Page 52 of Kept By the Bratva

“Amy?” he whispered as the realization dawned on him.

I nodded.

“Do you know who the father is?” Dr. Francis asked again, oblivious to this silent communication between me and Nik. I conveyed the truth with a sincere, hopeful look. He understood, his mouth dropping open.

“If… Oh.” Dr. Francis turned from the monitor, noticing this tense moment between us.

Nik remained silent, staring at me with wonder and shock.

“It was just a scare,” Dr. Francis confirmed. “You’ll be fine with a couple of days of resting. And both your babies are as healthy as they can be for this gestational mark.”

I blinked, jarred from staring back at Nik with tears stinging my eyes.

“Babies?”More than one?

21

NIKOLAI

“What did you just say?” Amy asked, eyes wide. Her fingers tightened in my hand, but I was numb to the increase of pressure.

She’d looked from me to the doctor, shocked, but I was too riveted and locked in place with what she’d just led me to believe. No words left her lips, but when Dr. Francis pushed her on the identity of the father and whether she even knew who he was, Amy had given me that one look that said it all.

In her beguiling hazel eyes, I saw the truth she’d hidden from me all this time. Guilt warred with worry. Beneath them, I got the message. She’d given such a steady look and raised her brows that I would’ve had to be blind to miss what she wanted me to understand.

Iwas the father. This innocent, strong woman was carrying my child. From that one night that left me yearning for her and missing her so severely, we’d done more than fuck like strangers. We reformed who we were—lovers separated by our mistakes, and now, parents. I’d done more than escape her bed with the regrets that a single fling wasall we could have. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I’d left my heart in her hands. My seed in her womb.

Our child.

I blinked, shaking my head to snap out of the stupor as a soul-deep amazement streaked up my spine and shook me awake.

Ourchildren?

“There’s more than one baby?” Amy asked. Her tone wasn’t teary or full of fear. She spoke with the giddy marvel of this miracle, the same sensation I grappled with as I realized I would be afather.

“Yes. Twins.” Dr. Francis moved the instrument over Amy’s flat stomach. The shapes made no sense. White on black, the images shifted, but I didn’t know what anything meant. Hearing the heartbeat was proof enough that our babies were alive, but the doctor went back and forth, showing that it was two parallel thumps of life sounding in there.

“Baby A is here,” she explained, then moved the device over. “And hiding back here is Baby B. The bleeding is likely from the placenta placement with Baby B, but again, no worries. I recommend resting for at least a couple of days, but I see nothing to indicate anything of alarm.” She set the device on the small tray attached to the stand.

Alek purchased the equipment so Mila wouldn’t need to go to a medical facility for checkups. With Dr. Francis on call and rewarded generously to be here for Mila and their daughter, he wanted to spare his wife any risk. If our enemies knew that they would have a child, it would be an additional danger. Mila’s father, Sergei, had nefarious plans about Mila’s offspring, and no one would blame Alek for wanting to secure the utmost security for his wife and their child.

I appreciated that the equipment was here, because now, Amy would need it.

“When was your last menstrual cycle?” the doctor asked.

Amy gave a date but didn’t seem confident about it. “Over four months ago. It was brutal, worse than usual because I’d tried another birth control that I ended up stopping because it made the pain so bad. I spotted here and there since then, so I don’t really know.”

“Well, I can estimate a date of conception?—”

“March second,” I stated. “That’s the date.”

Amy swallowed hard and glanced at me before nodding. “Yeah. We do know that.”

Dr. Francis tapped more notes on her tablet. “All right, then working with that timeline, your babies are nine weeks old.” She smiled at her, then me. “Which is precisely what I’d estimate from their sizes and growth so far. Everything is right on track. All is well and just as it should be.”

For the babies, sure. But in my life? I felt like I’d never know what to expect next.

“Nik?” Mila stepped closer, not alarmed but so confused. “Nikolai? You’re…”