Page 2 of Her Darkest Possession (Baryshev Bratva #2)

ANATOLY

Your whore’s pregnant

The gun in my mother's hand is still pointed at her own temple. But her words have stolen the breath from my chest.

Pregnant?

There's a part of me that refuses to believe her, that wants to order her to pull the trigger. But there's another part of my mind that's already racing with possibilities as it recounts the past few weeks with Indigo.

Of nights filled with languid limbs and sweat-soaked sheets. Of hoarse screams and trembling whimpers.

It's not impossible.

But how could she know this before I did?

"What are you talking about?" I snarl, my voice dropping dangerously low.

"Are you deaf, Tolya?" A small, triumphant smile curves mother's lips even as the barrel continues to press against her skin. "I was speaking very plainly. Your little whore is pregnant."

I lunge forward and wrench the gun from her hand. "But how do you know this?"

"There are things that women know before men. I could practically smell it on her." Valentina stiffens her back, unfazed by my agitation. "I suspected, so I passed along my suspicions to my daughter-in-law. My real daughter-in-law."

My grip tightens on the gun. "You went behind my back and conspired with Lola? Even while I'm in the middle of a fucking war with her family?"

"A war that you didn't ever need to start had you done your duty!" she hisses. "You failed to protect our family, so I took it upon myself."

"What did you do?" I growl as I tower over her.

Mother leans against the doorframe, gazing up at me with her cold, calculating eyes. "Like I said, as soon as I had my suspicions, I passed along that information to Lola. And like the obedient child that none of you could ever be, she set out to confirm my suspicions."

My blood runs cold. "How?"

"She had your whore followed, of course." She lifts her chin defiantly. "And they found pregnancy tests in her trash. Yesterday afternoon, in fact. Right around the same time you were so busy murdering the mayor."

Suddenly, everything starts to make terrifying sense.

The way Indigo screamed at me last night about how I took her choices away from her, just like Bennet. The way she practically fought against me as we fucked like animals against the wall. The way she collapsed into my arms in the shower.

And the way she cut me off before I could tell her I loved her.

She's carrying my child.

Fuck!

I've spent weeks fucking her without any protection and never once even thinking about consequences. She was right to scream at me. She was right to accuse me of taking her choices away from her.

I made decisions about her life without consulting her.

I acted like I owned her body.

Her trauma.

Her vengeance.

I am no different than Bennet.

That's when the second half of what mother said starts echoing in my head, and the cruel smile on her face starts to widen.

Her life is in danger. And I’m the only one who might be able to help you find her.

"Where is she?" I demand, my voice barely a whisper.

"How should I know?" she asks back. "That's something only my real daughter-in-law can answer."

My blood turns to ice. "What?"

"Lola was intent on speaking with your whore face to face. And what that girl chooses to do once they do meet…" She trails off, letting me fill in the blanks. "Well, I can't speak for her."

I press the gun to her throat. "If she so much as thinks about hurting her—"

But it's an empty threat. And mother knows it. She and I both know that the person I need to threaten isn't here.

Snarling, I yank the gun away, rush back in my car, and start the engine.

Indigo is out there. She's pregnant with my child.

And she's in the hands of people who hate her. People who won't hesitate to hurt her to get to me.

I slam my hand against the steering wheel and press harder on the gas as I merge onto the highway.

The speedometer climbs. I narrowly miss a sedan as I cut across three lanes to make my exit.

By all means, I should be careful. That old adage of only break one law at a time is already flashing like a warning in my head. But I don't care.

I need to get some fucking answers. I need to get to Indigo.

Before it's too late.

My phone is in my hand, and I'm already scrolling to a number I've done my best to never call.

When it connects, her voice slides through the speakers like oil on water.

"Tolya! How lovely of you to call after all this time." Lola's voice drips with false sweetness as she answers in Russian. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me."

"What the fuck did you do to my wife?" I snarl.

"Wife?" She laughs, the sound sharp as breaking glass. "I'm your wife now, silly. Unless you mean that pregnant little slut you decided to marry in my stead?"

My knuckles go white around the steering wheel. "What did you do to do her?"

"So impatient." She sighs dramatically. "If you must know, I had a nice little chat with her earlier this morning. Just girl talk. About the right thing she should do."

My teeth clenches.

"For herself," Lola continues. "For me. And for everyone who stands to get hurt on account of her."

"I swear to God, Lola, if you hurt her."

"Oh, I'm not a monster, Tolya." She pouts. "I wouldn't dare harm one blue strand of hair on her pretty little head. Not after your threat at the gala all those weeks ago."

I feel my heartbeat start to slow, and the breath that I'd been holding since I got into the car escapes my lips in a silent huff.

"But I can't say the same for everyone else with her."

"What?"

"Your bastard sister tried to intervene, and for that, she's bleeding out on the street like the dog that she is."

"You fucking bi—" I snarl but Lola cuts me off before I can finish.

"And that's not all, Tolya," she continues, voice dripping with satisfaction. "I also have her precious little sister. Amara, isn't it? Such a sweet, innocent girl. What a shame she has to suffer for the sins of all the awful people in her life."

"Where are you?" I demand, my voice deadly quiet.

"Oh, now you want to see me?" Lola laughs. "You didn't seem interested in seeing me when you broke our engagement and humiliated my entire family."

I take a deep breath, trying to control the murderous rage threatening to consume me. Svetlana is bleeding out on the street. And Amara—Christ, Amara—that girl is terrified and alone with this monster.

"Lola," I say her name slowly and deliberately. "You're playing with fire. You have no idea what you've done."

"I know exactly what I've done." Her voice hardens. "I'm taking back what's mine. I always get what I want, Tolya. You should know that by now."

"If anything happens to them—to any of them—there won't be a place on earth where you can hide from me. I will burn everything in your world to the ground, sift through the ashes for your bones, and throw them into the Hudson."

"Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty to me, Tolya.

" She drags my name out she has any right to sound so fucking familiar with me.

"But I have nothing to hide. Which is more than what I can say for your little whore.

Do you know what I found in her purse when I stopped to talk with her? Would you like to take a guess?"

I don't say anything. The less reaction she gets out of me, the better.

"A box of abortion pills. Your whore doesn't want your baby, Tolya."

My heart stops. The sound of the highway seems to fade away all around me, and suddenly it feels like I'm driving through an awful nightmare I can't wake up from.

Why would Indigo... My mind can't form the thought completely.

I try to deny it, to find the lie in Lola's words. But is it really so unbelievable? What delusion am I clinging to here? That Indigo actually loves me? That she might want to have my child?

I grip the steering wheel tighter, knuckles white, as I swerve around a truck.

Did I expect her to welcome motherhood with a man who kidnapped her? Who married her against her will? Who killed for her without her permission? Who thinks he has a right to her without ever asking her if that's what she wanted?

You're no different than him!

Her accusation from last night echoes in my head again.

If she truly believes I'm no different from Bennet, then of course she'd make the same choice.

The thought makes me want to scream, to pound my fists through the windshield. I want to roar that it's different. I want to scream that Bennet forced her to get that abortion.

I would never force her to do anything like that.

But haven't I? Haven't I forced everything else?

How is my refusal to believe that she might not want this baby any different than his refusal to let her have one? Isn't this the other side of the same fucking coin that rips control and choice away from her?

After all, we've never once talked about babies. Not in all our weeks together.

How do I know that this is actually what she wants?

And since she's not here, I won't be able to ask her either.

"Are you starting to believe now, Tolya?" Lola purrs into the phone. "And here's the best part. I punished the bitch properly for her betrayal."

Redness creeps into my vision. My mouth opens to retort, but the only sound that comes out is a strained gurgle that sounds inhuman.

"Don't worry," Lola continues. "I didn't hurt her. I just told her to go away and never come back. And to ensure that she complies, I sent Grisha along with her."

Something snaps inside me at the mention of that fucking animal Grisha with my wife.

"Liar," I finally find my voice again. "You think I don't know when you're lying, Lola? I've known you since we were children."

"And just which part am I lying about?"

"Tell me where you are. Now." My voice is deadly calm. "I want to look you in the eyes when I teach you that lying has consequences."

Lola laughs, and it's like ice water down my spine. "So eager to see me, Tolya, when you have three others who desperately need your help right now. Your bastard sister dying on a street in Queens. Your whore’s pretty little sister who’s now with me. And the whore herself on a train with Grisha."

I feel a cold sweat break out across my forehead.

"And you know my brother." A smile seeps into Lola's voice. "He loves to play with his food."

"If he touches her—"

"You'll what? Kill him? Kill me? You're not in a position to make threats right now, Tolya." Lola cackles. "You need to make a fucking choice on who you're going to save. But know this. Choose one, and you will doom the other two."

She pauses to let the words sink in.

"Now that is a threat."

And before I can retort, the line goes dead.

I punch in Roma's number, my fingers trembling with barely contained rage.

"Follow Svetlana's route from this morning," I say as soon as Roma answers. "Now. And make sure nobody else gets there first." My voice comes out like gravel, each word a struggle to maintain control.

"What happened?"

"Svetlana was ambushed. And she's been shot." I swallow hard. "The Volkovs have Amara. And Indigo..." I can't even finish the sentence, the thought of what Grisha might be doing to her making my vision blur with fury.

"Suka blyat," Roma mutters. "I'm on my way right now. Where will you be?"

"I'll meet you at the hospital."

There's a pause on the line. "The hospital? Not looking for Indigo?"

I slam my hand against the dashboard, frustration burning me up from the inside out.

"I have no fucking idea where they've taken her, Roma!

Lola just told me Grisha has her, but she didn't say where.

" I take a ragged breath. "If anyone might have any clues, it's Svetlana.

She was there. She must've seen what happened. "

If she's still alive, that is.

Don't think about it, I tell myself. There's no use thinking about that.

"I understand," Roma says quietly. "I'll be there as fast as I can. What about you?"

"I'll be headed to the nearest train station," I tell him, working to keep my voice steady. "If Lola's telling the truth, there are only so many places Indigo could start from."

"You're not wrong," Roma says, his voice grave. "But Tolya... time isn't on our side. They could've moved her. Taken transfers at—"

"I know," I snap, then exhale slowly. "I know. But I have to believe I can find her."

"You will," Roma says. "Good luck."

I open up my Maps app, and scan for the nearest stations.

Lola said that Svetlana is bleeding out to death on a street in Queens. Which means that has to be where Lola intercepted them.

It's not much of a start but it's one that I can follow.

I scroll over to Queens, and my heart falls in dejection when I see the network of trains running through the borough. Everything from the subway to the LIRR runs through there.

No, I have to believe that she can be found. Gritting my teeth, I start looking. If I were a murdering psychopath, where would I take my victim?

The LIRR would be the obvious choice. It connects at Penn Station in Manhattan. And once you get there, then Grisha is free to take Indigo anywhere along the East Coast.

I start to plot the fastest route when something catches my eye. The traffic around Harlem 125th on the Metro North Line has gone from the usual amber and red to pitch black. And there's even a notification bubble informing me of police activity there.

Unusual. And worthy of an investigation.

I tap on the notification, my heart suddenly hammering against my ribs when I read the text that opens up.

Emergency stop. Gunshots fired. Multiple casualties. A wounded man taken into custody.

My fingers move frantically across the screen, scrolling over to social media to pull up more information.

Apparently, a train departed from Harlem 125th in the morning, only to make an emergency stop in the Bronx after gunfire erupted onboard.

Could it be? I don't dare hope, but what other explanation makes sense?

Indigo must have been on that train. More importantly, she must've found a way to escape from Grisha!

Hope surges through me. It's a dangerous, fragile thing. But it's all I have as I wrench the steering wheel and swerve for the exit heading into the Bronx.