Page 110 of Marked By the Devil

In the maternity ward, we met with a doctor who had cleared her morning to fit me into her schedule. The wait to get into a little room wasn’t that bad. But once we were in the small examination room, I struggled to get over the surreal feeling.

This was my life now.

I was going to be a mother.

I had transformed from being an investigative agent for the government to being an insider for the not-so-bad guys who wanted to also make the world better. While I looked at the drawings and photos that made up the artwork in the room, all of them depicting expecting mothers, I accepted the complexity of my new identity.

This was who I was.

Viktor’s, however he was ready to label me.

The doctor was taking a while to come in, but I wasn’t nervous or anxious.

Viktor sat and wheeled closer to me so he could hold my hand.

“Three babies now,” he murmured before lifting my hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

“Triplets?” I shook my head. “No, thanks.”

He chuckled lightly, that sexy, raspy sound that was just so masculine. “No. I meant three as in Luka, Isabel, and our son or daughter.”

And Mila and Lev’s…

I wouldn’t betray her secret yet. She could tell the family when she wanted to.

“Does anyone else know yet?” I asked him.

He kissed the back of my hand again, like he’d never get enough of his lips on me. “Not yet. I wanted to share the news in person.”

I nodded. “That would be better.” I realized that I hadn’t even updated Elena or Carina. They’d both be happy for another baby in the family, but I wondered if this news could help distract Elena from the shock of finding Paul shot up and bleeding out in the foyer.

“We’ll head to the mansion after this appointment. Adrik will have crews handling this incident, and I’m sure he’ll have more updates for us.”

I hoped so. Even though I could rest easier with Smithson dead and no longer trying to kill me, I couldn’t shrug off this feeling that it was only one part of what I’d want closure on.

We still didn’t know who had placed the hit on him, and presumably on Adrik.

We had yet to find out who the intermediary was between Smithson and Gregori.

And it would’ve been nice to have gotten his testimony somehow to know all that he’d done for the sake of an easy paycheck from the wrong family.

When the doctor and technician came into the room, they were polite and efficient. She was also Carina’s and Elena’s doctor, and I bet that Mila would join as another client shortly too.

I had a due date and an ultrasound strip of what looked like a tiny bean.

But it was the date that almost had me tearing up.

“What’s wrong?” Viktor asked as he walked me to the car waiting outside, guards following us as the expected security detail.

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that this is my mom’s birthday, too.”

He kissed the top of my head, not getting sarcastic about how sentimental I was. “I’m glad you will all have each other. You, Elena, Carina. Even Mila, too. You all support each other so naturally already.”

I sighed happily. “We do.”

“Perhaps because none of you have your mothers or families anymore.”

That was a sadder outlook on it, but I saw how he’d come to that conclusion.