Page 4

CHAPTER 4

Sabrina

Fifteen Months Ago

I stop for a few seconds as the front door squeaks while I try to quietly sneak into the apartment I share with my sister. I had to do an extra dance because one of the dancers in one of the numbers fell ill. Sometimes it’s a curse to know every number being danced at the hotel but I do need the money for a new car I have an eye on.

“At last!” Tara’s voice makes me jump as she switches on the light, the glare blinding me for a few seconds.

“Jesus, Tara.” I grip my chest as my heart is thumping so hard against my rib cage. “Why are you up so late?”

I kick off my shoes and toss my keys onto the table beside the door.

“We need to talk.”

Uh-oh! My nerves go into instant Tara has found out something she wasn’t supposed to know and my mind tumbles over all the things I could’ve done wrong in the past few days or weeks.

I sink onto the couch resigning myself to the fact I’m about to get lectured on something I can’t even remember. “Okay. Shoot.” Rolling my eyes and shaking my head. “What did I do this time? Forget to pay another parking ticket?”

“You forgot to pay six parking tickets in my car!” Tara reminds me. “But no, not that I know of.”

“Phew!” My fingers slash across my brow to flick off imaginary sweat. “That’s a relief.” I look at her curiously. “Then what did I do?”

“Nothing,” Tara assures me and fidgets with her hands. Now I’m really getting suspicious as Tara is not a fidgeter.

“Okay…” I gesture with my hands sitting forward. “Now you’re just making me uncomfortably nervous.”

“I need to disappear,” Tara blurts out.

The words knock the air from my lungs.

“What?” I look at her dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?” My confusion starts to make me doubt what I heard. “Did you say you needed to disappear?”

“Yes.” Tara nods, picking up a folded piece of paper from the table. “This is why.” She hands it to me.

“Is this something illegal?” I’m reluctant to take it. “Now, I know I’m the rebel of the family…” My eyes drop to the paper in her hand. “But you know I don’t do illegal—I’ve taken and passed the bar.”

“Pity you don’t put that degree to good use,” Tara points out. “We could be staying in a swanky penthouse on the strip.”

“I’m waiting for you to become a professor, get a good job at a university, and then you can get us that penthouse.” My brow furrows and I finally take the piece of paper then nervously open it. My eyes boggle at the contents. “What the fuck?” I give my head a shake wondering if my eyes are playing tricks on me. “Is this yours or mine?”

“Unless you’ve had sex within the past two months, which I’m pretty sure you haven’t,” Tara points out. “It’s mine.”

“Are you sure?” I gape at her with a mixture of shock, disbelief, and awe. “Maybe they muddled the results up. It’s happened.” My eyes narrow. “Is this a joke? Are you playing some sort of sick joke on me?” I can’t believe what I’ve just read. “My goody two shoes sister is pregnant?”

Tara shakes her head, and I see her eyes mist over. My heart squeezes seeing the fear and uncertainty suddenly clouding her eyes and her voice wobbles. “It’s no joke.”

“I mean… who?” I ask, confused. “I didn’t know you were even…” Then I remember something Radomir, Leigh’s husband, told me about Tara having an affair a year ago and my eyes widen. “No fucking way.” Now my eyes must be filled with fear for my sister. “This is why you need to disappear. Not because you’re pregnant but because of who the father of your baby is.”

Tara looks at me in surprise knowing she’s never mentioned seeing anyone to me and asks suspiciously, “Who do you think the father is?”

“Well I’m hoping it’s not Gavriil Mirochin!” I breathe.

“I…” Her eyes widen as she stares at me in disbelief. “How did you know?”

“I heard a rumor that you and he were having an affair.” I shrug. “I didn’t believe it because I knew you’d never do anything that stupid and were still a virgin.”

“Fucking rumors.” Tara shocks me again as the swear words are spat from her lips. Tara never swears. “And I lost my virginity when I was eighteen—to Gavriil!”

Holy fuck! “Who are you and what have you done with my older sister?” I look at her wide eyed. “And more importantly… what are you going to do?”

“I told you,” Tara repeats. “I need to disappear.”

“And go where?” I ask. “You’re pregnant, Tara, and I may not be an expert, but I know what Leigh has just gone through. She reckons she’d have really struggled if she’d been on her own.”

“I’m hoping I won’t be on my own,” Tara says.

“Tara…” I shake my head realizing what she means. “I don’t know what the fucking bastard told you, but trust me, they never leave their wife.”

“What?” Tara gives me a confused look before her brows shoot up. “Oh, no!” She shakes her head emphatically. “I don’t mean him ,” she clarifies. “I was hoping… you’d help me.”

“Of course I’ll help you!” Leaning forward I take her hand to give it an encouraging squeeze. “Anything you need.”

“Really?” Tara’s eyes start to mist over. “Because I’m afraid I need a really, really big ask of you.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve murder…”

Tara gives a shaky laugh. “No. Nothing that drastic.” Her eyes meet and hold mine as they grow serious. “Look, Rina. I need to keep this pregnancy a secret—from everyone. ”

“Including Carla?” My brows shoot up wondering how the fuck my sister is going to stay out of our mother’s sights for the next seven months. Especially since Tara is her favorite and they don’t go a day without talking to each other.

“Especially Mom.” Tara’s look says it all—she means it. “That’s why I need to disappear.”

“Okay…” I’m not sure I’m following her. “How do you need me to help?”

“First I’ll need you to give this to Mom.” She hands me an envelope addressed to Mom and Sabrina. “Read it.”

I open the envelope with shaky hands and read aloud:

Dear Rina and Mom

By the time you get this I’ll be long gone. Don’t ask where because it’s best if neither of you know. I’ve been having an affair with Gavriil Mirochin for many years now and his wife has found out. She wants me gone and I’ve had to leave before she tries to have me killed.

I love you all so much. When or if I can, I will contact you.

Tara

“You want me to give this to Mom!” My disbelief resonates in my voice. “Are you mad? This will kill her.”

“It's the only way, Rina,” Tara tells me.

“Is this true?” My heart is beating like a trapped bird in my chest. “Did Gavriil’s wife find out about the two of you?”

Tara nods but doesn’t elaborate too much about it. “Don’t worry, Gavriil and I have ended the affair.”

“Good!” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Then hopefully his vindictive Russian wife won’t come after you now that you won’t be fucking her husband.”

“Crude!” Tara admonishes.

“Sorry,” I mumble as my eyes scan the letter once again. “So I’m supposed to take this letter to Mom and tell her that I came home and found it with you nowhere in sight?”

“That’s the plan.” Tara nods. “But there is more.”

Saying nothing I watch her and my gut clenches as my senses go on high alert as I get a feeling I’m not going to like what my sister is about to say.

“Now you know why I have to keep this baby a secret, Rina,” Tara implores. “You’re the only one I can trust and that’s why I need to ask…” She stops and swallows. “I need to ask you to pretend to be the mother of my baby.”

“Huh?” My brows furrow as confusion swirls through me. “What do you mean? Do you want me to tell everyone you’re carrying a baby for me?”

Tara gives an amused snort. “No, that would be insane.” She pulls a face. “I want you to pretend to be pregnant.”

Suddenly I’m choking on my own saliva at her words and trying to splutter out, “What the fuck? Are you insane?”

Tara reaches behind the sofa and lifts up a large plastic bag dumping the contents beside her.

“What are those?” I point to the weird looking contraptions scattered over the beige cushions.

“Your different sized bellies over the next seven months,” Tara replies, picking up the first one. “This one you’ll need to wear at four months. My friend who works at a movie studio creating prosthetics lent them to me.”

She throws the fake belly at me. “It’s heavy.”

“It’s made from medical-grade silicone and it’s the real deal,” Tara tells me excitedly. “It’s made for the partner that is not pregnant and mimics not just the tummy but the distribution of weight and pressure as the pregnancy progresses.”

“The material is warm to the touch.” My fingers glide over the weird contraption.

The fake pregnant belly looks like a fat weighted vest. The front of it curves outward into a bulbous belly that feels firm yet gives just enough to make it eerily lifelike.

“It feels so real.” I get a cringe shudder.

“Oh, it’s going to feel real,” Tara says a little too gleefully for someone trying to convince me to be fake pregnant. “These all have weighted inserts to simulate the baby's movement, pressure on the bladder, and shifts in balance, making standing, sitting, or bending a whole ordeal.”

“Oh, great. So you want me to be uncomfortable, awkward, and miserable with you?” My eyes scan the bellies that grow in size.

“It will be fun,” Tara tries to sell me on her totally deranged idea. “You’ll get to experience what I’m going through and it will be more real for you to sell your fake pregnancy.”

“Awesome.” Standing, I strap the thing on and stare at it. “It really does look life-like.”

“Wait until you have it on correctly,” Tara warns, then looks at me hopefully. “Does this mean you’ll do it—for me?”

Sighing, I hand her the fake belly. “You already knew I would.” My hand swooshes over the fake bellies. “Where are you going to hide?” I look around our apartment. “You can’t stay here.”

“I’ve already taken care of that.”

“Just how long have you been planning this?”

“For about two weeks when I did a home pregnancy test and it came up positive,” Tara admits. “I knew what it was going to mean.”

“So you made one of your planning charts!” I guess.

“I did.” Tara nods. “A taxi is coming to pick me up and take me to that biker tavern near the edge of town where Sam will fetch me then take me to one of the holding cottages near Dad’s cabin.”

“Fuck, you really do have this all planned!” I swallow, my heart picking up speed as my eyes land on the fake bellies once again. “Won’t Gavriil wonder why you’re not at work?”

“I already quit,” Tara replies, shoving the fake bellies back into the large bag. “I’m going to take these with me, and you’ll have to go to Dad’s cabin as often as you can. As my stomach grows we’ll grow yours.”

“What about my work?” My eyes widen.

“You have your own dressing room so no one will see you get dressed,” Tara points out and gets a sly smile. “But you will have to go without sex for roughly seven to eight months.”

“Oh!” I hadn't really thought about that. Not that it’s going to be a problem as I’ve hit a bit of a dry spell. “This is what I sacrifice for the love of my sister.”

“And I thank you for that.” Tara hugs me. “I’m sorry I’ve had to ask you to do this. But this baby’s safety depends on it.” Her tone is serious now. “You remember when Radomir thought Leigh was pregnant?” I nod. “He had to protect her because of who he was as she’d become a target. Gavriil is Bratva too and if anyone were to find out who the father of this baby is…”

“I understand.” Taking a deep breath I give a nervous laugh. “I guess I’m about to become a mom.”

“And you understand that you will have to keep up the ruse?” Tara warns. “Everyone, even Mom, and Leigh, have to believe this baby is yours.”

Her phone bleeps and she looks at it. “My taxis here.” She gives me a hug, takes the bag of bellies, and the duffel bag I didn’t see beside the sofa. “Come to Dad’s cabin on the weekend.”

I nod and watch her walk through the door knowing my life is about to change forever and this time it's through no stupid mistake of mine but rather my perfect sister’s! Although, of course to the world they will still see it that way.