Page 87 of Exacting Vengeance

With his heart in his throat, he set the test wand on the vanity. This explained everything. Victoria was going to run but not because of Yuri. It was because of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She wouldn’t risk giving birth in prison and being separated from her baby. Their baby.

“Jack’s in the hall waiting on forensics,” Deke said from the doorway. “You okay?”

Blindly, he turned. Frustration and betrayal made it impossible to think straight as he pushed past his brother and went back through the apartment and into the hallway.

Clearly, she hadn’t planned on telling him about the pregnancy. She would have disappeared, and he would never have known. How could she keep something like this from him? Then again, she had a history of withholding important information.

He stared at the wall, wanting like hell to ram his fist through the drywall.

The stairwell door opened, and the FBI forensic team walked toward him. Two guys he’d worked with before, each carrying heavy black metal cases, acknowledged him with nods.

“Inside.” He pointed to the open door. “Take prints, hair fibers…” Anything that could give them a clue as to what had happened and where Yuri might have taken Victoria. Not that Yuri would be stupid enough to leave any useful evidence behind. The only evidence he’d intentionally left was the lingering cigar smoke.

Yuri had wanted him to know he was the one who’d taken Victoria.

“There’s something else you should know,” Tracee said, stepping closer. “She made me swear not to tell you, but I think I have to.”

“She’s pregnant,” he heard himself say. He still couldn’t completely process the truth. “She lied to me. She said she couldn’t have children.”

“No, she didn’t lie to you. Until today, she didn’t know she could conceive. That snake of an ex-husband was behind the whole thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“While they were still married, they tried having children but couldn’t. She went to a doctor and got tested. The doctor called when she was out and Yuri spoke with him. Yuri lied to her and told her she was sterile. Today she exhibited classic signs of morning sickness. She called her old doctor in Chicago, who confirmed it. The doctor said she was perfectly capable of having children and always had been. Yuri was the one with the problem, not her.”

“Oh, Jesus.” He leaned against the wall, fearing if he didn’t, he’d collapse onto the floor. “What have I done?”

Victoria was pregnant with his baby, and Yuri had them both.

It was his fault. He should have been protecting her, loving her, but instead he’d been obsessed with nailing Yuri and Nikolai Lebedev. In the time it took for his heart to beat once, none of that mattered anymore.

More regret and anger sliced into him.

Just when he’d thought he was over feeling the guilt of letting down the woman he loved, he’d gone and done it again. What should have been the joy of impending fatherhood was overshadowed by grisly images of Victoria and their child at the mercy of Yuri’s obsessive rage.

He couldn’t lose them.

Unable to hold back a second longer, Kyle pounded his fist on the wall, cracking the Sheetrock. Many times before, he’d gone into enemy territory after captured servicemen. This time was different. This time he was in love with the captive. Somehow, he had to find her.

After getting a grip on his emotions, he turned back to Tracee. “There’s nothing you can do here. Go home. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

She stared at him. “You’re inhuman. That has to be it. How can you stand there so calmly when Victoria’s been kidnapped by a psychopath? You’re acting as if this is just another case to you. This is Victoria we’re talking about. Our Victoria. She could be dead! What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you show some emotion?”

He held her angry gaze a moment before answering. “Because it’s the only way I can deal with this.”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“With everything that I am.”

She pointed a finger at him, close enough to practically jab him in the chest. “You’d better call me the minute you hear something. She has no family. I’m her only family.”

“You’re wrong about that.” The truth slammed into him harder than a brick wall. “I’m her family now, too.”

“So are we.” Jack had come up behind them and put his hand on Kyle’s right shoulder; Deke did the same on his left.

More emotion threatened to choke the life out of him. He assumed they’d overheard him say Victoria was pregnant.

Tracee exhaled a long breath. “Just call me.” She stormed down the hall and pushed open the stairwell door.