Ivan was just coming up the stairs when I flew past him.
“Stop her!” Vera shouted, hot on my heels. “She can’t leave! Sveta! Do not do this!”
I didn’t care what Gavril did to me at this point. Jon knew where I was, and he knew who I was. He would stop at nothing until he had me in his grasp again.
Gavril needed to know what he was up against.
Somehow, I reached the car that was always parked out front and threw myself into the driver’s seat, able to lock the doors before Ivan could grab the handle. “Mrs. Kirilenko!” he shouted, pounding on the window with his large fist. “Please open the door!”
“I can’t,” I cried out, tears now rolling down my face. If they knew I was trying to save Gavril, they would let me go without a fight. “It’s an emergency!”
His eyes widened, but I was already pushing the start button and throwing the car into drive. I didn’t know where Gavril was, but surely they would call him and I would meet him somewhere halfway. I would take the punishment for this, and gladly if it meant that Gavril could head Jon off from whatever he had planned.
The car took off down the long drive and I clutched the steering wheel tightly, not bothering to wipe the tears from my cheeks.
My worst nightmare was coming true, and I had more on the line than ever this time.
It was more than just me. It was my baby too. I was married to a man that the Feds would love to get their hands on. And Jon…Jon would never want to share me with anyone else.
I couldn’t let him hurt my baby.
The gates opened, and I had to slam on the brakes as I saw a black car approaching them to avoid hitting it head on. The door opened nearly immediately, and all I saw was Gavril’s angry face as he marched toward me, his gait stiff. Someone must have called him back, and while the relief was there that he had come home, I knew I was in trouble.
He reached the door and I unlocked it, wincing as he pulled it open. “Get out of the fucking car,” he seethed, his eyes hard and angry.
“Gavril, please,” I started, but he shook his head, grasping my upper arm and nearly dragging me out of the car himself. I could feel anger radiating from his body, but my worry was overridden by Jon’s arrival earlier. Whatever Gavril did to me would be worth it if he could stop Jon from taking me, from getting his hands on our child.
“Gavril,” I tried again as he marched me up the driveway, the stones biting into my bare feet. “I have to tell you something.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t pause to listen to me, instead leading me all the way up to the front door, where both Ivan and Vera waited, their heads bowed.
Oh God, I hoped that he wouldn’t punish them for this! They had tried to stop me, adhering to Gavril’s wishes, and I had ignored them all.
I would have to talk to Gavril about that, that is, if he allowed me to talk at all.
The floor was cool under my feet as he moved to me into the study, pushing me forward so that he could cross the threshold and slam the door shut behind him. I caught myself before I fell and rounded on him, meeting his angry gaze.
“What were you doing?” he seethed. “I thought I told you never to bother me at work again, much less leave the mansion! Yet here you were, attempting to do both!”
“I needed to see you,” I told him in desperation.
His eyes flickered to my stomach and for a moment, I saw the dread in his gaze before he covered it up. “Is it the child?”
Not our child, but the child.
My heart squeezed for another reason altogether. How had I lost him like this? How had I lost his trust in me?
“N-no, it’s not the baby.”
“Then there’s no other good explanation,” he ground out. “Though I’m certain you have one, don’t you, Sveta?”
I met his furious gaze head on, knowing that I had to tell him the truth if I wanted him to believe me.
It was time for my secrets to be spilled.