by Bella Rose
Vasily chuckled. “The woman gave me a flat refusal because she did not want to leave her family.”
“You obviously convinced her.”
“Yes. But I had to lay down my pride and remember that she was a woman who knew her own mind, had her own goals, thoughts, and aspirations, and her own way of doing things. I had to learn compromise, Mikhail.”
“And now you’ve married Ekaterina off to Dimitri’s eldest son,” Mikhail said quietly. “How did Oksana feel about that? No. How did Katy really feel?”
“You’re trying to paint me as a villain here.” Vasily raised a hand and shook his finger at Mikhail. “My wife and daughter were just as involved in that decision as I was. Ekaterina had the final say.”
“I find if difficult to believe that she would choose marriage to a man she didn’t love,” Mikhail insisted.
“So stop thinking that she didn’t love him.”
“Is he like Dimitri?”
Vasily shook his head. “No. He lacks the killer instinct, and the kid has morals.”
Mikhail considered that for a moment. “Then he very likely had nothing to do with Dimitri securing his future by murdering Uday.”
“I would guess not.” Vasily’s leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “I have blamed you for the death of my son for more years than I can count.”
“I didn’t murder him. Uday was my friend, my cousin. He was like a brother to me after you took me in.”
“I was angry,” Vasily admitted. “After I lost my son and you disappeared, I believed that God was punishing me for being weak enough to bring you into my home instead of leaving you in that jail cell to rot.”
“Then let’s find a solution,” Mikhail suggested. He was feeling particularly accommodating at the moment. “I refuse to let you absorb my company or my holdings into your organization, but there might be another way to reach an agreement.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Courtney decided that Ryan the impromptu bodyguard was looking very uncomfortable as Courtney and Bella strolled toward him, dragging the suitcase behind them. Bella had come up with the idea that the two of them should be dressed to the nines as if they were going someplace special. In this getup it certainly didn’t look like they were planning anything ornery.
“Excuse me, Ms. Piers-Cameron?” Ryan’s throat moved as he swallowed. “I’m afraid Mr. Krachenko did not authorize you to leave the penthouse.”
Courtney raised both eyebrows and gave Ryan her very best dress-down look. It was the look her father perpetually used with the staff in their home. It had the desired effect almost immediately. Ryan fell back a step, and Bella hit the elevator button.
“I’m sorry—what was your name again—Ryan?” Courtney flung every ounce of attitude at her disposal in the poor man’s direction. “But I have an appointment with my friend Bella and several other members of our social group that I simply cannot miss!”
“It’s brunch,” Bella said as though that explained everything. “You may not understand how important it is because you don’t have to be seen by the right people in the right places like we do, but trust me”—Bella put on her dazzling smile—“it’s vital to Courtney’s continued acceptance after the recent—ahem—ordeal with Mr. Kemper.”
“Don’t bring that up!” Courtney said in mock horror. “How gauche!”
“It’s not like he didn’t already know.” The elevator doors whooshed open and Bella dragged Courtney inside, still arguing about Kemper. “I mean, I’m sorry, sweetie, but everyone knows! Ohmigod and I just heard Monique telling someone that she heard from Tori Bevins that Creighton Kemper is screwing Elsa Manning the wedding planner!”
“So everyone knows that too?” Courtney waited until the doors had whooshed shut on Ryan’s openmouthed surprise before she dropped the haute couture act.
Bella slumped against the side of the elevator. “I guess we won’t know if we succeeded until we get downstairs and there’s nobody waiting to shoo you back upstairs.”
“I hope not.” Courtney didn’t really know what she would do if that were the case. “I’m not really prepared to come up with another exit strategy. Especially since I really wanted to take at least some stuff with me.”
“So you’re really doing this,” Bella said quietly. “Are you sure? Mikhail is a good man, Court. He can change.”
“You didn’t hear the way he talks about this baby.” Courtney offered her friend a small smile. “I know you guys are trying so hard to have a child. I feel bad that I managed to pull this off without even being ready.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you noticed that pregnancy always seems to work that way? Toby and I will get things figured out eventually. Until then, I’m more concerned about you.”
“You’re a good friend.” Courtney thought back to the beginning of this whole mess. “I still can’t believe it was your wedding where I met him again.”
“Mikhail?” Bella bobbed her head up and down. “Yeah, that is really weird. But maybe it was all meant to be.”
“You’ve always believed in kismet.” Courtney wondered if she could buy into that idea and wasn’t sure she was willing to leave that much up to fate. “Oh. And did Monique really say she’d heard that about Elsa and Creighton?”
“Yep.” Bella’s eyes twinkled. “How hilarious is that? The woman is a whiz with the planning. She’s a stellar networker, and she knows everyone in the city. But now that she’s gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar, her reputation will be ruined. Nobody will want to take that chance.”
“Serves her right,” Courtney grunted. “I’ve never met anybody meaner.”
“She’s definitely a mean-spirited person,” Bella agreed. “I’m just glad I never have to worry about my Toby.”
“No. You certainly don’t.” Courtney braced herself as the elevator hit the ground floor. “Are you ready?”
“For what?” Bella looked alarmed. “Am I supposed to tackle someone or fake a fainting episode to create a diversion? We did not discuss that kind of strategy, Courtney!”
The doors opened, but there was no fanfare. In fact there was pretty much nothing. Courtney could see a doorman sitting behind his counter full of security screens about halfway between her and the exit. But the guy didn’t look alarmed or even awake.
“You’d better find a way to let me know where you are,” Bella told her. “Promise me.”
“I will.”
* * *
Mikhail watched his cousin stride down the hall on his way toward the elevator and had the oddest feeling of satisfaction. He certainly wanted no part of the Russian mafia having control of his businesses or demanding protection money or any of the myriad other ways they managed to worm their way into business dealings. But Mikhail had enjoyed just being around his cousin once again. Vasily and his family were Mikhail’s only living relatives. For some reason, that really meant something in Mikhail’s life as he got older.
“Sir?”
Mikhail turned, offering Annette a pleasant and hopefully calming smile. “What can I do for you, Annette?”
“This message came for you while you were in your meeting.” She handed him a pink slip of paper.
“Thank you.” Mikhail wandered back into his office.
He had turned his phone off while he was with Vasily. Now he realized that he had missed two phone calls and three texts from Ryan. Feeling somewhat curious, but not yet alarmed, Mikhail called the guard back.
“Sir?” Ryan answered on the first ring. “I thought you should know that Ms. Piers-Cameron left the apartment.”
Mikhail nearly squeezed the phone so hard it shattered. “What?”
“She and Mrs. Pinckney left here twenty minutes ago to go to some sort of brunch with their friends. I tried to have them followed, but the men couldn’t find them.”
Mikhail forced himself to calm down. “Bella and Courtney are best friends. I’m sure she’s safe with Toby’s wife. The man is rich as Croesus.
If someone was going to target them, it would be for Bella, not for Courtney.”
“Sir?” Ryan said tersely. “What do you want us to do?”
“Give it an hour,” Mikhail said reasonably. “You know how women are. They like to have brunch with their friends, shop, do their own thing, and then they come home.”
“If you’re sure.” Ryan sounded hesitant.
Mikhail forced himself to calm down. Maybe Courtney was trying to show him that she was still an independent woman. He could respect that. “Just call me in an hour. I’ll text Toby and see what he knows about Bella’s schedule.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mikhail sent a quick text to his friend, trying not to feel so worried and off-kilter. He couldn’t let himself get caught up in paranoia. He was not his father. Look at everything that had happened in the last few days. If he and Courtney could survive that, they could survive anything.
He walked back to his desk, sat down, and forced himself to work. That would take his mind off anything. He finished off the outline for the settlement he was proposing for Vasily Romanov and then glanced at the clock again. It had been two hours.
Mikhail checked his phone. Not only had Courtney not texted him, Toby hadn’t texted him back either. Of course, Mikhail wasn’t entirely sure that Courtney had his cell phone number. It was quite bizarre actually. The two of them had been through such an unorthodox courtship that they’d missed a few key points. Mikhail resolved to remedy this situation at once and decided to go directly to Toby’s office and get some answers.
He was in the car on his way to Pinckney Towers when he received a response from Toby that Bella was supposed to be out shopping most of the day but had stopped by his office for lunch. The two of them had only just gotten back and she was still there.
A suspicious feeling grew in Mikhail’s gut. By the time he reached Pinckney Towers, he was afraid he was far too late to fix what had very likely occurred. It made him angry. He stomped his way into the elevator and then stomped back to Toby’s office.
Toby and Bella looked up in surprise when he shoved the door open and walked inside. “Where’s Courtney?”
Bella cocked her head to one side. “I have no idea. I thought you’d locked her up in a tower to keep her safe from all of the boogeymen in the world.”
Toby swung around, staring at his wife in shock. “Bells, that’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know. Is it?” Bella stood up and crossed to Mikhail. “Did you really tell your wife that having a child wouldn’t change your lives at all?”
Now Toby’s look of horror swung around to land on Mikhail. “Dude. Really?”
“What?” Mikhail said defensively. “When you have money, children don’t change your lives! You just hire around-the-clock help and go on like you did before!”
Okay. Mikhail was starting to feel more than a little on the defensive. Why were they looking at him as if he were the devil? He wasn’t the type of man to roll around on the floor with a toddler or play airplane or read bedtime stories. He had more blood on his hands than a regular guy ever should. He wasn’t fit to be a parent. Didn’t they understand this?
“I don’t know where she is,” Bella told him quietly. “But I also didn’t believe her when she told me what you said. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I’ll never doubt my friend again.” She gave him a dirty look. “And my opinion of you will never recover either.”
“That’s harsh, Mikhail,” Toby told him. “I know you’re torn up about your past. I know you never had a decent father figure, but telling a woman that about her unborn child is about the easiest way to alienate her I can think of. You just told her that you want her, but you don’t really want the kid you made with her.” Toby looked angrier than Mikhail had ever seen him. “Do you know how hard Bella and I are trying to have children? The idea that some asshole like you could be blessed when we can’t even buy our way in is disgusting. Get out of here and don’t come back until you pull your head out of your ass.”
Less than ten minutes later Mikhail was standing on the sidewalk in front of Pinckney Towers, wondering how his life had spun so far out of control.
Twenty-Four
Courtney spun a small circle and tried to figure out what it was about this tiny space that actually appealed to her. The entire apartment would have fit into the foyer of the home she grew up in. Yet instead of seeming small or dingy, the place felt like home almost instantly. There were so many windows! The front room was flooded with sunlight. The open floor plan allowed the rest of the house to also be light filled and airy. Courtney sighed. This was home and she was going to be happy here.
“Well?” The old woman who owned the tiny building was looking at Courtney with an almost grandmotherly expression. “I think you could be very happy here with us. Don’t you think?”
“And the lease?” Courtney’s gut twisted at the mere thought. The rent was laughably low, but her savings was only going to give her a six-month chance to get on her feet.
The elderly woman cocked her head, her gray hair catching the light and looking almost silver. “How about we say six months?”
Courtney was flooded with relief. Her hand went almost unconsciously to her abdomen. “That would be perfect.”
“Expecting, are you?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Courtney felt her cheeks heat up in a blush.
She’d traveled to a fairly small town upstate from the city where she had been raised. She knew their values were much different here. It was one of the things that appealed to Courtney. Except here she was an unwed mother in a place where such things simply weren’t done.
The grandmotherly woman—whose name was Mrs. Potts—gave Courtney a very loving smile. “I’m sure you made the right decision. Sometimes we can’t understand how we wind up in these situations, but they always seem to turn out for the best. Do you have a job yet?”
“No, ma’am,” Courtney said with a small shake of her head. “I thought I would look this afternoon.”
“I have a little coffee shop around the corner.” Mrs. Potts put her finger to her lips. “How about you come work for me? It’s nothing big. Just a little café. We serve some breakfast items, plenty of my home-baked goodies, and a few sandwiches. Would that interest you? We could really use another clerk.”
“I would very much appreciate that,” Courtney said gratefully. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Call me Nana, dear,” the woman said softly. “They all do.”
* * *
Mikhail sank listlessly into a seat at Vasily’s home. Oksana puttered about, making sure he was comfortable and had a drink. Then she leaned down and pressed a motherly kiss to his forehead. “It is so good to have you back, dear one,” she told him in Russian. “I lost my son that night, but losing you also made it twice as difficult to bear.”
Her words warmed him, but they also shocked him. Mikhail caught her hand. “You didn’t blame me?”
“No, no,” Oksana said fervently. “Never. I could never believe that you would be intentionally responsible for Uday’s death. The two of you were more like brothers than cousins.”
“Yes,” Mikhail agreed. “I missed him. I believe I thought of him every day when I was building my business. He and I used to talk about such things. About being independent and going out on our own. He was a good man, Oksana.”
“Yes.” She sniffed a little and then smiled in spite of her sadness.
Vasily walked into the room. He pegged Mikhail with a knowing stare and then gave his wife a hard nod. “Dimitri is here.”
“And Katy?” Mikhail asked tensely. “Is she going to be subjected to this?”
“No. I’ve sent her and her husband back to their home for the night. Dimitri does not know this, though.” Vasily looked grim. “I don’t want him to have the opportunity to put Katy and Pyotr in the middle or try to force them to choose sides.”
“Smart move,” Mikhail murmured. “You know that will be t
he bastard’s first strategy.”
There was a loud noise in the foyer. The hall echoed with Dimitri’s loud greeting in Russian. Vasily’s second-in-command showed the rotund Russian into the living room. Mikhail looked around. Oksana was pale, but her expression was determined. Vasily looked stony. But it was Mikhail that drew the most immediate attention from Dimitri.
Dimitri pointed his finger and reached around his enormous girth as though he was going for his gun. “What is that demon spawned whelp doing here?”
Vasily glanced at Mikhail and then smiled. It was not a friendly expression. “He is here at my invitation.”
“Why would you invite your son’s killer into your home?” Dimitri asked suspiciously.
Vasily stared hard at Dimitri. “I have asked myself that question a lot lately. See, Mikhail and I have been talking about the night that Uday died. What we have realized is that the man who had the most to gain from my son’s death is you, Dimitri. I have no heir. You have too many sons. You want more. You’ve married Pyotr to my daughter. He will now inherit my businesses. It seems rather damning, don’t you think?”
“It seems far-fetched, is what it seems,” Dimitri blustered, but the way his gaze was shifting made Mikhail believe that he was most definitely guilty as charged.
“Dimitri,” Mikhail said silkily, standing up and pacing toward the fat old Russian man. “There is no point in this lie you continue to try and perpetuate. Stop wasting our time. Admit what you did and perhaps we won’t kill you where you stand.” Mikhail leaned in and used his proximity to push the older man back a step.
“You useless orphaned bastard!” Dimitri fumed. “I never could understand how such a worthless whelp could wind up with so much money! Who did you kill? Who did you cheat?”
“No one,” Mikhail said flatly. “I have what I have because I worked hard to achieve it. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but I just don’t give a shit.”
