Seeing Viktor wrapped around Raelynn set his skin on fire.
Viktor got to experience his baby's development first. He took yet another thing from him.
Maksim only held back from throwing him against a wall because Raelynn needed him, and because he didn't want to alert employees.
After suffocating his urge to send Viktor to a hospital, he led Raelynn into an empty room and held her. The tears she spilled onto his shirt did nothing to exhaust his roaring fury.
He was so angry. Angry at Viktor, at Raelynn, at himself, at the world.
Raelynn assumed the worst of him, and he assumed the worst of her. They let their insecurities eat away at what they had, and now it was unrecognizable.
Even after learning the letter was pretense, he still felt like a fool. He should have known better. That way, he wouldn't have lost six months with his baby; with Raelynn.
"Relax," he whispered to her, lowering his forehead to hers because he knew that always brought her some kind of peace. "Tell me what happened. I will take care of it."
"I just– I feel alone."
If things were different, he would've kissed her. He would've shown her that she wasn't alone as long as he was still breathing.
He couldn't.
There was a huge gap between them. He could caress her belly, help her to the toilet, burn anyone that threatened her, but he couldn't. He was stuck between angst and guilt.
He couldn't enjoy her body– not when he failed to protect her from himself.
"I'm sorry," Raelynn sniffled. "I should go." She pulled away and wiped her tears.
"I told you that I would leave you be, but I can't have you running around in distress. I need to know if someone is bothering you."
"It's not like that. I just lost a friend."
He raised his head.
"You can't fire them. You said you wouldn't."
He scowled. "Fine. Go to your therapy. By the way, I'm changing your–"
"No. I like the person I speak with. I don't want to see anyone else."
"But there are better professionals in the city."
"I don't want a new one."
He gritted his teeth. If her womb was empty, and they didn't have so much emotional baggage, she would be on hands and knees, getting screwed into submission.
"Do you have your cellphone?"
She nodded.
"Good. Go downstairs. The car is ready."
Her eyes dropped to his chest, where his shirt was still ruined. She ran a hand across the dampness, as if to wipe it away, and he felt the strokes right on his cock.
That part of him didn't seem to understand the word "no." It wanted Raelynn– whether they were together or not, whether she was pregnant or not.
He gripped her hand to stop her. He didn't want to risk coming in his pants and having to walk around his employees while wearing his shame.
Raelynn pulled away and walked to the door. She grabbed the doorknob and paused. With the cutest big eyes and lowered head, she whispered "thank you."
He took a step forward and reached for her, but she didn't see and walked out the door.
Damn it.
He was conflicted.
As he worked for a few more hours, he got continuous updates of Raelynn. He had four men watching her. Two in the car, and two in a hidden car to avoid overwhelming her.
One particular update got his attention.
She's talking with a man named Daniel.
Maksim frowned as he texted back, describe him.
White male, mid to late twenties, dressed casually, no signs of weapons, has touched her abdomen twice.
A stranger was pawing at his son? He would have to talk to Raelynn about that. Her little friend seemed to have gotten too comfortable.
In Maksim's world, any smile was venomous, any touch could go from a caress to a stab.
What is his nationality? Can you tell? Is there an accent? he texted his men.
The fucking Italians had been driving him up a wall for the past five months, constantly sparring wars over territories. They would see Raelynn as a great opportunity to shake the Russian empire up.
Unable to identify nationality.
He cursed as he packed up. The ride home took forever, as it usually did, but at least he knew Raelynn got home safely.
After rushing past a startled maid, he went to the bedroom. Raelynn was curled atop the bed, asleep from the exhausting day. He would need to convince her to go on maternity leave soon.
He was on his way to the bathroom, wanting to shower before greeting the bump, when his phone went off.
"What?" he answered in Russian.
"We've got a problem at the Mexican border."
"What the hell do I have to do with that territory? Call my father."
"The boss is sick again. He asked that you deal with it personally."
"Fine. Prepare the fucking jet. I'll be there tonight."
Raelynn sat up, looking dazed.
"Maksim?"
"It's alright. Go back to sleep." He sat down, making the bed dip. "I have to go somewhere, but I'll be back by tomorrow."
"Where are you going?"
He pursed his lips. "Texas."
"What?" she exhaled, sitting up.
He helped her up. "It's just business."
"Business? Illegal business? Mafia business?"
"Yes."
She swallowed. "Is this going to happen frequently? Will you be in this... um, organization forever?"
She was asking him if he would leave the mafia.
"I don't want to talk about that."
"You don't want to–" her temper flared. "I'm delivering this baby in three months. I don't know what will happen after that. I don't know if you'll take him away, or if you plan on training him to take over once he's older. I don't want that. I deserve to have a choice in the matter. I'm the mother, and– and you know that mafias and gangs fucked up my life. I don't want the same thing happening to my son."
"Get some rest. You're getting stressed."
"And you think that stopping conversation will make me better? I'll just sit here with festering thoughts."
"Don't worry about those things. I have to go."
He could tell it was the wrong thing to say, because she turned away and pulled the covers up to her chest to put a wall between them.
"I'll be back," he promised.
He'd have to deal with this. One of his brothers would have to take over the traveling, because he was not going to lose any more time watching his son grow.
Most of his brothers were in Russia. Only Viktor was in The States with him, leading the money laundering. Things had to change.
He flew out of New York with a dozen men to meet the cartel. As predicted, things didn't end well. The cartel was getting greedier, intercepting too many drug trades. When the so-called leader that couldn't be anywhere over eighteen years old drew his gun, Maksim shot him between the eyes.
The next three minutes felt like hours. A smoke bomb went off, a bullet grazed his thigh, and violence warred with his ears.
It was thirteen versus thirteen. Maksim lost two, the cartel lost thirteen.
As the smoke cleared, he stared at the dead body of the young man. He had so much to see, but Maksim robbed him of that. It was the way of their world. It was either him, or Maksim, and Maksim had no plans of dying and leaving Raelynn to fend for herself.
He scowled at the mess. The cartel would seek retribution for this. They wouldn't care that their people drew first.
Another enemy had been secured on the list.
"Let's get the fuck out of here before the feds or more of these jackasses show up."
He flew home with no settled business and arrived in New York at six in the afternoon. The ride home took another hour. Raelynn was already home, lying on the bed. She had her phone on her belly, and it was playing music.
"Did you eat yet?"
She boosted the volume of the phone, dismissing him.
He sighed and went to shower off the violence. The scratch at his thigh stung, but he welcomed the pain. It was a great distraction from the fatigue.