Page 76 of Obsession of the Bratva

And most importantly, Nico. The last thing I had seen before darkness had overtaken me was him and his arms around me. My eyes opened, but for several seconds, everything remained blurry.

“Vera? Are you awake?” he called out again, concern etched in his voice. I wanted to open my mouth to say something. I wanted to tell him I was awake. I wanted to reassure him that I was okay, but it took a lot of effort just trying to get my lips to work. I felt weak.

The room gradually came into focus. I was inside Nico’s bedroom. Soft lighting illuminated the room, which was just enough to make things visible but not enough to hurt my eyes. Medical equipment hummed quietly somewhere nearby and Nico sat beside the bed.

He was motionless as he watched me, worry lines appearing on his forehead. The sight should have comforted me, but instead, something immediately felt wrong. His posture was too rigid and his expression too controlled. He should have been happy and relieved that I was finally awake, but instead there was a tension in him that made my stomach tighten. It felt as if something was deeply wrong.

“Vera?” he whispered again. “Are you feeling okay, my love?”

I opened my mouth to say something and finally forced my lips to work. It still took effort, but I continued trying. I needed to talk to him.

“Nico?” My voice came out rough, and his eyes widened instantly. The relief that crossed his face lasted less than a second before disappearing behind something unreadable.

“Hey.” The word sounded strange coming from him. It was very gentle and carefully uttered, as if I might break if he was any louder than that.

I frowned. “What happened?”

He didn’t answer, and silence stretched between us. Whatever had happened after I passed out was bigger than the attack. Much bigger. My mind raced with a thousand possibilities, all of which stopped on just one thing: my father. I felt as if he had somehow managed to find out I was here. Adrian must have told him. Was my father here to take me and was Nico planning to give me back?

My heartbeat accelerated, and the machines behind me began to beep louder.

“Nico.” My pulse began to climb.

“Why is your heartbeat rising? Are you okay?” he sounded panicked. “I’ll get the doctor.”

“No!” I whispered, not knowing how to speak any louder than that. “What is it? Why do you look that worried? Has my father come to get me back?”

“What? No.” He looked confused. “I am not letting you go anywhere, Vera.”

His jaw flexed, and it felt like I could breathe again. That was exactly what I had needed to hear from him. The fact that he did not want to let me go anywhere. I suddenly felt parched, my throat so dry that everything else became secondary.

“Water,” I managed to croak out.

Nico whipped out a glass from the bedside table and extended it towards me with a straw. He helped me raise my head with one hand while I sipped the water from the glass in his other hand. Swallowing felt hard, but I was beginning to feel better already. I could sense I wasn’t hurt anywhere, but my arm and my body felt mostly alright.

“Better?” Nico asked, putting the glass away, and I nodded.

“Yes,” I nodded, trying to plop myself upright on the mountain of pillows behind me. “Now tell me what’s wrong?”

The room felt smaller, and tension seemed to grow sharper around us. Then he asked quietly,

“Did you know you were pregnant?”

Everything stopped for a second. For a moment I genuinely thought I had misheard him since the words made no sense. They floated through my mind without attaching themselves to reality. I was pregnant. I stared at him without blinking, the shock making it impossible for me to understand anything. I waited for the sentence to rearrange itself into something reasonable, but it didn’t.

“What?”

His gaze never left mine. “The doctors ran some tests, and they found out you’re pregnant.”

My breath caught. “No.”

The response escaped before I could stop it. Not because I thought he was lying, but because I couldn’t process it. I pushed myself fully upright, ignoring the pain. Ignoring everything.

“Careful,” Nico shot out, helping me sit as comfortably as possible while keeping my arm stable.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

My heart was racing now as a thousand thoughts crashed together. None of them coherent.