Cruel Paradise - A Mafia Romance Chapter 113

“I’m guessing you haven’t turned on the news today?”

“He was on the news? Fuck me! Who has the pull to get him on—”

And then it hits me. So obvious I can’t believe I didn’t think of it already.

Beatrice and Barrett.

They have the resources and the connections to get Ben on TV, spouting off God knows what about the three children he barely looked at even when they were around.

“My parents! My freaking parents. It has to be them. Were they on, too?”

“Not that I saw. The cameras seemed locked in on Ben.”

“It’s only a matter of time. They’re gonna wanna capitalize on the spotlight.”

“C’mon, hon, do you really think they’d—”

“Of course they would!” I explode. “Of course they would, Phoebe. They’ve wanted to get their paws on these kids since Sienna died. Since before Sienna died. Anything to correct the mistakes they made with us. Anything to get another set of trophy kids.”

“Honey, I think you’re spiraling—”

Goddamn right I’m spiraling. It’s frankly amazing I’ve stayed calm this long.

I toss off the blanket and leap to my feet. “What was he saying?” I demand. “On the news, I mean, what was he saying? Who interviewed him? Did they—you know what, it doesn’t matter. What did he say? What bullshit did he go with?”

Phoebe sighs. “The whole bereaved father schtick,” she admits. “It was truly nauseating. He cried and everything.”

Apparently, my morning sickness is triggered by assholes, because this is the moment it hits. I drop back to the couch and put my head between my knees.

“This is bad, Pheebs. This is so, so bad.”

“Hey now, calm down. Ruslan will be able to get you out, right?”

“Until he deals with this threat to me and the kids, he’s not gonna let me go anywhere. He asked for a month to make things right and I stupidly agreed. But now, I don’t even have a day to spare. Especially if Ben’s out there spinning bullshit about me.” My pacing slows as something else hits me. “Wait—did he mention me in the interview today? Were the words ‘kidnapping’ and ‘bitch sister-in-law’ bandied about?”

She hesitates for a second. “You were mentioned only in the context of another missing person—”

“My parents’ doing,” I deduce. “They won’t want a criminal daughter to have to explain in their snobby society circles.”

“They’re not gonna be able to control the narrative forever, Em. In any case, Ben’s a loose cannon. They’re gonna have a tough time reining him in once he gets a taste for the spotlight.”

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse.

“I have to leave, Phoebe. I have to leave now. If he even suspects that I’m pregnant—”

“Jesus, Emma! Take a breath—”

“I can’t take a breath! I don’t have the time. They’re after me. They’re all fucking after me and if I don’t move now, they’re gonna catch me. They’re gonna take my kids. Ben will take Josh, Caro, and Rae and Ruslan will take my baby! I can’t let them do that, Phoebe.”

“I know. I know.” Her voice is soothing but I can sense her panic. Or maybe it’s my own. Who the hell knows at this point? What difference does it make?

All I know is that I can’t stay here in this gilded prison. I can’t allow myself to be jailed, no matter how much I may care about my jailer.

My kids trump everything and everyone else.

“I’ve got to go.”

“Emma, please—be careful.”

“I love you, Pheebs.”

I hang up abruptly and turn to the door. My blood runs cold when I see who’s standing in the threshold, his piercing eyes fastened on me.

“K-Kirill—how long have you been standing there?”

10

EMMA

HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN STANDING THERE?

The answer is clearly “too fucking long.”

He walks in and sits down on the edge of the new bed that I haven’t broken in yet. For someone who’s potentially just heard all my secrets, he looks pretty damn composed.

Maybe, by some miracle, he didn’t hear the part where—

“Don’t look so scared, Emma. I already knew.”

Since I’ve given away enough already, I decide to make him say it. “Knew what?”

He smirks and crosses his leg in a figure-four. “I know you’re pregnant. I know you’re carrying Ruslan’s baby.”

That’s it then. It’s all over.

I drop the pretense. “Are you gonna tell him?”

Kirill strokes his chin. “I did try. But he’s not real open to talking about you these days.”

There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence but I focus on the most troubling. “Y-you tried to tell him already?”

“Like I said, I already knew you were pregnant.”

“How?”

“I pulled your medical files,” he explains unapologetically. “The day you landed in the hospital with cuts all over your body.”

“That’s my private information!”

He shrugs. “I had to make sure you were alright.”

“Why?” I demand. “Your boss has made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t give a shit about me. So why would you?”

“Because, even though he’s my boss, he’s also my friend. And I know what he wants even when he won’t admit it.”

“Which is what?”

“He wants you to be safe, for starters.”

My insides churn. I so want to believe that. But Ruslan’s words are still burning in my ears. He was just a little too convincing last night.

“Kirill, you can’t tell him. If he knows—

He holds up a hand to soothe me. “Breathe. I don’t plan on telling him.”

That brings me to a screeching halt. I genuinely thought it would take much more convincing than that. “You don’t?”

“There’s a lot going on right now. Maybe it’s better not to drop this information bomb into the middle of it.”

I nod, trembling. “Thank you.”

“But I do think you should be the one to tell him—eventually.”

My lips compress into a hard line. “No.”

“He deserves to know.”

“Does he?” I snap. “Because from where I’m standing, I’m not sure he deserves a fucking thing from me.” Kirill lofts his eyebrows and I loathe the judgment in that gesture. “I did not sell information to Remmy Jefferson! I know that’s what you both believe, but it’s not true. I would never do that.” His arched eyebrows settle down a fraction of an inch as I leap to my feet and start pacing around. “Ben is the one who started snooping around in my car. Which is where I hid the contract because I was so scared he’d stumble onto it if I kept it in my room. And since Remmy was snooping around in general… well, you can see how the two would cross paths eventually. That’s how Remmy got his hands on the contract. Ben handed it right to him.”