Page 69 of Axel (Belles & Bratva Beasts #2)

RUBY

Six months later

“So, we have to have the talk. ” Wren sets her fork down.

“Which talk?” I speak with my mouth full of red velvet cake.

We just split a piece, and who needs manners around your in-laws?

“ The talk.” She leans back in her chair, rubbing her baby bump. “You know, what if we want to name our daughters the same thing?”

“Not happening.” Axel laughs. “My beautiful wife wants to name our kids after a fucking rainbow. ROY G BIV would be so proud.”

“That’s what I mean.” Wren’s cute face twists. She’s so worried. “I wanted to name our daughter Bluebell and?—”

“Don’t worry.” I laugh, rubbing my non-existent baby bump. I’m only ten weeks along. “If this is a girl, we’re naming her Violet. Little Violet King. She’ll have her daddy wrapped around her rebellious finger.”

“And if it’s a boy?” Sire asks Axel.

And Axel falls quiet, drumming his dark, inked fingers over the white linen tablecloth.

In a week, he leaves for Moscow to get Lev back, and no one knows but me, The Queen, and Roman, who’s going with him.

Apart from this nightmare involving Lev and who betrayed Axel, life has been perfect.

Our Mykonos wedding was magical. Everyone was there. Even Alena, who snuck away with Loch after our service. God, I kept my fingers crossed for them.

And Jace?

Of course, I noticed how he kept mysteriously disappearing all week, and when I spied on him, I watched him leave a sex shop carrying a big white paper bag. The man was smiling all week.

When we got home, our new penthouse upstairs in The Mercier was ready for us. My god, it’s lavish. But Axel insisted on safety … and spoiling me.

We usually have lunch here with another king and queen in the Mercier’s courtyard with its bubbling pineapple fountain.

The first few months of our marriage have been like a dream. And though I’ve had two seizures since I changed my meds to get pregnant, Axel rarely leaves my side.

And yeah, we both cried when I found out I was pregnant.

“Maxim,” Sire answers Axel’s silence. “That’s what we should name the first boy in our family.”

“Yeah,” Axel answers solemnly. “Maxim.”

I know he wants to tell Sire about Lev, but he can’t.

Once Axel goes to Moscow and confronts Katya about Lev, he’ll know who betrayed us. Axel has a way of making people talk, and he won’t come home without Lev.

“So, after Maxim, who’s having Roy?” Wren laughs, and she lightens the mood.

But when I laugh, my lunch threatens to make another appearance.

“Oh shit.” I stand. “Excuse me. I gotta hurl.”

“I’ll go with you.” Axel moves to stand too, but, “Please,” I insist. “I don’t need an audience for version two point O of my chicken salad. I’ll be right back.”

I peck his cheek, grab the key card to our penthouse, and race toward the golden elevator.

Scarlett told me morning sickness is a good sign, but I’m giving it the middle finger. A wave will hit me, then nothing will happen. It’ll go away. Then, a burp turns into The Exorcist, and it’s not pretty.

The elevator doors ding open as the wave passes. But just in case, I’ll go to our penthouse and kneel by the porcelain throne and see what happens.

Lost in queasy thoughts, I don’t pay attention when a hand reaches in, blocking the doors from closing at the last moment.

I’m in a nauseous haze when a couple joins me in the elevator.

The doors slide closed, and I hear, “Congratulations, Missus King.”

“Do I know you?” I crack my eyelids open.

But the moment I turn to confront the voice, I recognize my husband … thirty years from now.

Black hair. Heavy brows. Chiseled face. Perfect nose. Lush lips.

But this man is dripping with evil.

Ruslan Kholodov sneers down at me, and then I glance to see the statuesque blonde beside him .

Katya.

The hairs on my neck stand. Not afraid. I’m thrilled. And vengeful.

“What floor?” I ask them. “Because you’re definitely not on my level.”

Katya scoffs, “Told you she would be low class.”

“Hey, Bitchie Barbie,” I smile, “just because you sold your cunt and soul, it doesn’t mean you have a brain left to fuck with me.”

Her eyes widen, but I glare at Ruslan. “And you, PacMan. You have some grey-haired balls to show up here. What do you want? A pacemaker for your dead heart or hers?”

Katya mutters curses in Russian while Ruslan narrows his eyes, and Oh, that’s where Axel gets that look from .

The one that makes grown men piss their pants.

But I’m immune.

“I could just kill you for fun.”

He could. I believe him.

“You know what’s really fun?” I answer. “A photo booth. Say cheese, mother fucker. There are cameras in here and everywhere. You won’t leave this hotel alive.”

The elevator rises, and so does my pulse.

I’m right about the cameras. Scarlett’s security is watching us. But right now we look like guests in a chat. Like someone farted in the elevator and I’m mad about it.

But all I have to do is press the SOS charm on my bracelet again, and Axel will kill his father in broad daylight. He wouldn’t hesitate.

And there would be a lot of salt involved.

“Let us please speak.” Ruslan gestures to the elevator doors as they slide open, revealing the parlor separating my penthouse and Scarlett’s.

But she’s at her beach house with Luca and his daughter. And his staff aren’t here today, either .

It’s just me and my gut instinct.

I always trust it.

“Okay. We can speak.” I step into the parlor, and they follow. “But Bitchie Barbie better keep her mouth shut, or I’m going to fill it with my fist.”

“Uh, so trashy.” Katya rolls her eyes.

“Damn right, I’m trashy. And it’s gonna hurt real bad when I roll my trash out all over your face. You fucking bitch, you stole Axel’s son!”

“He is my son, too!” she shrieks.

“No, you chose to be used by this man over being a mother to your son. And you,” I point at Ruslan, “are already paying the price, aren’t you? Your own blood hates you. All of them. No ice cold pussy in the world can fuck and breed that karma away.”

Katya steps to me and I smile, taunting, “Bring it, Barbie Bitch. I don’t need a goddamn knife to rip your neck open. I’ll use my teeth.”

“Enough.” Ruslan raises his hand, shooing Katya away.

And I see it. The grey pallor of his skin. The lack of life in his eyes. How he was once a sadistic and seductive man. How everyone feared him, but now he fears death. It’s imminent.

“I see that my son has chosen his queen well.” Reverently, Ruslan reaches for my arm, but I jerk it away. “Strong. Beautiful. Smart. Fearless and proud. I raised him well.”

“No,” I lift my chin, “his mother raised him well, and I’m just like her. And she sends her Fuck Yous.”

“She is a bitch,” Katya mutters.

“She is a mother whose sons love her,” I say. “Spoiler alert: yours won’t.”

She lifts her nose. “A son always loves his mother.”

“Not when he finds out that she stole him from his loving father.”

“Axel is a cold man,” she scoffs.

I say bitingly, “You would be too if you were married to the White Cunt Walker from Hell. They can freeze eggs in your womb.”

I catch it.

Ruslan’s grin.

“Speaking of…” My stomach flips, and not from this.

I’m pregnant with the baby of the man I love.

And he loves me with the ferocity of a lion. Axel will always chase me and come looking for me soon.

And it will be a bloodbath if he finds his father and Katya here, and I don’t want that.

Maybe it’s the detective in me.

Maybe it’s the lioness mother I’m becoming.

But I can sense it: they need something.

Why else would Ruslan and Katya be here? Why would they risk showing up in the lion’s den? If they wanted me dead, they’ve had ample opportunities. If they want a war, they’ll get one. If they want to die, they’ll lay a hand on me.

“You’re right,” I say to Ruslan, lifting my chin. “Axel has chosen his true queen wisely. So tell me what you need and I’ll tell you the price for it.”

An hour later, Axel’s gently rubbing my feet, and why does it look so sexy when he does it with inked hands and his finger, proudly wearing a thick platinum wedding band?

We’re cuddled on our sofa, facing each other, and he knows I’m holding something in.

But? I don’t know how to tell him this.

It’s not bad news.

It’s karma.

“Alright, Wildfire.” His smile is so bright. “Come on. Scorch my life as usual. Tell me whatever it is.”

Sparky sleeps between us. Swiper is having a field day with Axel’s golden tie.

“Well,” I sigh, “I met some old friends today. You know them. Ruslan and Katya.”

His eyes ice. His brows lower. He knows I’m not kidding.

“They took a ride on the elevator with me today and needed to talk.”

Axel’s lip curls. “Did he lay a hand on you?”

Because we all know what he would do if his father did.

“No,” I answer. “But you’d be proud of me.”

“I’m always proud of you.” He’s way too calm. “So tell me. What happened, Ruby?”

“Well, I made a big deal with your father … then I threw up on Katya.”

NOT THE END

Thank you so much for reading AXEL!