Page 30 of Nobody Wants Me (Volkov Bratva #5)

V ictor

I was going to be a dad.

Staring down at the ultrasound, I saw the baby was only small. Ivan had arranged for a doctor he trusted, and had all the medical equipment transferred to one of the rooms in my home, where the doctor could come and assess my wife.

It had taken us a long time, but we were finally going to have a baby.

I expected Freya to be panicking. Even though we were living a good life, I know it came with a lot of risks. The Beast and The Butcher in constant residence wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but I put up with them, as they helped to keep my wife safe.

I held the ultrasound photo to Ivan, who took it.

“My little niece or nephew,” he said.

“Yeah.” I still couldn’t get my head around it.

Freya had gone into the kitchen as she was hungry. Her cravings were getting a little strange of late. She did ask for some meatballs and ice cream just last night. Umberto was more than happy to serve her whatever she wanted to eat.

That was just a little too much for me.

She hadn’t really started to show just yet either. I’m glad she wasn’t too upset about the baby. Freya tried to hide her frustrations, but I saw them. I knew my wife better than she even knew herself.

Ivan handed me back the photograph.

“The next generation,” he said, with a smile.

“You know this will only continue if you have an heir of your own.”

Ivan shook his head. “A lot has changed over the years, my friend. I do not expect my blood to take over. That is where things go wrong.”

I looked at Ivan, and I had a feeling he was done with women.

“There will be someone,” I said.

“There will be no one.” With that, Ivan was done. He took a step away.

I knew there was no point in arguing with him. Ivan had made up his mind, and all I could do was change the subject.

“Any news on Harris?” I asked.

“Ah, my ghost is starting to appear,” Ivan said, going to my liquor and pouring us both a glass.

He moved toward me and placed the tumbler in my hand.

“He is?” I asked.

“All you have to do with The Grid is wait, and they start to show through the cracks. You have to learn to read their patterns, and after this long, I have finally figured out the way they move.” There was a smile on Ivan’s face.

“Care to divulge this information?”

Ivan nodded. “They create a diversion. Sometimes it is a crash, or a mass shooting, or something, and while people are looking at the chaos, as people cannot look away, that is when they move.”

“Are you telling me they’re going to attack me?” I asked.

“They have multiple hits out at the moment. Freya is just one cog. Where they hit is the tricky part. I have increased my men around your property. However, there is some kind of politician who is talking about bringing the crime numbers down, and I have reason to believe he is a target. I’ve got everything covered. All I’ve got to do is wait.”

I looked at Ivan. “I want to be there when we get Harris.”

“You’re going to be needed here.”

“I want to bring that son of a bitch down,” I said. “He has ruined Freya’s life for the last time. This can be my gift to her. For her to finally be free. You said so yourself, my house is going to be locked tight.”

Ivan looked at me, and he nodded.

“Fine, I will make arrangements for you to join us. But you follow my orders, and if I feel anything is off, we take off. Got it?”

I knew Ivan wouldn’t get this wrong.

Taking a long hard sip of my whiskey, I feel like everything was finally falling into place.

Leaving Ivan, I go and find my wife. Umberto told me she had taken more ice cream and disappeared.

I didn’t have to go far to find her leaning up against a wall in the dining room.

She was sitting on the floor, spoon in the melting ice cream, staring straight ahead.

“Hey, baby,” I said, sitting beside her on the floor.

She turned her head toward me. “What if I’m a bad mother?” she asked.

“That’s not possible.”

“How is it not possible?” she asked. “There are a lot of bad mothers out there. People hurt their kids. I’ve been scared about dying and leaving, but what if my baby is better off? I had a bunch of horrible nannies. There was only one or two nice ones.”

She let go of the carton of ice cream and I took it from her. Lifting the spoon, I took a spoonful and was not shocked to see it was double chocolate. One of my favorite flavors.

“You’re not going to be a bad mother,” I said.

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re kind and sweet, and I don’t think the moment you give birth, all of those things are going to change. You don’t just change overnight, babe,” I said. “You’re who you are.”

Freya looked at me and I saw the fear in her eyes.

“I could be a bad dad. My dad set me up for torture to make me a strong man. I killed my dad.”

“You’re going to be a good dad,” Freya said.

“None of us know that. None of us know what is going to happen.” I reached out and cupped her cheek. “So long as we have each other, and Ivan, and everyone, including The Butcher, everything will be okay.”

“I want The Butcher to be our baby’s godmother,” she said.

I was expecting this. They were close, after all.

I blew out a breath. “Are you sure about that?” I asked.

Freya laughed. “Stop being so mean. She’s a good woman.”

I didn’t know how to respond. The Butcher was very loyal. She had my wife’s back, and for that, I couldn’t fault her.

“Then she is the godmother,” I said.

Freya nodded. “I feel like there is so much to do.”

“I know.” I stroked her cheek. “And you don’t have to worry about everything. We will get it done. This pregnancy is going to be fine.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

****

F reya

The day had started like any other day. I was not allowed to have a routine, so I woke up and thought about everything I wanted to do, but not in the same order as the day before.

What did stay the same was Victor holding my hair back as I enjoyed the morning sickness that came from being pregnant. Thank you very much.

After the sickness, I brushed my teeth, because vomit breath was gross.

I took a quick shower to feel refreshed and looked in the closet at my clothes.

I had made all of them myself. I reached for a dress, but something in my gut told me I shouldn’t wear a dress today.

It was a strange feeling. An eerie feeling. One I didn’t like.

Even though the morning sickness had come and gone, I felt something. I had no idea what it was.

So, I picked a pair of jeans, that I had replaced the waistband for, with an elasticated one. A long-sleeved shirt billowed out from my breasts. My stomach was slightly swollen, and my breasts felt like they were getting bigger by the second.

I tied my hair back into a ponytail, and then I made my way downstairs. I didn’t recognize the guard at the door, and that was strange. In the last few months, I had recognized everyone. Victor wouldn’t allow the guards to change.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and then I saw him speak into whatever device was on his wrist.

Just as I was about to yell for help, the explosion happened and I tried to hold onto the rail, but the house shook, the stair rail snapped, and I cried out as I fell through hitting the ground with a thud. I quickly tried to get to my feet, but my ears were ringing, and I think I heard gunshots.

Someone grabbed me, and I knew this was not good. This was not one of my guys. I was pulled to my feet, but I refused to go willingly. Thinking of the training Victor and The Butcher had put me through, I fought. screamed, kicked, and lashed out. I used my nails and bit anything that was close.

Throughout the struggle, I thought I was going to get away, but then I felt the hit to my face, and I saw stars. I didn’t pass out, and part of me wished I had, because the pain seemed to ricochet through my head, and it made me feel sick.

The fight was gone from me, and I didn’t stop as they dragged me into the back of the car. The man that had grabbed me tossed me to the ground, and I cried out as he threw his foot out and slammed it into my stomach.

My baby.

I curled up in a ball and tried to protect my baby, even giving him my back. His anger was not done. I lost count of the blows, and he even kicked my head. Someone must have stopped him. This is what I was afraid of.

There was no turning back now. I was at the mercy of The Grid. The car I was in started to drive away. Pain flooded my whole body, and tears filled my eyes.

They had won. I was not going to give birth, and I didn’t even have time to ask The Butcher to be my godmother. Part of me wanted to give up. I was going to die anyway. Instead, I stayed on the floor and thought about Victor and The Butcher. She had told me she would not give up.

I was not dead yet, so I sat up, expecting another hit, but nothing came.

Moving my ass toward the seat, I sat down and looked at the back of the van.

There were four men staring at me. The guard from the main door had blood running down his nose, and I saw a couple of scratches. I had a feeling I did that.

“You know, you’re making a big mistake,” I said. I put my hand on my stomach.

The guy laughed. “Look, bitch, you better keep your mouth shut, otherwise, you’re going to be dead before we even get you where you need to go.”

I looked at him and knew I should be afraid. All I could think about was The Butcher. What would she do in a situation like this? I doubted she would scream or cry, or throw a tantrum. So, I smiled. Just as I knew The Butcher would.

“This chick is fucking crazy,” he said.

But I didn’t stop smiling. “You know, everyone who comes after me ends up dead,” I said. “The Butcher and The Beast, even Ivan Volkov, have slowly been whittling your numbers down. One by one, you are all going to be dead.”

I saw the guy I had attacked was not bothered. However, the other three men didn’t like it.

“Did I happen to mention that I am Ivan Volkov’s sister?” I said. “I carry his niece or his nephew.”

“Wait, what the fuck did she just say?” This was the guy beside the one that had attacked me.

“Shut the fuck up. It’s almost done,” the injured guard said.

“No, you did not tell me we were taking on Ivan Volkov. What the fuck is this?” The guy got to his feet, but the one I injured simply shot him in the head.

This was not the first time I had seen death, but I was frozen as the guy just landed on the floor. The injured man pointed his gun at the two men close to me.

“You got a problem, I can end your fears right the fuck now,” he said, pointing the gun directly at them.

My heart raced. None of them made a move, but I had my answers. This guy was a member of The Grid, and he had to manipulate the others to get them to do their job.

Ivan had told me he would slowly bring The Grid to its knees.

I don’t know how he had done it, but I had a feeling this was the start of it, if not close to the finish line.

Victor had told me Ivan would remove The Grid.

The Butcher said the same thing. If members had to manipulate people to get them to work, then that could only mean one thing. Ivan was right. The Grid was failing.

All I had to do was stay alive long enough for them to find me.

I just didn’t know how I was going to do that.