NIKOLAI

“Shit,” I whispered to myself, raking my hands through my hair and pacing the length of my room as Olivia’s words rang in my ear.

“You're acting crazy Nikolai, what's going on? What did she say?” Igor whispered frantically, pacing after me, the harsh lines of his square-cut face cast in the pale yellow light of the room made him appear more brutish, and I realized as though for the first time just how tall he was. How...big.

“She’s pregnant, with child for me,” I whispered icily through clenched teeth, unable to wrap my head around the words as they passed my lips and thinking back to what had...