by Bethany-Kris
“Will do.” Demyan gave Ana a one armed hug. “I will see you at the end of the month for the supper at Ma’s, yeah?”
“Sure,” Ana said.
Demyan disappeared into the crowd of people in the VIP section. Roman was right under his father’s feet the whole time.
“Christ, that kid is something else,” Koldan said.
Ana agreed. “He’s a lot like Demyan at that age. Or at least, that’s what Ma and Papa say.”
“How so?” Sofia asked.
“Articulate, above his age group, and intelligent.”
Koldan smiled. “He’s still just a kid under it all, though.”
“He is.” Ana crossed her arms, facing Koldan. “What’s going on in here tonight, anyway?”
“Nothing, babe.”
“Koldan.”
Her husband sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “Demyan and I had a couple of guys try to work together on something. They fucked it up, of course, and somebody ended up with a bullet between his teeth.” Koldan waved at the men drinking and talking in the VIP section before saying, “He brought some men and so did I. We were just …”
“Making nice for show,” Sofia said, filling in the blanks.
“It looks good for you to show up, I suppose,” Koldan said, grinning at Ana. “I wouldn’t bring my wife into a gun fight, after all. You could have called me first, krasivyy.”
“I didn’t know you were handling Bratva business tonight,” Ana said. “I thought you were just working.”
Koldan cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I am working, babe.”
Ana blinked, realizing that he was right. They weren’t normal. Their life was never going to be normal. Koldan’s work would never be normal.
“I’ll call next time,” Ana promised.
“Thanks.”
“Shouldn’t Dad have been here?” Sofia asked. “I mean if there was trouble between families or whatever?”
“No trouble,” Koldan said, killing that idea before someone else could overhear. “Which was why Demyan came tonight, so we could stop that shit before anyone got crazy ideas. As far as Dad goes, he wasn’t interested in showing face.”
“He’s the boss,” Sofia said.
Koldan’s expression didn’t change as he replied, “Is he?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Chapter Sixteen
Ana barely managed not to trip over her sons as they scrambled into the kitchen ahead of her. Koldan turned from his spot at the stove in just enough time to catch both of his sons. At four and two respectively, their sons were loud as hell and always on the go of some sort. Ana usually thought it was funny because their father was so laid back and calm.
Tornadoes.
That’s what her boys were. She loved them all the more for it.
“Slow down,” Ana said, laughing.
“PAPA!” the boys shouted, trying to climb up Koldan’s sides.
Like the patient man he was, Koldan gave his boys all the attention they wanted until they calmed down.
“Morning, krasivyy,” Koldan said, kissing Ana’s cheek as she came up beside him.
“Morning. Damn, you look good working at the stove.”
Koldan grinned as he worked on his egg and bacon mess. “Wanted to do something for you this morning. Give you a break or whatever.”
Giving the pan another look, Ana’s stomach suddenly turned inside out. The smell of the food wafted upwards, and she barely managed to hold the vomit back. Taking a step away from the stove, Ana wondered what in the hell was up with her.
Koldan noticed instantly. “Hey, you okay?”
Ana shook her head, confused. “Yeah, sure. I’m just … not all that hungry, maybe.”
He didn’t look like he believed her for a second. “You love eggs, Ana.”
She did.
And bacon.
But right then, she felt like she was two seconds away from vomiting all over the floor.
Her two boys clamored up to the kitchen table, demanding food. Ana’s head spun.
“Ana?” Koldan asked, stepping into her line of vision again.
“Yeah?”
“You’re turning white, krasivyy.”
Was she?
“I’m going to go lie down,” Ana said. “You okay with the boys?”
Koldan frowned but nodded. “Sure, babe.”
Thankful for the weekend and the fact her boys had nothing scheduled to do for that Saturday and Sunday, Ana made her way back upstairs and to her bed. The second her head hit the pillow and she was wrapped up in the sheets that smelled like her and Koldan, Ana felt better. The nauseous sensation passed, and Ana drifted off to sleep.
Something warm and comforting woke Ana shortly after. She smiled at the sound of Koldan’s humming as he kissed a path over her forehead, across her closed lids, and down to her lips.
“That’s a good way to wake up,” Ana said, her voice scratchy from sleep.
“Hey,” Koldan murmured.
Ana opened her eyes to stare at her husband who was smiling. There was still a worried glint in his eye, though. “Hey.”
“Boys are napping.”
“Is it noon already?” Ana asked, confused.
“A little after one, actually. What happened this morning, krasivyy? You worried me.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t feel well.”
Koldan sighed heavily, rolling his thumbs over her cheek bones. “All right. How’re you feeling now?”
“Better,” Ana whispered. “Much, much better if you keep touching me.”
His grin was wicked. “I will, but I’d feel better if you got up and moved around a little first.”
“I’m fine, Koldan.”
“Just indulge me, Ana, please.”
Not wanting to argue with her husband, Ana got out of the bed like he asked. Standing up made her realize how badly she needed to pee. Waving so he could see she was fine on her own two feet, Ana disappeared into the master bathroom and shut the door to do her business.
As she turned, something off to the side caught Ana’s eye. Her birth control pills sat on the back of the sink, waiting for her to take her morning pill. She took it right after breakfast every morning. She’d used the shot for several years, but after her first son’s birth, she’d switched to the pill for an easier transition of coming off a birth control method.
Checking over the pack, Ana noted she hadn’t missed a pill, and she was already three days into her sugar pills that were supposed to be taken during her cycle. But last month …
Last month she’d gotten a minor infection in her ear after taking the boys swimming at an indoor pool. The drops hadn’t worked all that well and the infection traveled into her throat. Her doctor prescribed an antibiotic.
It was a stupid mistake to make. The doctor had even warned her to use a backup method but it just slipped her mind. With her two boys and life and everything else …
“Oh,” Ana said, louder than she must have realized.
“Ana?” Koldan asked outside the bathroom.
Ana was stunned.
Completely, utterly stunned.
“Ana,” Koldan said again, firmer the second time. Ana turned and opened the door. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Ana said, still unsure but smiling wide.
He would be so excited.
Koldan wanted another baby. He’d been bugging her about a third for the last year.
“I need you to go to the store,” Ana said.
“Why?” Koldan asked.
“I think I might be pregnant.”
Koldan froze. “Really?”
Ana nodded, biting her lip. “I think so.”
She didn’t get the chance to say another thing because Koldan stepped into the bathroom, grabbed her face in his hands, and pulled her in for a kiss that took away the air right from her chest. He held her close to his body and kissed her deeper until her fucking knees were weak, and she couldn’t think.
Good God.
She loved this man.
“I love you, Ana,” Koldan said, resting his forehead to hers.
Ana laughed, breathless and spun. “Go to the store.”
“On it, babe.”
Chapter Seventeen
“So perfect,” Koldan said, holding Sasha Viviana high in the air. The baby girl giggled down at her father, her little legs kicking in her footie pajamas. “And so pretty, my dushka. Giving your daddy heart attacks already, just thinking about beating the boys off.”
Ana laughed from the couch. “You’ve got years before you have to worry about any of that.”
Koldan eyed Ana from the side as he balanced Sasha on his hip. “That’s not the way a father’s mind works, Ana. We panic about it for years leading up to it.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” her husband asked.
“I wonder if that’s how Anton felt for me.”
Koldan shrugged. “I don’t doubt it. Maybe I get why he hated me just … stealing you away like I did.”
“You didn’t steal me away,” Ana said, scoffing.
“I kind of did.”
Ana chose not to push her husband on the topic.
Koldan went back to giving little Sasha all of his attention. He was bound and determined to spoil that girl right rotten. Sasha didn’t seem to mind. At only six-months-old, she was a daddy’s girl through and through. Just getting Koldan in her line of sights, sent Sasha into a smiling fit of a creature. If Koldan didn’t immediately pick her up, Sasha would scream loud enough to break the windows.
Sasha could do without Ana so long as Koldan was around. Their daughter was absolutely gorgeous. Big, wide blue eyes. Dark hair like Ana’s with the ringlet curls to match. Her skin was creamy peach with a pretty pink tone around her cheeks. She had her mother’s features and her father’s color.
No doubt, the girl was going to be beautiful.
She already was.
Already, Sasha was trying to crawl, she’d spoken her first word—Papa, of course—and she had a little attitude that topped it all off. And Koldan didn’t mind indulging that attitude every single chance he got, too.
Ana was maybe … finally … beginning to understand what her mother talked about for all those years when it came to Ana and her own father.
“You’re spoiling her,” Ana said.
Koldan grinned, tossing his daughter high again. “She’s my pretty little princess, Ana.”
Ana sighed.
“Of course, I’m going to spoil her,” Koldan added. “No one, besides her mother, is as perfect as her. Leave me be, Ana. Let me spoil her.”
“Fine,” Ana whispered, still smiling.
“No more, though,” Koldan said, giving Ana a look from the side.
“Huh?”
“Children. I think we’ve filled the house more than enough, don’t you?”
Ana shrugged. “You didn’t know it, but three was my limit, Koldan.”
Koldan chuckled. “Mine, too. But after this little one ...”
“She’s perfect,” Ana murmured.
“She is.”
Ana listened for any noise coming from her sons’ rooms upstairs. It was silent. She’d laid them down an hour before, but sometimes Adrik and Daniil would sneak out of their respective rooms and play in the hallway for an hour before Koldan had to go up and put them down for bed again.
“Boys are quiet,” Ana noted.
Koldan smiled. “They are. I wonder what hell they got into that we didn’t hear.”
Koldan’s statement was probably truer than either of them wanted to admit. Ana was still struggling in some ways to see her sons as the little Bratva princes that everyone else called them. They followed their father around constantly. Koldan didn’t hide things from them. Lessons about family and loyalty and honor had become commonplace and Ana knew when Koldan talked about those things, it was more than just their family.
It was the Bratva family, too.
But she loved her boys. She loved them entirely, so she let them be. They would grow up to be whatever they wanted to be, and she could love them just the same as she did now.
“By the way,” Koldan said, grinning as he avoided Sasha’s bubbly, spit kisses.
“What’s that?” Ana asked.
“I’m going to have your bulls sticking a little closer than normal, all right? They’ll be visible, but they won’t approach you unless something comes up and they need to.”
“Why?”
Koldan shifted on his feet and sat Sasha to the carpeted floor. Instantly, the girl made grabby motions to her father to be picked back up again, but Koldan turned to Ana.
“What’s going on, Koldan?” Ana asked.
“We just had a run in with a rival gang a couple of weeks ago. It’s nothing too bad, but a couple of the crews retaliated. I just want to be safe, Ana, that’s all.”
Ana frowned. Koldan had taken his father’s spot over the last couple of months. The transition had been easy for Koldan’s men, as far as Ana understood, but it seemed like the issues outside of the Bratva piled on higher at the worst possible time.
“What about the boys? School and pre-school, Koldan.”
“They have bulls that watch them, Ana.”
“I know that, but they’re not inside the schools, Koldan.”
Koldan conceded to her point. “They’re as close as they can be without breaking trespassing laws. The boys are in private, well-guarded schools. I’m more concerned about you. From now on, you need to be sure your bulls know where you’re going every single time you make a step.”
“Fine,” Ana said quietly.
“I know you don’t like this.”
Ana smiled sadly. “I like that you take care of us.”
Koldan chuckled deeply. “That I do.”
“I’ll take Sasha up to bed. Meet me in the bedroom in five?” Ana asked, winking.
“Absolutely.”
Ana had just rounded the top of the stairs as the sound of glass breaking stopped her in her tracks. Fear crawled up her spine and lodged in her throat when she heard Koldan shout. Another loud bang followed, like someone was thrown against wood.
Or like someone had hit their front door.
Ana turned with her six-month-old baby girl in just enough time to see Koldan hit the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t take his eyes off Ana’s frozen form for a second.
“Safe room,” he shouted.
Ana blinked, holding a crying Sasha tighter.
“Go, Ana!”
Koldan’s hand hit Ana’s back hard, lurching her forward. Rapid pops, one after the other, sounded downstairs. Her heart pounded out of control, threatening to leap right out of her chest. She hit the hallway running with Koldan right on her heels. Ana yanked open the doorway to Daniil’s room just as Koldan turned the doorknob on Adrik’s.
“Ma?” Ana heard little Daniil cry.
The noise downstairs got louder.
“Come here, baby,” Ana whispered, trying to keep calm for her son.
What was happening downstairs?
Who would do that?
Ana grabbed Daniil’s little hand in hers, trying to pretend like her own wasn’t shaking. Koldan had a sleepy, confused Adrik in his arms as he jerked his head toward the back of the hallway. Ana followed his lead. Quickly, Ana found herself inside a room in their house she had never needed to use. It was a small, eight by six box surrounded by ten inch thick steel. It had an air ventilation system and food stocked. It also had two little cots. Once closed completely, the door couldn’t be reopened from the outside. A monitor was set up for the people inside the safe room so they could hear what was going on outside, and there were several camera shots showing the house on three separate screens.
Koldan sat Adrik to the floor and turned, hitting the red button on the wall.
Ana watched in silence and terror as the door to the room began to close and her husband didn’t come inside. She held onto Sasha as
the baby girl cried for her father. She didn’t let go of little Daniil’s hand when he reached out for Koldan, asking for him to stay.
“Koldan,” Ana whispered.
Koldan touched two fingers to his lips and then turned away.
Chapter Eighteen
Ana stayed still and quiet behind the steering wheel of her Benz as her mother helped Daniil and Adrik out of the backseat. Viviana unbuckled little Sasha from her car seat and cooed at the child.
“Ana?” Viviana asked softly.
“Yeah, Ma?”
“I’ll take the kids in and get them something to eat. Sound good?”
“Sure. Thanks, Ma.”
Ana said nothing when her father slid into the passenger seat. Anton waited until Viviana and the kids were inside the house before he turned to his daughter.
“Talk to me, dushka,” Anton said.
Ana shuddered, her fingers clenching tight around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “I just … had to leave. I can’t even go inside my house because of the fucking cops. My kids were in that house. I can’t …”
“You’re okay,” Anton said gently. “The boys and Sasha are fine. Koldan did well, Ana. He made sure you were protected and safe. What more could he have done?”
“Not brought it into my home at all!” Ana shouted.
Anton flinched. “Oh, my dushka … you just don’t get it. Do you honestly believe that man wanted a bunch of gang members to storm your house and shoot it up? Do you truly think he would put you and his children in that position, Ana?”
“It happened,” Ana argued. “If it wasn’t for the goddamn men he had watching the house—”
“Ana, stop it.”
Ana sucked in a deep breath, choking on a sob. “That was too real.”
Anton frowned. “Ana, this life is not a game.”
“I know that!”
“Then you know that Koldan did his best. He did everything he should have. And you cannot run away from your marriage and your choices every time something happens that you don’t like, dushka. How is that love, Ana? How is that showing him that you understand and that you forgive his mistakes and accept him for who he is?”
Ana cringed. “I didn’t run away.”
