Page 90 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

I would take her shouting and screaming at me over that. Hell, even running away from me was better.

An hour went past. So slowly that it felt like a year, and I remained leaning against my son's open door. My eyes glued to him, but my ears trained for any sound behind me.

Finally, I heard it. The soft click of a bedroom door opening and closing behind me.

"Mr. Popovitch?"

I turned, closing the distance between us, and my heart lurched at the look on his lined face.

"Is she—" my voice cracked and then broke altogether.

A look of sympathy passed through his eyes. "Miss Daisy is fine. She’s severely malnourished and dehydrated, and that’s what caused her to pass out. It looks to me like she hasn’t eaten or drunk anything in several days."

Of course she hadn’t. I knew Daisy. She would have given it all to Alec.

"She’s going to be okay?" I whispered. And for the first time in my life, I let my real emotions show. "And the baby?"

“The baby’s heartbeat is still strong, but it’s early days, Mr. Popovitch, and Daisy has been through a great deal. She will need plenty of care, quiet rest, and close monitoring if her body is going to carry this baby to term.” His gaze swept over me. Not in a hostile way, but in the kind of way that told me he meant business.

"I’ll keep that in mind."This time when I spoke, my voice was more like its old self. Not because I hadn't realized that the two most important people in my life were going to be okay, but because I couldn’t allow the weakness to keep showing.

It just wasn’t natural for me to show how I was feeling.

"Thank you, Doctor." Holding out my hand, he shook it for a second before heading towards the elevator.

"Oh." Lashing out, I stopped the metal doors from closing in on him. "Is she up for visitors?"

He eyed me coolly. "This is your house, Mr. Popovitch," he reminded me. "It’s not my place to tell you which rooms you can enter." Lined eyes behind round glasses narrowed. "But."

I waited for him to continue.

"I stand by what I said. She is in a very weakened state. She may be able to talk for a little while, but," he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable, "any physical visits are totally off limits. Miss Daisy is to rest and heal."

I stared at him in shock, completely taken aback that he would think I wanted to fuck her at a time like this. Nodding my head curtly, I stepped back and let the doors slide shut. "Completely understandable. Talking only. Good night."

I hesitated then, not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I did, and it terrified me. Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, I padded silently through the quiet apartment and pushed open my bedroom door, just an inch. Just enough to see her sleeping form.

Daisy was curled up in bed on her side. Her eyes shut with sleep, but her face kept twisting, almost like she was reliving all the trauma in her dreams.

I didn’t want that for her. Her dreams were meant to be safe spaces. Not the place of nightmares.

As quietly as I could, I went to her, pulling up a chair so I could sink into it. Under the light of the lamps and being this close to her, I could see just how thin she had become.

Her eye sockets looked hollow, the smudges under them so dark it looked like she had been punched in the face, but I knew it was from lack of sleep.

Had she slept even one hour, or had she been guarding our child?

My eyes darted down her body.

Not our child. Our children.

Reaching out, I stroked my thumb down her cheek. As gently as I could because I didn’t want to wake her. She needed to sleep, to rest, and then eat so she could regain her strength.

I knew I should leave the room and just let her sleep, but I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving her, especially when she was clearly having a bad dream.

Instead, I settled back in the chair and took her hand gently in my hand. My thumb swiping back and forth over her skin. Her cold skin. It wasn’t cold in the apartment, but her skin was clammy after her ordeal.

"You’re so—" I began to say. You’re so beautiful was what I was going to say, and that was the absolute truth. Even broken like she was, she was still the most stunning creature in existence. Maybe it was because she was so broken that I found her so exquisite. Because she was a fighter. It didn’t matter what life threw at her, she survived.