by Bella Rose
“So what now?” Dimitri looked from Mikhail to Vasily. “I killed Uday. It was years ago. Who cares?”
They had planned this all very carefully, but sometimes even the best-laid plans experienced failure. And when Oksana lifted a handgun, took aim, and fired, Mikhail knew that anything he and Vasily had planned for this moment was no longer a viable solution.
“I care!” Oksana shouted. “I care, you son of a bitch.”
Vasily grabbed his wife, holding her close and carefully taking the gun from her hand. He passed the weapon off to Mikhail, who watched with a hollow ache as Vasily and Oksana nestled together and experienced the misery of the child they had lost. The two of them were sharing their grief, but Mikhail couldn’t help but think about the joy they had probably shared as well. Having children together had changed their lives, and anyone who didn’t understand that was exactly what Toby had accused Mikhail of being—an emotional cripple.
* * *
Courtney felt like a complete imbecile after her first shift at Nana’s Café, but she couldn’t help but feel good about all the hard work she had put in.
The other clerk touched her arm. “You did great! The first day is always the craziest. You’ll settle in, though.”
“Thank you,” Courtney said gratefully.
Courtney felt the strangest sense of acceptance. She’d felt it in the tiny apartment from Nana. And now she felt it with this near stranger at a job she never would have expected to enjoy. Maybe all of this was simply telling her that she was becoming herself for once in her life. She hadn’t gotten this job because she knew the boss. She hadn’t gotten it because of her daddy, or his money. The “in” crowd didn’t matter anymore. She didn’t have anyone to impress. The only thing that mattered was what she wanted or needed. It was just her and the baby—whom she had started to think of as Junior. It was all very liberating.
“Have you ever worked in a café before?” The other clerk was named Heather. She handed Courtney a towel and gestured to the tables. “We need to wipe down all the tables before we can go home.”
Courtney took the rag and got right to work. “No café or food-service experience, I’m afraid. I worked in an office before doing data entry.”
“Ugh!” Heather said with an overdramatized eye roll. “That sounds boring!”
“It sort of was,” Courtney admitted. “I suppose I’ve never really thought about what I would like to do, but honestly I kind of like it here.”
Heather gave a very serious nod. “The atmosphere here is amazing. That’s certainly true. And I love the coffee shop atmosphere. We get regulars and everyone who works here is very team oriented. It’s like a big family.”
“Like a small town,” Courtney mused. “A small town within a small town.”
Heather laughed. The sound was lighthearted, and Courtney couldn’t help but smile back. Heather’s grin was infectious. “That’s exactly right! And sometimes this whole town will drive you nuts, but they’ll also accept you.”
“I don’t think anyone can ask for more.” Courtney was thinking about the closed, very judgmental community she’d come from.
Heather was humming to herself as she cleaned. Every once in awhile she would give a little shimmy and shake her booty as if she were hearing an entire rock band playing inside her head. It was nice. Courtney had never been around anyone like Heather before. Maybe this starting over where nobody knew anything about her or her baggage was going to work after all.
Then Courtney thought about Mikhail. She generally tried to forget about him. Thinking about him caused a stabbing pain in the vicinity of her heart, and a desperate longing she almost couldn’t deny. She loved that man more than she had ever thought possible. In fact she knew more firmly now that she loved him than she had the last time she had felt him enter her and possess her so fully.
“You okay?” Heather asked softly.
Courtney realized that there were tears running down her cheeks. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m just thinking about some stuff.”
“Like the guy you left back home?” Heather guessed.
Courtney gave a tight nod and scrubbed with unnecessary ferocity at the table in front of her.
“It’s okay, you know,” Heather told her gently. “We all have guys that we have a hard time getting over.”
“What if I don’t really want to get over him?” Courtney asked softly. “What if I just wish he would change?”
“We can’t change them.” Heather sounded as though she knew this from experience. “You did the right thing. I don’t even know what happened, but if you left because you thought he needed to change, you did the right thing. He has to want to change. And he’ll never do that if you just keep making excuses for him.”
There was a certain wisdom in those words. Heather was right. Maybe this wasn’t the end for Courtney and Mikhail. Maybe he could actually change. Maybe something would happen and he would discover that having a child was a very good thing. Maybe he would want to share that adventure with her. Maybe he’d realize that just because having a child changed their lives, that it wasn’t a bad thing at all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Six months later…
Courtney sat in her tiny furnished apartment with her feet up on the coffee table. Her hands were clasped over her round belly, and she continually giggled as she felt Junior’s foot, or arm, or whatever, pushing at her hands. Beside her, Bella also had her feet up on the table. She was sporting her own much-smaller baby bump.
“I’m glad you came up for a visit,” Courtney told her friend. “I love it here and the people are wonderful, but I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah,” Bella agreed. “Just talking on the phone is definitely not the same.”
“So.” Courtney wondered how to ease into the topic of Mikhail without seeming too obvious.
“Mikhail misses you like crazy, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Bella informed her. “He nags me constantly about where you are and how you’re doing. He’s tried to have me give you money about a million times. He’s convinced you can’t possibly be surviving on your own.”
“Which is why I need to,” Courtney countered.
Bella pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. “I don’t think that’s really what it’s about anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Courtney held her breath and refused to look at her friend. She didn’t want Bella to see how much hope she had that Mikhail would have changed.
“I think he’s worried because he cares. I don’t think it’s about haute couture or the type of place you’re living in. I think it’s more about just being worried that you’re okay. He really loves you, Courtney.”
“I really love him,” Courtney whispered. “I just can’t keep trying to convince him or change him, or whatever. I have to let him be who he wants to be. And I’m starting to realize that I need to be who I am. I’ve never felt more like myself.”
“Which is crazy because you’re hugely pregnant and getting ready to deliver that kid at any moment.” Bella reached over and poked Junior. Courtney’s belly moved in response. Bella snickered. “That is a super active baby you’ve got there. Do you have any idea how wild and crazy that kid is going to be?”
“It’s a baby Mikhail,” Courtney said tenderly. She stroked her belly and smiled. “I imagine this kid is going to be a handful.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t asked the doctor to tell you if you’re having a boy or a girl. I would be nuts by now!” Bella looked chagrined. “The moment the doctor could tell me I’m having a boy, I made sure that I knew. I wanted to be prepared!”
“There is no being prepared,” Courtney said with a sarcastic snort. “If you think buying blue or pink defines being prepared, you’d better think again.”
“Oh!” Bella brightened. In fact her face looked downright mischievous. “I forgot to tell you that Creighton Kemper and Elsa Manning got married.”
“What?” Courtney nearly flew off the couch. “How?
”
“Well, I think the mob must have let Creighton off the hook.”
Courtney was dumbfounded. “They do that sort of thing?”
“They do if someone on the inside suggests it,” Bella pointed out.
It took Courtney a moment to process that notion. “So you’re telling me that Mikhail requested that his cousin and the other Russian thugs just forgive the debt?”
“Or make other arrangements, I don’t know the details.” Bella waved it off. “But Toby told me that Mikhail has made some pretty significant decisions like that.”
“Like what else?” Courtney almost hated to ask.
Bella raised her eyebrows and reached over to tap the end of Courtney’s nose. “Like giving your father the CEO job at Pierson Security and keeping him employed.”
“Mikhail did that?” Courtney was stunned. “I thought he gave that business to the mob.”
“Sort of.” Bella shrugged. “I don’t exactly understand what happened. Toby explained it, but he lost me somewhere in the middle of the spiel about stockholders and controlling interests and that other crap that’s really not my thing.”
Courtney was stuck on one thing. “That was really nice of Mikhail.”
“He isn’t a bad guy,” Bella reminded her. “He just made some seriously idiotic statements about babies and parents and child-rearing.”
“Do you think—” Courtney licked her lips nervously. “Do you think he’s changed his mind?”
“About babies?”
“Yeah.”
Bella gave Courtney a very knowing smile. “Yeah. I do.”
“Did you ask him?” Courtney demanded. “Oh my God, you did!”
“Of course I did!” Bella said indignantly.
Courtney felt torn. “I don’t know what to do, Bells. I like it here. I have a job I love, a little home, and a place where I can raise Junior away from all of that crazy classist crap in the city. I don’t want my kid brought up in some overblown rich-kid society cesspool.”
“Whoa!” Bella was laughing now. “It can’t be that bad! You know, you’re less than two hours away.”
“I know. But isn’t it funny how it might as well be two million miles considering how different everything is?” Courtney gave a sigh. “I would never want to go back. Not now.”
“Nobody is asking you to,” Bella pointed out. “That’s the best part about having money. Logistics and distance is a whole new thing.”
“But things would change for me here if I suddenly had a bunch of money and my husband was throwing it around.” In fact Courtney didn’t like that mental image at all.
“So don’t throw it around.” Bella looked at Courtney as though she were a simpleton. “There are choices in life, you know. I know growing up nobody ever seemed to give you any. But look at you, Court.” Bella made a big gesture to encompass everything around them. “You’ve made your choices now, right? So keep doing it.”
Courtney was just about to respond when she felt a very strange pull in the vicinity of her belly. She scrambled to her feet just as quickly as possible. Bella sat up, looking alarmed. Then a slow smile spread over Courtney’s face.
“What?” Bella demanded.
“I think I’m going into labor.” There was that pulling again. This time she felt it in her lower back, and it bordered on pretty darn painful. “Oh yeah, I’m totally going into labor!”
Bella leaped excitedly to her feet. “My driver is right out front! I’ll have him take us to the hospital. Oh my God, this is awesome!”
* * *
“What?” Mikhail demanded, trying to decipher the meaning behind the completely odd expression on Toby’s face. “Did you just get a text from Bella? Is everything all right? Is Courtney okay?”
Mikhail realized even as he was rapid-firing questions at his friend that the two of them had never openly acknowledged the fact that Toby’s wife was regularly visiting the mother of Mikhail’s child—who was also the love of his life. It had sort of developed into a situation where Mikhail would hang out with Toby while Bella was visiting Courtney and hope that he could somehow get information on his family in that way.
“Courtney is in labor,” Toby told him with a huge grin. “She and Bella are at the hospital right now. Apparently your kid is in a hurry.”
“What does that mean?” Mikhail was nearly panicked trying to understand what Toby was saying. “Is it good or bad? Does that mean trouble? Cut me some slack here. I haven’t done all these birthing classes and crap. I don’t know anything about having babies or even taking care of them.”
Mikhail leaped up from the couch and began pacing energetic circles around Toby’s living room. What was he thinking? He couldn’t be a father! He’d never even held a baby before. There was no doubt in his mind that he would totally screw up and the kid would somehow be permanently damaged because of him. Then Courtney would hate him forever and he would be even worse off than he was at this moment not knowing if she hated him.
“She doesn’t hate you,” Toby said quietly.
Mikhail drew back, surprised. “Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes?”
“Shit. I’m a mess.” Mikhail shoved his fingers through his hair. “I’d be better off just waiting until the kid was older. Like ten or maybe eighteen.”
“Get your head out of your ass,” Toby growled. “You and I are going up there now. Bella thinks you should, and as you well know, my wife is rarely wrong.”
“I think never is the word you usually use in that context,” Mikhail pointed out.
Toby’s grin was so bright Mikhail felt dazzled. “Exactly!”
The entire ride upstate was the most horrifying wait that Mikhail had ever experienced. Toby drove like a little old lady. The man actually lounged in the driver’s seat of his sports car and kept the needle on the speed limit the entire way! Mikhail was going stark raving mad by the time they pulled into a parking spot at the tiny community hospital.
“Do you think this place is good enough?” Mikhail immediately asked, looking around. “What if it’s too small to provide the resources they need for my kid? What if Courtney dies?”
“Hey,” Toby said sharply. “I promise you that if you keep up that line of thought, you’ll be alone the rest of your life. Courtney loves it here. She’s not going to want to leave. So if you want your family, you’d best get used to the idea of being with them here.”
Mikhail looked around, really looked. The place was picturesque. He tried to see it from a completely non-socioeconomic standpoint. There was a tiny city park across the street from the hospital. From the hospital parking lot, he could see an elementary school, several shops, a few little apartment buildings, stores, and even a tiny two-pump gas station. There were people everywhere. It looked like a damn Norman Rockwell painting.
“Courtney was never about the money,” Mikhail reminded himself.
Toby slapped him on the shoulder. “So let’s go up and let’s see this beautiful son of yours.”
“Son?”
“Oh, did I forget to tell you that Bella texted me that?” Toby’s expression was pure mischief.
“Oh my God, I’m a father.” Mikhail had never felt so elated and terrified all at the same time.
He followed Toby, who seemed to know where he was going. They went up a flight of stairs, down a hallway past a bunch of smiling nurses, and into a room on the right side. Mikhail was almost certain there were a lot of things going on in the room. He registered Bella’s presence, and that of a nurse, but he only had eyes for Courtney.
She was sitting up in the bed. Her hair was tangled and she looked tired, but she also appeared ecstatic. There was a baby in her arms. The kid was waving its tiny arms. The tiny mouth would open and close as if it was trying to tell all of the adults in the room that it was hungry.
Then Mikhail watched in fascination as Courtney opened her hospital gown and helped the child to latch onto her breast. The baby began to suckle, and the sight did somet
hing profound to Mikhail’s heart. He walked forward slowly, not even speaking, simply sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“His name is Mikhail Uday Krachenko,” Courtney whispered.
Mikhail glanced up in shock. “How?”
“Oksana contacted me a few weeks ago.”
Mikhail was stunned. He would have never imagined that any of these people would care so much. Yet Oksana had contacted Courtney—obviously on his behalf—and Toby and Bella had kept him in the loop as well. Perhaps he had more connections and family than he had imagined.
“This is your son, Mikhail.” She took his hand and placed it on the baby’s downy soft head. “And even though I know we have a lot of things to work out, I would like to try to be a family.”
“For the baby,” he guessed.
She shook her head. “No. For us. All of us, including you.”
He gazed at this woman and saw her as though for the first time. She had changed. Maybe it was pregnancy and motherhood, maybe it was just growing up. But whatever it was, he found that he liked it. Courtney was real. More importantly, she had known him before. And maybe she knew him better now than he’d ever imagined that she did. Perhaps that was why she had left him to make some changes and rethink things.
“I was an ass,” he told her softly. “I know that now. And if you’ll give me another chance I will try like hell to show you that I can be not an ass.”
She laughed. The baby stopped nursing, seeming to settle down and close his eyes. Courtney gently lifted him, moving him into Mikhail’s arms. “Hold your son, Mikhail.”
He froze. Nothing in his life had prepared him for the feel of that tiny infant in his arms. The baby was so delicate, so innocent, and so perfect. Mikhail marveled at it all. And then he gazed at Courtney and knew he could not have been more fortunate in his life. Money meant nothing. Power and recognition was fleeting. This right here was everything.
THE END
CLICK HERE
to subscribe to my newsletter & get EXCLUSIVE updates on all offers, secret previews, and new releases!
