Chapter 22

She could feel herself falling but had no way of stopping it. Though it was only a few steps, she couldn’t help but worry about the baby inside her.

The last thing she saw before blacking out was Bepa looking at her from the stairs where she had fallen.

Having heard someone scream, the butler ran out of the other room. Seeing Danica lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, he rushed to her.

“Miss Burke, oh my God,” he said, looking up to see Bepa standing on the steps, just staring down at them.

“Someone call for an ambulance,” he shouted so that one of the other staff members would hear him.

He then touched the pulse on her neck to make sure she was breathing. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized she was alive.

If she weren’t, his boss would have gone berserk and killed everybody in the house.

The maid who was nearby heard the butler calling out and ran toward them. Seeing the sight before her, she ran to the nearest phone and made the call.

“They’ll be here in a few minutes,” she said, looking up at Bepa, who had just walked past them and disappeared into another room.

The young maid turned to the butler. “What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know, Miss Burke was lying here unconscious when I got here.”

“Do you think Bepa did something to her?”

“If she did, God help her. Mr. Smirnov will torture her before he puts a bullet between her eyes. The ambulance will be here any second; get a hold of him and tell him she’s on her way to the hospital.”

She turned pale, and her hand shook when she picked up the phone to call her boss. She knew his temper and was deathly afraid of him.

In the meantime, the paramedics had taken her immediately to the hospital.

Once inside the ambulance, she came to—she looked up at the man beside her. “Where am I?” she asked, looking around the small space.

“You’re in an ambulance and on your way to the hospital. Can you tell me what happened?”

Her mind was still groggy. “I… I think I fell down the stairs.”

Her hand went to her stomach, and she tried to get up, but the paramedic held her down. “I’m pregnant, my baby. Is my baby okay?”

She couldn’t stop the tears from falling; she didn’t want to lose her baby. It was a part of her, and she already loved him or her.

“The doctor will be able to tell you more when we get to the hospital. Your husband has already been called.”

Her voice shuddered when she spoke. “He’s not my husband, just the father of our baby. My head hurts, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“You must have hit your head on the stairs on your way down, so you probably have a concussion. I need you to lie still and try to relax; getting stressed will not be good for you or the baby.”

She nodded her head as she ran her hand over her stomach. She wished that Dmitry was with her instead of this stranger.

She closed her eyes and could feel the tears falling down her face, soaking the pillow beneath her head.

Arriving at the hospital, they took her in right away for an examination and scan of her head. After letting them know her fears about the baby, they told her to relax while they examined them both.

Dmitry was at one of his clubs meeting with some of his men when Dennis walked up to him and whispered in his ear.

Without saying anything to anyone, he shot out of the room, with Dennis and Craig following close behind him.

Jumping into the vehicle, they took off. Dennis was driving, and he sat beside him while Craig sat in the back, which was unusual for him to sit in front.

“What the hell happened?” he barked, sounding very concerned.

“I don’t know the whole story, boss. One of the maids tried to get ahold of you, and when she couldn’t, she called my cell. All I know is that Miss Burke fell down the stairs and was unconscious when the paramedics arrived.”

He looked at his boss and saw the concern written on his face. “I’m sure she and the baby will be all right.”

He didn’t reply; he just sat there clenching his fists as he stared out the window.

Never in his life had he ever been afraid, not even when he had a gun pointed at the back of his head. But he was scared now, fearful that he would lose her and the baby.

He had to wonder if he had fallen in love with her, but not knowing what love was, he couldn’t be sure.

He was impatient, so he turned to Dennis and told him to step on the gas. Of all the days they had to go to the one club outside the city limits, this had to happen.

When they arrived at the hospital, and before the car stopped, Dmitry jumped out of it and raced inside the emergency entrance.

He went to the front desk and looked around for someone, and not seeing anyone, he started banging on the counter and shouting. “Where the fuck is everyone?”

An elderly nurse came from the back room and approached him. “Sir, there’s no reason to yell and swear, so please keep your voice down.”

By this time, Dennis and Craig were by his side.

“Look here, lady, my woman was brought in here and is pregnant. I want you to tell me right now where she is.”

The nurse could tell she was dealing with someone very dangerous; she swallowed hard. “What is the name of your friend?”

“Danica Burke.”

She clicked on the computer and searched for the name. “Yes, the doctor saw her, and right now, she’s in getting a scan. If you take a seat, someone will be out to talk with you shortly.”

“I don’t want to wait for someone to come out and see me. I want to know what’s going on now, and I want to see her,” he said, raising his voice and slamming his fist on the counter—making the poor nurse jump.

Dennis placed his hand on Dmitry’s arm and pulled him away from the counter. “If she’s having a scan, you can’t go in anyway. Let’s sit over here, and I’m sure someone will be out soon to let you know what’s going on.”

He knew that if anyone else had placed his hand on the boss, they would have been dead. But he had been with him for so many years now that he was the only one who could take a few liberties with him.

He shrugged Dennis’s arm off, followed him to the chairs, and sat down.

“I don’t understand how she could have fallen down the stairs. I’ve seen her come down in high heels, and she never had a problem. Something or someone must have caused her to fall. If she loses the baby, it will kill her.”

He leaned back in the chair and ran his hand over his face. The other day, he heard her singing in the shower; it was one of those nursery rhymes, and he knew she was singing to the baby. He knew this because he snuck into the bathroom and watched her—her hand moving over her belly.

Though he had practically forced her into having his child, she looked forward to becoming a mother.

“What the fuck is taking them so long?” He cursed out loud when he looked at his watch.

“Boss, you’ve got to be patient; these things take time.”

“She’ll be scared; I should be in there with her.”

Forty minutes passed before he saw the doctor walking toward him, so he got to his feet in a hurry. “How are Danica and the baby?”

“Your wife is going to be all right, and so is the baby. She does have a concussion, a sprained wrist, and a few bruises, so I’m going to keep her in overnight to keep an eye on her and the baby. You can go in now to see her.”

Dennis glanced at his boss when the doctor called her his wife, and he never flinched or corrected him.

Dmitry made his way to the room where she was. He opened the door, walked in, and went right over to the bed. Her eyes were closed, and he did not want to wake her.

Pulling a chair closer to the bed, he sat down and took hold of her hand. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it; she looked so pale.

“I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Thank God you and the baby are going to be okay. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Her eyes fluttered open; she felt better when she saw him. “Dmitry,” she called out his name in a weak voice.

When he heard her voice, he looked up and got to his feet, moving strands of hair from her face. “I thought you were never going to wake up.”

A tear slid down her face, and she let out a sob. “My baby, is the baby okay?”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “The doctor says the baby is just fine but will keep you in overnight just to be sure. You have a slight concussion and a sprained wrist, but other than that, you will be just fine.”

She sat up and put her good arm around his neck. “I was so scared. Please, just hold me.”

He put his arms around her, cradling her in his arms. “Everything is fine, but how in the world did you manage to fall down the stairs?”

“Fall? I didn’t just fall.”

He broke the embrace to look at her. “What are you saying?”

She squinted, rubbing her forehead. “Things are foggy in my brain, so I don’t know exactly what happened. I was arguing with Bepa on the stairs. She entered my art room and threw out all of my drawings. I was furious and told her never to go in there again.”

The shade of red was slowly making its way up to his neck; he had an awful feeling that he knew where this was going. “Go on, what happened next?”

“I… I think she pushed me.” She could have sworn she saw the fire in his eyes; his lips were tightly shut.

“She pushed you down the stairs?”

“I think it was an accident, but I’m not sure. I grabbed her arm, and she pushed me off of her. I’m sure she didn’t mean for me to fall. Even she couldn’t be so cruel as to harm an unborn child.”

He got up, went over to the window, and looked out. He had to control his anger. The last thing she needed right now was for him to go ballistic.

If only he had gotten rid of Bepa before now, this would not have happened; he only had himself to blame.

When he heard her sniffling, he turned back around and went over to her, putting his arms around her. “By the time I take you home, Bepa will be gone; she will never hurt you again.”

“What are you going to do to her?”

“My first thought was to kill her with my bare hands, but I have a much worse punishment for her. It would be best if you did not worry about it. You must rest now.”

She laid back, letting him cover her with the blanket. She believed him when he said he wasn’t going to kill her, but what he had in store for her, she had no idea.

She didn’t care. Her gut told her that Bepa did push her on purpose; she was just glad that the woman would no longer be there, and she hoped that Dmitry would send her far away, maybe even back to Russia.

He waited until she was asleep to talk to Dennis, who was still out in the waiting room. Craig had gone back to the house.

Dennis got to his feet when he saw his boss walking toward him. “How is Miss Burke doing?”

“Concussion and a sprained wrist, and thank God she didn’t lose the baby.” He sat down and told Dennis what she had told him. “I need you to arrange for my plane to go to Russia, call some of the other guys, and have them meet us at my place. Call Craig and tell him to talk to all the staff and find out if they witnessed what happened. Tell him to get back to me as soon as possible, and when I know Danica is feeling a little better, I shall go home and talk to that witch myself.”

“Boss, do you think that she would do something so stupid? She must have known you would find out and how much trouble she would be in.”

“I do believe it. Since I brought Danica here, Bepa has been behaving irrationally. She was jealous of her and always did and said things to make her feel bad. I’ve had to scold and threaten her repeatedly, but this is the last straw. She deliberately tried to kill my child, so she must pay the price of her betrayal.”

“Why not just kill her and be done with her?”

Dmitry smirked. “Killing her would be too easy. What I have in store for her will be much worse than death. Now go, make the arrangements, and return for me in a couple of hours. Whatever you and the others do, don’t let that bitch know what’s going on.”

After giving strict instructions as to what he wanted to be done with Bepa, he went back to the room to check on her.