Page 89 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

How could I answer that without sounding like a complete headcase?

Not that he waited for an answer. Another sigh rattled his chest. "I need to get you home, Daisy. Both you and Alec need medical care and—"

Weakly, I pushed at his chest. "I’m fine. I’m not hurt," I grumbled.

He didn’t loosen his grip. "I would still feel better if you and the baby were checked out."

It hit me then: he hadn’t come after me because he cared. Ilya never cared about me. He had chased after me because I was carrying his second child. That was the only reason he was holding and staring at me like he was.

Because I was pregnant.

And his heirs were the only thing he cared about. The only thing he had ever cared about. He hadn’t rescued me, all guns blazing, because he cared about me. He had done it to save his son and his unborn child.

To Ilya Popovitch, I was nothing but a broodmare. An animal.

Tears welled up in my eyes unbidden, even as a small part of me told myself I was being stupid. I pushed the small, hopeful voice down. Hushing it.

If Ilya had come for me as well, he would have at least looked at me, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t even asked how I was.

Which meant only one thing... I was right back to where I started as nothing more than a broodmare for the mighty Popovitch family. Only this time, I had no one to blame but myself.

Ilya's eyes swept across my face, and a frown pinched his eyebrows together like he could read my thoughts. "Alec is waiting for you," he whispered. "He’s in the car, and he wants his mom."

God, I wanted my son as well. I wanted both of my children in my life. Every day. I wanted to see all of their firsts and laugh and watch them grow and have families of their own.

But I would never get that chance. Because I had been down this road with Ilya before.

"I can’t—" I stuttered around the sob wedged in my throat. "I can’t do this anymore." I waved a hand uselessly in front of me like that made what I said make sense. "I can’t take this anymore."

God, I didn’t even know what I was saying. The words just kept coming out, making little to no sense. "I am not strong enough. Please, Ilya."

I didn’t even know what I was begging for. Apart from rest. I so desperately needed to rest. I knew if I did, I would be able to think more clearly.

"Please what? Please let you run?" Ilya's eyes flashed almost angrily. "You don’t get to run again, Daisy," he growled out. "You don’t ever get to run from me and this family. I know you are scared. I am too, but you don’t get to disappear. We can be scared together. For Alec and the baby's sake, we have to be. He won’t understand if you disappear again, and I won’t survive it. And—" he trailed off. His dark eyebrows knotting together in concern as he stared down at me.

I swayed; my vision swirled around me. Greyness and then blackness ate up my vision so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to wonder what was happening before my legs buckled, and I fell forward into his chest in a half-faint. I didn’t even fight it; I was too weak to do anything but crumble.

"Fuck." Ilya's voice came from the swirling mist, and I felt him lift me into his arms, bridal style. "Fuck, just hold on, Daisy. I’ve got you."

I didn’t need to close my eyes because my vision was fading so quickly. All I could do was lay my cheek on his chest. Rightover the pounding of his heart. It felt good to be held by him one last time. Even if his shirt was wet and sticky with other people's blood.

It didn’t matter, I thought as I drifted. Nothing mattered but the fact that Alec was safe and I was—

Dimly, I heard him begin to shout orders; my body jolted as he ran back towards his car. But it all felt and sounded like it was from far away.

Like it was happening to someone else, and I was just watching on as a spectator.

"Get a doctor to the apartment now!" he yelled, cradling me to his chest like a baby. "Hold on, Daisy," he ordered. "Please, just hold on, don’t leave me again."

But I was already drifting away.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Ilya

Standing by the open door to my son's room, I watched him without blinking. The doctors had been here when we had arrived, one for each of them. The one assigned to Alec had given him the all-clear pretty quickly. My son was traumatized, dehydrated, and had lost some weight, but all in all, he wasn’t physically hurt. Mentally still remained to be seen. The doctor had given him a shot so he could sleep and promised to come back in the morning before he had left.

The doctor with Daisy was still in there, and that worried me. Hell, her passing out in my arms had caused such panic to rise up in my chest that I had almost thrown up.