Open up, Koldan.”
“Ana—”
As far as privacy went, Ana respected her husband’s need for it. He never stepped over her personal lines, and she tried to never step over his. Turning the handle on the bathroom door, she could tell it wasn’t locked. Ana pushed the door open to find Koldan standing against the marble sink with his hands under running water.
His back was tense and even the muscles in his arms looked tight and taut, like he was holding something back. Anger flashed in his gaze as he turned to look at Ana, but it disappeared just as fast. He still wore his clothes from earlier, though his suit jacket was resting over the side of the counter.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ana asked.
“Please get out.”
“No.”
Koldan sighed, shaking his head. “You’re too stubborn for your own good sometimes, krasivyy.”
“You married me.”
“I did, but that doesn’t mean you don’t frustrate me sometimes, Ana. I love you, but God knows your stubbornness could test the patience of even a Saint.”
Ana shrugged, leaning against the doorframe. “Makes for a good marriage.”
“Actually, it makes for a good woman,” Koldan muttered.
He hissed as he pulled his hands out from the running water and covered them with a towel. He turned just enough to give Ana a good look at the splatters of red dotting over the front of his silk shirt and down his stomach. Some of the red dots had skipped under his jaw and over his chin.
Ana stared at her husband, confused. “Is that blood?”
Koldan’s jaw tensed. “Yes.”
“Oh, Koldan.”
“I told you to go back to bed.”
Maybe she should have.
“Do we have any antibiotics?” her husband asked. “Or a cream, maybe.”
Ana’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Just because.”
“Because why, Koldan?”
“I split my knuckles all over that idiot’s teeth and I don’t know what kind of diseases he might have had in his dirty mouth. Do we or don’t we?”
Ana let out a slow breath, massaging her temples with her fingers. “We do.”
Of course, they did. They had a toddler son that always managed to get at least one scraped knee or elbow a week.
“Where?”
Stepping away from the door, Ana walked across and opened up the cabinet beneath the sink. She pulled out a first aid kit and searched for the antibiotic cream she knew was in there. Once she had it, she set it on the counter and waved at Koldan.
“Take the damn towel off and let me see them,” Ana ordered.
Koldan shook his head. “I’ll do it, babe. It’s fine.”
“Koldan, please don’t make me say it again. I’m tired and pregnant and not in the mood. Let me clean your knuckles so I can go to bed, and you can apologize to me in the morning.”
With a disgruntled grunt, Koldan flung the towel covering his hands to the counter. Ana’s chest ached at the sight of his knuckles. They were red, cut on every single one, and swollen. They looked terribly sore. Ana ghosted her fingers around the injuries, noting how his hands stayed steady at the same time.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“Barely,” Koldan muttered. “Felt especially good while I doled out the punishment, though.”
Quietly, Ana went about cleaning Koldan’s hands and applying the antibiotic cream. All the while, her husband watched her through his dark lashes, saying nothing.
“You don’t have to break the face of every man who hurts me, Koldan,” Ana said.
“Yes, I absolutely do.”
Ana wished he wouldn’t, though. “But—”
“I do, Ana,” Koldan interrupted before she could get out another word. “Because you’re mine—every single person needs to know it. And nobody gets to hurt what’s mine, not unless they want to bleed for it, too.”
Chapter Fourteen
Daniil Koldan was nothing like his older brother. He was fussy at night, demanding to sleep between his mother and father. From the very start, he was a momma’s boy through and through. He liked all the attention he could get, and Ana didn’t mind giving her little prince exactly what he deserved.
“Look at him,” Koldan whispered.
Ana watched her husband trace the sleeping baby’s features. Gently, he touched Daniil’s little nose and lips. Daniil looked so much like his father, it was unreal. Even the set of his tiny cheekbones and the shape of his eyes were similar. Two-year-old Adrik shared both his mother and father’s features, but Daniil took after Koldan entirely.
“He’s so much quieter when he sleeps,” Koldan said.
Ana laughed softly. “I know.”
Leaning over, Koldan caught Ana’s chin between his forefinger and thumb, bringing her closer for a kiss that seared her from the inside out. “I’m sorry, krasivyy.”
Ana blinked, surprised. “For what?”
“I’ve been gone a lot, I know. I’m sorry for that. I’ll try to be home more often.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “If I was having trouble, I’d tell you.”
Ana kissed him again, letting her tongue war with his. Pulling away, she murmured, “I’ve missed you, too.”
Koldan had a lot going on. Work in the Bratva never ended and now that he had officially dropped the brigadier title to stand at Adrik’s side, more and more eyes were watching them both. Ana had a whole new level of respect for her mother. Being the Bratva wife was not easy. It was difficult to appear unaffected and cold at every turn. It was hard to keep your weak spots hidden. Ana had always been treated like royalty in her father’s Bratva family, but this felt different in a way. Like she was being tested and gaged by the men under Koldan. Like they were wondering if she was a worthy partner for a man of his status.
Ana wasn’t accustomed to that.
Koldan’s attention went right back to their son. “I told you he was going to be a boy. No girls for me, Ana. Good thing. I don’t know if I could handle boyfriends and dates.”
“Periods, too,” Ana added.
“Jesus. Boys only.”
Ana smacked his arm lightly. “Well, I think I’m done giving you babies, anyway. So, you have your boys, Koldan.”
“Our boys,” he replied.
“Ours.”
“And this little one is such a momma’s boy,” Koldan said, chuckling.
“I like him that way,” Ana replied.
“One more?” he asked.
“One more what?”
“Baby.”
Ana scoffed. “Not anytime soon, Koldan.”
Koldan winked at her but didn’t press her on the topic. Without a word, her husband plucked the sleeping child off the bed and cradled him in his arms.
“What are you doing?” Ana asked.
“Taking him to his bed,” Koldan said.
“But he doesn’t sleep in there.”
Koldan looked down at Daniil. “He’s sleeping now, Ana.”
“He’ll wake up.”
A shrug answered her back. “Maybe, but I’ll go in and rock him back to sleep.”
Ana’s heart melted a little more. Her husband was a great father. Hands on with their kids and he never shied away from parenting. “I don’t mind him sleeping in here, Koldan.”
