Page 83 of Claimed By the Pakhan

“I’m not killing the father of my children,” says Fia, shaking her head, more tears falling. “You’re the one good thing in my life. You kill other people and remain unscathed, never coming close to destruction yourself. That makes you safe to lean on. I always trusted you were never going to leave, not because of death, but certainly not because you lost interest in me.”

I search her eyes. “What are you saying?”

“Every time I ran away, you fought for me. You never gave up.”

“I kidnapped you, Fia, stealing your freedom.”

“I never wanted that in the first place,” she says, hugging herself as more tears fall. “All I have ever wanted is you.”

“That’s because all you’ve ever known is me.”

I wipe my hand around the back of my neck. She’s destroying me one tear at a time, but this is all my doing. She fell in love with me because she had no other choice.

Fia’s face turns, anger sharpening the two lines between her brows. “What are you saying exactly? That you’re giving up?”

“I have to do what is best for this family, Fia, to keep you and the twins safe.”

“Me and the twins want you in our lives.”

“You won’t have one for long as long as I’m part of it.”

Fia shakes her head, refusing to believe a word I’m saying. Always a little spitfire.

“Sorry to interrupt,” interjects one of my men outside. “But we just received word that the Kuzmins are on their way here. The two of you should make tracks. And stay clear of your house,pakhan.Alexander and Luka might be dead, but precautions still need to be taken. The Kuzmins will be angry to see their leader dead, and you two will be in the firing line.”

Distancing myself from Fia isn’t as simple as I would like it to be.

I click my teeth, shoving my hands in my pockets. “Fair point.”

“Use my cousin’s boathouse. It’s currently unoccupied. I’ll forward you the address," says one of the men, slipping his phone, clicking on the screen.

My phone dings a moment later. I bring up the address. This place could be even more off the grid than my property.

Flashing Fia a glance, I shove the phone back into my pocket and step out of the container. The fresh salty air reminds me that reality does in fact exist.

“We’re getting you to the hospital right now,” I say to Fia, dragging her away from the shipping container.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re five and a half months pregnant and you almost lost your life.”

“Being unconscious and losing your life are two very different things.”

“Perhaps, but they both mean the same thing to me.” I grab her shoulders, turning her around to face me between the stacked shipping containers. Late afternoon shadows pass on her face, her searching eyes zigzagging between each of mine. “

You have to get away from me,” I say. “If you choose not to kill me, fine. Either way, you will never see me again when all of this is over.”

29

FIA

I can always counton Emil being a huge dick. I’m coming into my final trimester of pregnancy, and he spins me around, telling me bullshit about walking out of my life forever.

Part of me refuses to believe him. Emil is a jack of many trades. He can throw knives, hitting bullseye each time, make me scream in bed and successfully kill concierges in hotel rooms without the cops suspecting anything, but he can’t ghost me. I’m yet to meet a version of him who is capable of leaving me alone.

“If anything comes back to you from the attack, who the perpetrator was, etcetera, report the incident to the police,” says the nurse, discarding the bloody latex gloves in the trash. “The smallest detail is better than nothing, and after being hit by a car, the police might be able to build a case.”

“Maybe,” I say, swinging my legs off the bed, standing up. “But the car thing was an accident.”