Page 75 of The Pakhan's Secret Baby

"I want to see my father."

"I have orders. Nobody goes down."

The man is being stubborn and mean. If what Rashid said about protecting me is true, it means he wants more from me than just a mother for his child. Something is growing between us, and itgives me confidence to stand up to this guard, who for all intents and purposes is lower in rank than I am at this point.

"Move out of my way," I order, but he steps between me and the door. Glaring at me.

"Rostov stays locked in the basement.”

"Then lock me in with him," I tell him, cutting him off. "I'm not asking to take him anywhere. I just want to sit with him."

He stares at me for a few seconds, working through whether this is something he's going to get in trouble for. I stare right back, unblinking. What he will get in trouble for is pissing me off, because if I tell Rashid I wanted to be with my father and his men were stubborn about it, he'll give them an earful or he won't have me in his bed.

"Look, lady, if Krasnov asks, you forced your way in," he says, pulling the key from his belt and unlocking the door. "I'm not losing my job over this. Got it?"

"Fine. Lock it behind me." I watch him fiddle with the key. I'm not sure how I'm going to ever forgive what my father did, but I see now some of his wisdom—if you can call it that. A prison with the father of my child, whom I had obviously slept with, is better than a prison with men who want to kill me. I see that now, but I never gave Batya the time of day to explain.

The guard opens the door and I take the stairs down into the dim basement. The door shuts behind me and I hear the lock turn, but at least I can spend these few minutes with my father. God only knows how many moments he has left, as sick as he is.

Batya's sitting on the cot with his back against the wall. When he sees me his face breaks into a tired smile. He's sicker now, and his liver might be shutting down.

"Em," he says, reaching for my hand as I sit beside him. "You shouldn't be down here."

"How else can I visit with you? I miss you." I take his hand and squeeze it. His skin feels papery and dry and his fingers are cold. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here." He squeezes back and then reaches under the thin mattress with his free hand and pulls out a phone. It's a cheap prepaid model, the kind the guards carry as burners, and he holds it up for me to see.

"Where did you get that?" I ask him, narrowing my eyes. This isn't good. Why would he want to steal a phone? He wanted me to be here, but he's been acting like he needs to get away from here, and take me with him.

"I lifted it off one of the guards when they brought me food this morning," he says, turning it over in his palm. "The young one with the beard. He left his coat on the chair when he set the tray down and it was in the pocket."

"Batya, if Rashid finds out you have that he will kill you." God, he's going to kill Krispin too. This is his phone. I'm shocked no one's come looking for it.

"Rashid isn't here right now," he says quietly, and he scowls at me. "And I've been using it. I've been talking to Gusev."

My stomach drops and rolls. "You've been doing what?" The men who want him dead? This doesn't make sense. Why would he do that?

"Listen to me before you react," he says, gripping my hand tighter. "I told Gusev that Krasnov is holding me prisoner and that I can get him inside the house if he sends men to break through the security. I told him there are weapons here and cash and that Krasnov keeps it all in a safe in his office...." Batya's eyes rise. "Gusev is coming here himself."

"Why would you do that?" I pull my hand free and stand up from the cot. "You're the one who put us here on purpose. And now you're inviting Gusev to attack the one place where we're actually safe?" I scoot back, thinking I might throw up. My mind shoots to Lex sleeping soundly, and then to Anna. A baby and an old woman shouldn't be in the middle of a war zone, which is exactly what this house will become if Gusev listens to my father and does come here.

“Oh God, this isn't good."

"We're not safe here, Emory. We're prisoners."

"We're alive because Rashid's keeping us alive, Batya. If Gusev's men come through that door with guns they're not going to check whose side we're on before they start shooting." I push back, refusing to let him hold my hand anymore. I came down here to apologize for being rude to him and look where it got me. "Gusev wants to kill us..." My mind is spinning, wondering how fast they'll be here, if that's why Rashid was called away.

"That's why we run during the chaos," Batya says, sitting forward on the cot. "When Gusev's men hit the security perimeter every guard in this house is going to move toward the fighting. The back of the house will be clear and we can get out through the kitchen entrance and into the alley. I've been watching the guard rotations from the basement window for days, Em. We can do this."

"This is insane."

"This is the only chance we're going to get."

"You promised Gusev you would help him get into this house?" I hiss, standing up and hugging myself. "Oh my God." I move, walking toward the window, then back toward the stairs. "How will I get to Lex in time? Is he coming now? What if he finds us! He'll kill us!"

"He won't find us because we'll already be gone." Batya struggles off the cot and wobbles over to me. I can see he really thinks this is logical, but it's irrational and stupid.

"And where do we go, Batya? You can barely walk; how will you run? What money, then?" I gesture with my hands, tears burning my eyes as I shout at him.