Page 5 of Her Darkest Possession

"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. Myrealdaughter-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.

Iamno 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.