Russian Killer's Baby by Bella Rose Page A

future for him, a family, and a woman who looked at him as though he were her world.
    “Yes,” Feliks told Oksana. “You can come to live with me once this is all finished.”
    He entered her room and glanced around. There was a bed and a tiny table and chairs. A few toys were strewn about, but for the most part it was the room of a child who worried very much about pleasing the important people in her life.
    Setting Oksana on the floor, Feliks squatted down to her level. “I need for you to stay here in this room until I come back for you. All right?”
    She nodded, her big eyes filling with tears. “Mama is gone. Isn’t she? Just like my papa is gone. It’s just like you said.”
    “Yes,” he agreed. “It is.”
    “I miss Mama.”
    Big tears coursed down her chubby cheeks, and Feliks welcomed the feel of her little arms around his neck. It occurred to him then that this tiny cherub child was actually his half sister. The knowledge only made him more determined to survive the night, rescue Annika, and return to collect this poor orphaned child.
    Yuri Orlov had ruined the lives of so many. It was time for him to pay the price for his arrogance.
    “Let’s put you into bed. Okay?” Feliks suggested.
    She nodded.
    He could see from the rumpled covers that Irina had already put Oksana to bed once this evening. It gave him a strange feeling in his midsection to think of that woman tucking her child in for the very last time without even realizing it. Life was so fleeting.
    “I need you to stay in bed, deep down beneath the covers. Okay?” Feliks told her. “No matter what happens. You stay right here until I come back for you.”
    “Yes, Uncle Feliks,” Oksana said softly. “Good night.”
    “Good night, malenkaya .”
    He cast one last look over his shoulder at the tiny bed with its precious cargo before turning off the overhead light. He reached over and pushed the switch for the nightlight. Instantly the ceiling was covered in prancing unicorns and castles. The innocence in the scene bolstered his resolve. Survival was not a question. It was imperative.
    Closing Oksana’s door, Feliks made his way back downstairs to the study. Pyotr was exactly as he had been the last time Feliks saw him. He held Irina’s body and stared at the wall as though catatonic.
    “I’m sorry,” Pyotr said as Feliks entered the study.
    Feliks didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say. Instead, he went directly to the button beneath the desk that opened a secret compartment in one wall. A veritable arsenal of weapons was exposed.
    Choosing a few items that he would need, Feliks tried not to think of the possibility for failure. He remembered Oksana and Annika. He focused on those two people and the tiny life within Annika’s body that would eventually be his very own child.
    “I should come with you,” Pyotr said dully.
    Feliks snorted. “I hardly think you would be of any use.”
    “I can still hold a gun.”
    “Then choose one and be done.”
    Pyotr struggled to gain his feet. Walking unsteadily, he made his way over to retrieve his personal sidearm.
    “I’m going to take Oksana with me as soon as this is over,” Feliks told Pyotr. “I thought you should know.”
    “My housekeeper will be glad of that.” Pyotr put his suit jacket on over his weapon, straightening his lapels as though he were truly getting ready for any old council meeting. “She complains nonstop about the nuisance of a child in the house.”
    That only decided Feliks more firmly. He and Annika had to live through this ordeal. If for no other reason than fate seemed determined to make them parents.
    ANNIKA TOOK DEEP breaths, trying to stay focused on the concept of escape. It was a possibility. It had to be. She refused to just give up. So as the dark car hurtled through the approaching dawn, she racked her brain for anything that might be leverage against Yuri Orlov.
    “It really is too bad about your papa.” Yuri’s casual tone was almost