Chapter 19
1113 Words
ISABELLA'S POV
FOUR HOURS LATER - PODGORICA BUS STATION
I stepped off the bus into the chaos of Montenegro's capital city, exhausted and terrified and utterly lost.
Podgorica is bigger than Kotor, it has more people, more cars, and most importantly more places to hide. But it also has more places for hunters to find you. More cameras and more risks.
I need a plan. I need to figure out where to go from here.
Serbia is close. I can cross the border, and get lost in Belgrade. Or Croatia...Split is supposed to be beautiful this time of year. Plenty of tourists. And very easy to disappear.
But crossing borders meant checkpoints, showing documents that might not hold up to scrutiny and also risks I wasn't sure I could afford.
Maybe I should stay in Montenegro. Find some small village in the mountains. Change my appearance, my name, my...
"Bella."
The voice came from behind me, accented and familiar.
I spun around, already preparing to run, and froze.
Alexei. Viktor's right-hand man, is standing ten feet away from me with two other men flanking him.
"Don't run," he said quietly. "Please. We're not here to hurt you."
"The hell you're not." I backed up a step, scanning for exits. "Stay away from me."
"Bella, listen..."
"No." I take another step back. "Viktor sent you. I'm not going back to Moscow. I'm not..."
"We know about the baby."
The words hit me like a physical blow, and all the air left my lungs.
"What?"
"We know you're pregnant." Alexei took a careful step forward, his hands visible and empty. "Viktor knows. He's been looking for you for weeks. And he's not the only one...Sokolov's men are everywhere. If they find you..."
"They won't." But my voice shook with uncertainty.
"They will. It's only a matter of time." He took another step. "Bella, I'm not asking you to trust Viktor. I know what he said to you. I know how he hurt you. But please...for the baby's sake...come with us. Let us protect you."
"Protect me?" I laughed bitterly. "Like Viktor protected me when he threw me away? When he called me a mistake?"
"He was wrong." Alexei's voice was gentle. "He knows that now. He's been..." He paused. "He's been destroyed since you left. Drinking himself to death, tearing the city apart looking for you. When he found out about the baby..."
"How did he find out?"
"Surveillance. We've been watching you for over a week. We saw you leave the prenatal clinic." Alexei pulled out a tablet, showed me the footage of myself with the ultrasound photo. "Viktor saw this. Saw you touching the ultrasound. And he..."
"And he what?" Anger was replacing fear now. "Decided his property had run away? And that he needed to claim his heir?"
"He decided he'd made the biggest mistake of his life pushing you away." Alexei met my eyes. "He loves you, Bella. He's always loved you. He was just too afraid to admit it."
"Love." The word tasted like poison. "He doesn't know what love is."
"Maybe not. But he knows what fear is. And he's terrified of losing you and that baby." Alexei glanced at my stomach. "Please. Come with us. If not for Viktor, then for your child. You can't keep running like this. Not while pregnant. Not with Sokolov's men hunting you."
I wanted to say no and to tell Alexei to go to hell, to leave me alone, that I'd rather die than go back to Viktor.
But my hand went to my stomach, and I thought about all the running I'd done today. The jumping between buildings. The terror. The constant fear.
Was this the life I wanted for my baby? Always running? Always afraid?
"If I come with you," I said slowly, "I want guarantees."
"Name them."
"I want my own room. Separate from Viktor. I don't want to see him, talk to him, or have anything to do with him."
"Done."
"I want medical care. The best prenatal care money can buy."
"It is already arranged."
"And I want..." I took a breath. "I want the option to leave. After the baby is born. If I want to go, you let me go, you don't track me, or put me under surveillance. And most importantly you don't hunt me down."
Alexei hesitated. "I can't promise that. Viktor would never..."
"Then I'm not coming." I turned to walk away.
"Wait." He grabbed my arm, gently. "I can't promise Viktor will let you go. But I can promise that we'll protect you. Both of you. And that you'll have every resource you need to raise this baby safely."
It wasn't enough. It wasn't what I wanted.
But as I stand here in the Podgorica bus station, exhausted, scared and so f*****g tired of running, I realized something:
I am out of options.
I can keep running and risk Sokolov's men finding me. Risk my baby being born in hiding, in danger, in poverty.
Or I can go with Alexei. Go back to Viktor's world and trade my freedom for safety.
It is an impossible choice.
But looking down at my stomach, at the tiny life depending on me to keep it safe, I realized there is only one choice I could make.
"Okay," I whispered. "I'll come with you."
"Thank you." Alexei looked genuinely relieved. "There's a car waiting. We'll take you somewhere safe, get you checked out by a doctor, make sure you and the baby are..."
"Where's Viktor?" I cut him off.
"In Kotor. Coordinating the search. I'll call him, tell him we found you..."
"No." The word came out sharp. "Don't tell him yet. I need... I need time before I see him."
Alexei studied me for a long moment. Then nodded. "Okay. We won't tell him until you're ready. But Bella? You'll have to face him eventually."
"I know." I closed my eyes. "I know."
He led me toward a black SUV waiting at the curb. As I climbed inside, I took one last look at the bus station, at the life I'd been trying to build.
Then the door closed, and we pulled into traffic.
I am going back.
Back to Viktor's world. Back to Moscow. Back to the man who'd broken my heart.
But this time, I am not going back as the naive girl who'd loved him with everything she had.
I am going back as a mother. As someone with more to lose than just her heart.
And if Viktor Konstantin thought he could control me, claim me, own me just because I was carrying his baby?
He had another thing coming.
- Writer
