Page 93 of Gilded Shackles
I take a step forward.
A gun raises. Gayle picks hers up off the table and aims it at Elle's head.
"Move again and she dies right here."
My throat goes dry. Every instinct screams to charge forward. To grab her. To put myself between them. But one twitch and she's gone. So I stand there, fists clenched, hating myself with every breath.
Elle's eyes find mine. Terror, yes. But something steadier underneath. She's telling medon't do anything stupid.I can read her even now.
Gayle keeps the gun trained. "You see, Nikolai, you may think you're in control. But I own the strings. And if you want her and the baby alive, you'll do exactly as I say."
It takes me a second to register what she said. "What baby?"
She smirks. "Didn't she tell you? Congratulations. You're going to be a father."
The room disappears.
The guns. The guards. Gayle's voice. All of it cuts out.
Father?
I look at Elle. Her eyes don't lie. She's crying, and I know, right then, that it's true.
And I missed it.
Fuck.
That's what she was trying to tell me. The candles. The dress. The dinner I walked away from.
Jesus Christ.
I was too busy chasing the wrong threats. Trying to fix everything around her while she was right in front of me, scared and alone, trying to find one moment to say the thing that should have mattered most.
And I didn't see it.
I didn't fucking see it.
I let her carry that alone.
"Elle," I whisper. "Is it true?"
She nods. Chin trembling.
My heart rips in half. I don't care about Viktor. I don't care about Gayle. All I want is to put my hand on her stomach and feel what's ours.
I've already failed them once.
Gayle's voice cuts through. "So tell me, Nikolai. Do you really want Egor raising your child?"
"No."
"Then you know what to do." She lowers the gun slightly. "You're the only person in this city who can get close enough to Viktor to put a bullet in his head. That's why you're walking out of here tonight. And that's why you'll come back to me when it's done."
She lets that settle.
"Don't think about running. I know where your car is parked. I know where your son sleeps. I know every move you make before you make it. Seventy-two hours, Nikolai. Bring me Viktor, and you get your family back."
Her men close in, forcing me toward the door. I let them. I don't fight. I don't speak. But inside, every thought, every heartbeat, every breath is a single burning promise.
