Knocked Up By the Russian Boss by Bella King

Chapter 47

IVORY

My mind is nothing but loud buzzing, terror, and confusion. Less than six hours ago, I was arranging to meet my father for dinner to introduce him to my … boyfriend? Lover?

I’m completely unable to process the events of the last two hours. In a way, I’m shocked that I’m even still alive, given the bullets flying across the foyer and dining room. If not a bullet, then a heart attack would suffice. There’s no way I’ll be able to overcome this in one piece.

My father’s failed inhalations sound haunted, almost demonic as he chokes on his own blood next to me. Maxim approaches, and the animal in my brain that has been stripped of reason and trust screams at me to crawl away under a table until the threat is gone.

But who even is the threat right now? Who would I stay with?

Maxim reaches out to me with both hands, beckoning me to take them and steady myself. My legs fail me, and panic fills my eyes as I gaze up at him, unable to articulate my fear.

Instead of pulling me up by my arms, now sore and riddled with bruises, he gently lifts me into his arms and carries me over to a sliding door that leads to a helipad on the top of the building.

As soon as I see the helicopter touch down, I black out.

I’m not sure how long I’m out for, only that I’m with Maxim.

I allow my body to drift.

Minutes, days, months … I’m not sure.

A steady beeping lulls me out of a dreamscape where I’m floating above the Amazon rainforest with iridescent wings. Everything was beautiful, and I’m annoyed to be brought out of it.

As my eyes slowly creep open, I’m tempted to allow myself to fall back into my dream and escape from reality for just a bit longer, a reality that I’m completely unable to recall at the present moment.

The dream begins to envelop me again with its warmth and peace when I’m prodded awake by a fat nurse, poking me in my bad arm with a ballpoint pen.

“Ivory, you need to wake up now,” she squawks in a nasal smoker’s voice. I whine something unintelligible and roll back over, and she sighs heavily, turning me back over and attempting to open my eyes.

“God, okay, I’ll get up. Jesus,” I say, unable to regulate my tone of voice in my medicated brain cocoon.

“You were badly concussed with two broken ribs,” she says, consulting a whiteboard at the opposite end of the room. “It’s time for me to take another blood test to check for clots.”

I groan. “Can we leave the clots for now? I feel like dogshit,” I mumble. The nurse stomps over to the blinds and opens them fully, blinding me with the light of the morning. It was night when we escaped the building, but that’s all I remember.

Oh fuck, what about the baby?

“Fine, but I’ll be back in an hour for sure,” the nurse says, and she leaves the room.

The beeping continues, as well as a rhythmic clicking from my IV drip. The metronomic symphony gently places me back into a sleep state, or at least some sort of deep meditation. Whatever they’ve got me on in here, it’s got me on another plane of existence.

I’m jolted from my trance by the sound of Maxim’s voice outside the door. It sounds like he’s speaking with a doctor.

I listen closely, but my concussion makes it nearly impossible for me to parse what the conversation is about.

Maxim opens the door, and I close my eyes and pretend to sleep again. His footsteps approach me, but I don’t open my eyes until he places his hand on my shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, taking my hand into his and stroking it.

I’m almost uncertain how to even answer. I’m in the hospital, so clearly, I’m not doing well, and I’m in some pretty severe pain despite the efforts to abate it with painkillers. Worst of all, though, my life as I know it is over, and I need to know what happened, what to expect.

“You need to tell me what the fuck is going on, Maxim,” I demand. “My father told me some pretty horrible shit, and if it’s true, I don’t know what I’ll do. I feel so betrayed.”

He turns from me and gazes out the window. At first, I expect him to get up and leave, confirming my worst fears. When he turns back to me, my panic abates a bit, and I wait intently for him to explain.

“Getting to know you started out as an attempt for me to gain power through your father’s influence, yes,” he says, like he already knew exactly what I was going to accuse him of before I said it.

My heart sinks in my chest. “So it’s true? You were just using me?” I ask, terrified to hear the answer. My stomach churns, and I’m not sure if it’s the medication or the reality settling in.

“It started out that way. I can’t lie to you. But … as I’ve gotten to know you for who you are, to really see you for the incredible, intelligent woman you are, I felt more conflicted than ever. My feelings for you are more real than anything I’ve ever experienced,” he says. “I want to be here for you and this baby, Ivory. I want to be there every step of the way. You never have to worry about me leaving your side because I love you to death,” he continues.

He loves me.

He really loves me.

“Is my father dead?” I ask, completely incapable of processing so much information at once.

“No, actually. He survived, barely, but he survived. When he realized that I stole the hard drive from his computer, he fled the country. Nobody knows where he is, but everyone speculates that he’s in Switzerland somewhere,” he replies.

So there’s nobody to control me anymore.

I’m as free as I want to be.

I sit up straight and take Maxim’s face into my hands, kissing him deeply. “This is so fucked up,” I say, smiling as I gaze into his eyes. “But if being fucked up is how we ended up together, I’d welcome it lifetimes over,” I continue, kissing him again.

“I thought something was a little strange about you, for sure,” I admit. “I’ve known it all along, but I ignored it because of how attracted to you I was. I didn’t know how to overcome that. My father was trying to find someone else for me to marry, and he probably would have made me give up the baby …” I trail off at the horrible thought.

“None of that needs to happen. Of course, everything we do moving forward is up to you, but I want you to know that I’ll keep you safe and loved for the rest of your life,” he replies.

He climbs into the hospital bed with me, careful to avoid all of the lines and tubes tangled around me like tree roots. He holds me close, his hand on my belly, and for the first time in months, I feel completely whole.

“I’m here for you, Ivory, whether you want me to be or not. I’m going to protect you, and I’m going to love you until it hurts.”

I laugh, tears coming to my eyes. “I want that, Maxim. God, I want that so bad.”

He smiles, and for the first time since this nightmare began, I feel like we’re going to make it through this. It won’t be in the way I imagined, but we’re going to do it, for me, for him, and for the baby.