Page 140 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had a fair idea as to why she missed the visit, but saying “sorry doctor, she was kidnapped by my psychotic fiancée” didn’t exactly sound like a socially acceptable reason.

“We’ll be sure to adhere strictly to visits moving forward,” I assured the doctor.

“In that case, we’re all set. She only has to submit a sample to the lab and you’ll be set to go.”

Genevieve stood up almost immediately, said a thank you to the doctor and hurried out without a glance in my direction.

By the time we were done, she looked exhausted and was leaning on any close surface.

Nikolai had already gone ahead to help bring my car around, tactful enough for once to give us the walk to ourselves.

“You look tired,” I said.

“I’m always tired now,” she said. “Apparently that’s normal.”

“It’s been a long day,” I said, choosing my next words with utmost care. “Let me take you home.”

She hesitated.

“Please,” I added, watching as wariness crept back into her features, but she was too worn down to put up much of a fight.

“Fine. But just home.”

“Just home,” I agreed.

The ride was quiet, Genevieve leaning her head against the window, eyes half closed. When we reached her building, I walked her up, and she didn’t stop me at the door the way I half expected her to.

Inside, she sank onto the couch with a small groan, rubbing at her ankle like it had been bothering her the whole ride.

“Swelling?” I asked.

“A little. It’s fine.”

“I heard the doctor say something about ankle aches?”

Her eyes cracked open.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” I backed down. “I happened to be returning from the pharmacy when she was speaking about it.”

“It’s okay,” she muttered lazily. “Apparently, a lot of scary shit is normal when you’re pregnant.”

I held back the slight tilt at the corners of my lips. For a moment I was almost scared I had overstepped. This was the longest I’d stayed around her and I wasn’t ready to call it a day just yet, plus she was a bit less cold.

Regardless, I didn’t want to push my luck.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s not bad. Mostly in the evenings after a long day of walking.”

“So a day like this?”

“Mhmm,” she muttered.

I crouched down in front of her before she could argue and lifted her foot into my lap without asking permission first. She stiffened.

“Kazimir.”

“Let me,” I said quietly. “You did all the work today and you’ve been doing it alone ever since. Let me do something, please.”