inform her and to let her know I’ll do as she wishes and be at the hospital.
I arrive and park, and I feel sick at the thought of what’s coming. I don’t understand it. I really don’t like Liza. It’s not as if I have any affection left for her.
She might be carrying your child, a voice whispers to me.
She’s not; I know as much deep down. Shit, this is fucked up. I’m about to witness my ex-lover, who betrayed me with one of my closest men, deliver a baby and then … die.
My mouth is dry, and my heart is beating far too fast. What the hell is wrong with me? I stop outside the doors of the hospital. Shit, I don’t know if I can do this.
Footsteps to my side have me moving away for the person approaching to pass by, but I startle when a warm hand slips into mine. I glance down to see Cassie.
What the hell?
My immediate reaction is to look all around me. This isn’t safe. Then my gaze alights on Bohdan, with the reassuring lump under his jacket that tells me he’s carrying, and next to him Andrius.
“She insisted,” Andrius says.
I can’t speak past the lump in my throat. Instead, I squeeze Cassie’s hand, and we walk together into the hospital.
We’re taken upstairs to a quiet ward, right at the top of the hospital, and there in the corridor, looking as lost as anyone I’ve ever seen, is Sandra. Suddenly, I’m glad I came, and even happier Cassie is with me.
Andrius and Bohdan take seats a little way down the corridor.
Sandra looks up, and her face crumples when she sees us. Unsure what to do, I falter, but Cassie goes to her and wraps her arms around her, hugging her close, letting her sob into her shoulder.
It hits me then. Cassie’s stronger than me.
She thinks she’s weak because she isn’t tough, but toughness and true strength aren’t the same thing. Cassie is strong enough to take all the knocks life has thrown her way and still be open. I’m not. I shut down and stay that way. Trouble is, I don’t know how to be any different.
A nurse exits a room and heads our way. “Sandra, love?”
Sandra looks up.
“Your grandson has entered the world, and he’s a bouncing baby boy, healthy and big. Do you want to come and meet him?”
Sandra stands shakily, both Cassie and the nurse holding an arm to help her. “You ought to come, Konstantin. You never know, you might be about to meet your son.”
I nod and follow Sandra, Cassie, and the nurse. When we reach the room, Cassie stands to one side. “I’ll wait here, right outside the door, okay?”
She speaks to Sandra, but I know she means the words for me too.
We go inside, and I don’t know what I expected. I thought Liza would be in here still, but she’s not. Instead, a nurse is holding a baby wrapped in a blanket, and she smiles at us.
“Sandra, meet your grandson.” She offers the baby to her, and Sandra makes a strangled sound as she looks down at him, taking him in her arms.
I stare at him, and I know soul deep he’s not mine. I’ll do the paternity test to be sure, but this kid is the spit of Denis. It’s as if Liza didn’t have any of her DNA in there. He’s got pale blue eyes, and I know kids are born with blue eyes, but his are the same pale as Denis’ were. Add to that his shock of dark blond hair, and I think I can safely say this little boy isn’t mine.
I should hate this child. He’s the living emblem of the betrayal of one of my closest men, with the woman I fucked, but I don’t. He’s innocent and had nothing to do with what his parents did.
“He doesn’t look like Liza,” Sandra says. She doesn’t add that he looks nothing like me either, but we both know it. “I’ll organize the paternity test,” she says. She bounces her arms a little, and I can see the love start to infuse her face, bringing some joy and light back.
“I want you to know,” I say, “no matter what the test shows, if you need help, you come to me. Okay?”
She turns to me, and her eyes fill with tears. “That’s incredibly kind of you, Konstantin. I’d like for you and Cassie to be in his life.”