"Did he mention me? Like, at all?"
Raelynn looked up and realized that Tiffany was still talking about Daniel. She was sitting so close to Raelynn that their thighs were touching.
"Huh? Oh, no. But I'll let you know if he does." Raelynn inched forward to rise from the couch.
"Wait!" Tiffany clutched her arm.
"What's up? I can come back tomorrow. Maksim wants me home."
"Why don't we talk a bit longer? I mean, you're not Maksim's dog."
Raelynn grinned. "Yeah, but I don't want him sending a helicopter after me. The psycho is probably considering it."
"Oh. Tomorrow, then?"
"Sure."
They hugged and separated. When Raelynn turned the corner, she was startled by her two hulking guards.
"You guys scared me," she sighed.
They didn't reply, remaining as stiff as trunks.
"You can talk to me, you know. I won't tell your evil dictator."
They ignored her.
"Alright. I'll leave you alone."
She gripped the railing as she went down the steps. One of the men grabbed her bicep to help her.
"Look at you. I knew you guys weren't pure concrete."
Hulk #1 ignored her as #2 walked ahead to check over the outside and the car.
"We're on the move," one of them communicated.
The ride home was short. A meal waited for her in the kitchen, although the maid was gone. Maksim turned to the door when she walked past it and stored away the gun he was reloading. He was quick, as if he didn't want her exposed to that part of his world.
"Hi," she said.
Maksim skipped over the pleasantries. "Come eat."
"Can you eat with me? This is a lot."
"No."
She grumbled and washed her hands. When she poked around the plate, Maksim asked, "Do we need a repeat of this morning?"
The threat had her stuffing her mouth. Maksim watched until he was satisfied, and then asked if she fell ill throughout the day. After answering him, their conversation died. They didn't talk about their sexual exchange or complicated relationship. It was like the pregnancy was the only topic of interest.
Raelynn showered and went to bed. "I booked my flight to DC," she told him. "Well, someone did it for me."
With his eyes on his laptop, he replied. "Cancel it. You will fly with me."
"Okay." She stared at his fingers as he furiously typed. "Are you busy?"
"Not if you need something."
"I wanted to talk about extending training for employees. I've come across some pretty unprofessional conversations."
He nodded. "I'll plan a meeting for you and my head of HR."
"Uh... that's it?"
He glanced at her. "Yes. Did you want something else?"
"No? Thank you?"
He nodded and closed his computer. "Come."
Her thighs tensed when they recognized the word as a command.
Maksim opened his arms, expecting her to settle into his embrace like every night. She crawled over without arguments. Her eyes remained locked on his inked neck until he turned the lamp off and descended the room to darkness.
A few days went by, and they flew into DC a night before the presentation. She fussed through her notes and presented to Maksim enough times that he fell asleep once. He told her she did great, but she wasn't sure if he was being honest or trying to lower her anxiety.
On the day of the presentation, Maksim sat near the podium, as if prepared to come to her rescue. She noticed the corners of the podium were padded, too. A precaution in case she fainted and hit herself.
The small details warmed her.
Her introduction was probably two minutes long. She was under the hot scrutiny of her team members, twenty strangers, and an overly-protectiv Maksim.
Then, she was off the podium and watching someone else present. She sat with her hand fisted, thinking over her presentation. A warm hand covered hers, and she looked at Maksim with surprise.
He kept his gaze forward, keeping his front as a ruthless CEO while secretly giving her comfort.
"You did it," he whispered.
Yes, she did. After failing over and over again, she did this right. It was proof that although she didn't even complete her education, she could be someone.
She smiled, and then so did he.
– • –
Two months later
"You know what I don't understand?"
"Nope, but I'm sure you're going to tell me," Raelynn replied to Daniel as she scrolled through her phone.
She rarely heard from Tiffany nowadays.
He likes horror movies. Ask him out?
Lol he wears mismatching socks like you. You guys were meant for eachother.
Those were the last two messages Raelynn sent, but received vague replies like 'lol'. Tiffany was drowning in work.
"Why do the females in action movies always have their hair loose? We all know they can't see a damn thing."
"You're right."
Daniel shrugged his broad shoulders. "Of course."
The gesture reminded her of Maksim's ridiculousness. With a snort, she replied, "I think your ego is bigger than my belly."
At eight months, she was impossibly large. She had evaded doctor visits with Maksim with excuse after excuse. She snuck to three checkups alone and brought Maksim sonograms– photoshopped, of course.
Maksim got so distracted by work that he didn't press the matter too much. Something had shifted in the mafia underworld, and he was going crazy trying to fix it. He was coming home late, his sleep hours were getting shorter, and his phonecalls longer. Although he rarely spoke English over the phone, Raelynn repeatedly heard him reference 'the Italians.'
She didn't spend much time out of the penthouse. Not because she didn't want to, but because her feet couldn't handle much weight. Maksim questioned the large size of her abdomen many times, so she made some bullshit up about 'bloating.'
She had less than a month left to figure things out, and it felt like the gap between her and Maksim only got wider.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Daniel offered.
They never shared much personal details. She didn't know what he went to therapy for, but she liked his presence.
"Hey, my thoughts are worth more than a penny."
"Now who is the egotistical one?"
She rolled her eyes and finished her ice cream. "Alright. I'm out of here. See you next week!"
"See you."
She walked to the car, and her guards appeared by her side. She had to give it to them. They were pretty good at camouflaging for being huge.
Once they arrived home, Raelynn looked at the sky.
"It's nice, today, isn't it?"
They didn't reply, but a month ago she got them to eat candy after yapping for an hour and swearing she wouldn't tell Maksim. It was the achievement to the century. The next step was to get them to talk.
"Raelynn."
She turned and found Maksim. He looked exhausted, so she did what little she could and took his hand. Close contact with her belly always seemed to get him to smile.
"Hey. Want to go for a walk?"
He nodded, his mood still dark. They crossed the street to the small park, and she looked longingly at an ice cream stand.
"You just had ice cream."
"How can you tell?" she pouted.
His thumb stroked her bottom lip, showing evidence of the strawberry ice cream she had.
She smiled guiltily, but her face was wiped clean when Maksim sucked his thumb into his mouth. The suggestive move made her knees sway.
They hadn't touched each other since that one night, but she wasn't ignorant of the boners she frequently woke up to, or the way Maksim's fingertips sometimes strayed away from her belly to the base of her breasts.
"I'll get you the fucking ice cream," he grumbled, mood suddenly darker with need.
She watched eagerly as he got her a cone, only looking away when an older woman approached her.
"Hello," the stranger smiled. "You must be with Maksim."
Raelynn nodded and glanced back at the guards who didn't seem phased.
"Yes. I'm sorry. Who are you?"
"His mother."
"Oh." Raelynn blinked. Maksim never talked about family, so Raelynn only knew about Viktor.
Awkwardly, she intertwined her fingers under her belly. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Raelynn."
The woman's eyes locked on her belly. "How far along are you?"
"Eight months."
"That's wonderful. May I touch you?"
Raelynn hesitated to answer.
The woman never got a reply. A raging, seething Maksim appeared, and shoved his mother to the ground. She fell so hard that her grocery items scattered.
Raelynn was stunned into silence. Maksim had never lifted a hand against a woman. Now here he was, disheveled from his lack of sleep and looking furious.
"Maksim," his mother cried.
"Stay the fuck away," he snarled and stepped over her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Raelynn blurted.
He took her arm and tugged her away from the sobbing woman.
Raelynn took in at the fallen ice cream, the woman, and then the unrecognizable Maksim.