“This isn’t Mikhail’s fault. You stole my son,” I lash out at Antonio. I stand, and my fist slams into his chest as I push him away, wanting him out of my room. “You started this war!”
He grabs my wrists, but I don’t ease up.
Tears burn my eyes. “You took my son! This is all your fault!”
Antonio doesn’t loosen his grip as I fight him with all my force, my hands bunched into fists.
He spins me around, my back pressed tight against his body, my arms tucked against my chest, my fists just beneath my chin, and he traps me, holding my arms and me in place.
I struggle against his strength to break free.
His breath is warm as it tingles against my neck. “Are you done?” he whispers.
“Never!” I slam my foot onto his toe, but he doesn’t so much as flinch.
Why should he? He’s got boots on, and I’m barefoot. I attempt to spin around to knee him in the groin, but he doesn’t let me move.
“Enough!” he barks.
“I don’t take orders from you.”
He grumbles under his breath and pushes me against the mattress before heading for the door. “Mario will be back to check on the children, as well as get a DNA sample from each of them.”
“What?” He can’t be serious. If he thinks there’s any chance of him gaining custody, he’s sorely mistaken.
“If they are my children, then you can’t honestly believe I’ll hand them back to the Barinovs and let the bratva raise them.”
He slips out of my bedroom, slamming the door shut abruptly behind himself. The latch clicks, and I’m sure that he’s locked me in.
“Mama?” Sophia’s voice carries through the open adjoining door. Of course, he woke her. The way he stormed out of the room, he probably woke the entire compound.
* * *
After the twins are bathed and dressed, I try the door handle. It’s locked.
I give a firm knock. Is there a guard standing on the opposite side of the door?
The lock clicks, and the same guard from yesterday is waiting outside the bedroom door.
“Are you Mario?” I ask.
He straightens his shoulders but doesn’t answer my question. “I’ll take the children down for breakfast,” he says, gesturing for them to accompany him outside of their bedroom.
The children?
I don’t ask. I step past the threshold, and the guard shakes his head. “Sorry, my orders were to accompany the children downstairs.”
“They’re not going anywhere without me!” I push the guard backward and grab Sophia and Liam by the arm, forcing them back into the bedroom.
“Mama,” Liam whines. “I’m hungry.”
“Me too,” Sophia pleads.
“I come with you, or I force you to listen to two screaming kids who are hungry,” I threaten the guard.
He grumbles under his breath. “I swear you’re not worth the headache. He should have left you and the little brats behind.”
“Excuse me?”