Bought by the Russian Mobster (12 page)

“That was very brave of you,” Captain Grayson said stiffly.

“What was?”

“To start the fire.” He nodded. “It shows a quick mind too, that you would think to do that when all of us were just shooting at each other.”

“Yeah, that did seem pretty ineffective,” Lily agreed.

“How do you know Vladimir?”

“He took me from my father’s—or stepfather, I guess. Vladimir took me as payment for a debt.”

“Excuse me?” Grayson looked horrified. “That’s not legal. You know that, right?”

“Of course I know that.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not with Vladimir anymore, in case you didn’t realize.”

“I think we got the idea.” The captain began scribbling a few notes. “How did you come to be here tonight?”

Lily took her time, explaining how she had come to be kidnapped by Vladimir and stressing how Nicolai and the other men were not to blame. She wasn’t certain what she was allowed to say about the syndicate’s activities, so she avoided talking about that altogether.

“That’s quite a fantastic tale,” Grayson murmured. “I might even be inclined to believe it.”

“Thank you.”

The captain closed his little notebook. “What do you intend to do now?”

“I’m not sure.”

The front door of Kalinka opened and Nicolai stepped outside. Captain Grayson gently touched Lily’s shoulder. “I believe you might have a young man interested in commanding a certain share of your free time.”

“That’s the thing,” Lily told him, “Nicolai doesn’t command anything. He’s courteous and kind. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever known.”

“There are places for people like you within our organization.” The intensity of the captain’s voice shifted. “You know this world intimately and have the trust of men that we have been unable to get close to. That would be very valuable if you should wish to utilize that asset.”

“You’re asking me to be an informant?” She was surprised her jaw didn’t hit the ground.

“You would be one of the best.”

She gazed at Nicolai. He was looking right back at her. She turned back to the captain. “I could never do that to my family.”

“As you wish,” the captain conceded. “If you should change your mind, I would welcome you.”

“I bet,” she murmured.

Chapter Sixteen

“It still pisses me off that he tried to recruit you,” Nicolai said grouchily. “That took a lot of brass.”

“Well his rank is captain so I’m sure he
has
a lot of brass,” she quipped.

Nicolai stared at her for a brief moment. “That joke was in really poor taste.”

“Ha! It was funny. Admit it! You thought it was hilarious and you’re fighting the urge to fall down laughing.”

“Oh I’m fighting an urge all right,” he agreed. “But it has absolutely nothing to do with laughter.”

He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. Lily tilted her head to give him better access, even though she should have been waving him off. “We’re going to meet with the council in less than five minutes, Nicolai. We really don’t have time for a quickie.”

“I will make time.” He kissed the part of her shoulder left bare by her dress. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“Several times,” she teased. “And usually while you’re trying to coax me out of my dress.”

“Can I help it if you’re completely irresistible?”

Lily turned in his arms and stood on tiptoe. She cupped both of his cheeks and pulled his face down for a deep kiss. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever tire of kissing this man. He had opened her eyes to a whole new world and had made her feel like her own person in ways that nobody else ever had.

“Ahem.” Anatoly awkwardly cleared his throat. “They’re ready to see you now.”

“Both of us?” Lily frowned. “I hadn’t expected that.”

“It will be all right.” Nicolai looked strangely confident and she had no choice but to follow along.

Taking his hand, she allowed him to lead her into the small room located in the back of yet another Pasternak restaurant. This one was called The Samovar. She knew this was a little bit cliché for a Russian restaurant, but the place seemed nice anyway. It was all old-world elegance and the dark masculine wood of a study or den.

The room the council was using for their meeting was located at the very back of the establishment. From here they could barely catch a hint of what was happening in the busy dining room in the front.

“Ah, there you are, Nicolai.”

Lily didn’t know who was speaking, but all of the men appeared to be in their late fifties to early sixties. There was even one gentleman in his seventies. Lily gave them the deference that their age commanded and hoped that she’d handled herself all right.

“Tell us about your woman, Nicolai Pasternak.” The older gentleman encouraged. “She has very pretty manners, indeed. Is she for sale?”

“No. Lily was given to Vladimir in payment of a debt owed by Ivan Denisovich.” Nicolai’s tone was respectful, but also powerful in its own right. He obviously did not want to show too much deference. “Ivan had no right to sell the woman. She is of age. At this time, she is under my protection until such time as she will agree to be my wife.”

***

Nicolai could tell that he had shocked Lily. She turned to stare at him with her mouth wide open. In front of them, the seven gentleman in their sixties were enjoying this performance immensely. Since that had more or less been his plan from the beginning, he was pleased.

“I don’t think your woman was ready for that one, Nicolai,” Sasha Orlov said with a gleeful laugh. “Perhaps you should have proposed first.”

“Do you think so?” Nicolai kept his tone completely serious. “How about this?” He turned to face Lily and took her hands in his. “Lily, will you be my wife? I would love nothing more than the chance to have you by my side for the rest of my life, and to spoil you rotten at every given opportunity.”

She kept glancing at their audience. Sasha Orlov waved her on. “Don’t mind us, young lady. We want to see the romance bloom.”

Hearing that ridiculous phrase from the usually crotchety old Sasha made Nicolai grin. “He’s right, Lily. Don’t mind them. What do you think? Hmm?”

“I think you’re crazy,” she said honestly. “But I love you to death and I would most certainly jump at the chance to become your wife.”

“Even though I’m going to wind up being boss of the Pasternak crime syndicate?” He really needed to know the answer to this. “Because if I’m going to give up the position, I have to do it now.”

“No.” She lifted his hands to her lips. “You think of those men as your family. You care about them and about
their
families. I think my only issue is with the brothels.”

One of the council members butted in. Denis generally had an opinion about everything. “Ah, yes! Nicolai mentioned that Vladimir had intentions of putting you in the brothel.”

Sasha Orlov nodded with total solemnity. “We never put women into that position unless they are willing and sometimes eager.”

“Who would be eager for that?” Lily demanded.

Sasha pursed his lips. “You are young yet to understand, but someday you will. If you like, you may oversee the care of those women.”

“Really?” Lily looked thunderstruck by this notion. “So I would be able to make certain they were being safe and had the opportunity to leave that job if they no longer wanted to be there?”

“Yes.” Sasha Orlov nodded and the other councilmembers offered their assent as well.

“Thank you,” Lily said fervently. “That makes me feel much better.”

Nicolai was pretty sure that was going to blow up in his face eventually, but then he was also pretty certain that
everything
would eventually become a rowdy butting of heads when she was involved. Her mind was quick and she was of strong opinions now that she was brave enough to voice them. It was a trait he would not have changed for the world.

***

Lily gazed at the council. They were nothing like she had expected. Perhaps that was because she had assumed they were evil men. Apparently she’d been way off.

“About the debt owed by Ivan Denisovich.”

The man who had just blown her away with his thoughtfulness was suddenly under suspicion once again. Lily narrowed her gaze and wondered where this was going.

“Yes?”

“That debt has to be paid, young woman.” Another man said stubbornly.

“Why?” Lily demanded. “It wasn’t my debt.”

“No,” the man agreed. “It was Ivan’s.”

“That does not mean that the casino owner isn’t entitled to what he is owed,” someone else pointed out. “Your stepfather took food from the mouths of the man’s family. There must be justice.”

Someone else looked on with grave civility. “Is Nicolai willing to offer compensation?”

“What?” Lily was horrified. “No! He can’t pay some ungodly amount of money just because my stepfather was a complete profligate!”

Nicolai frowned. “How do you know it’s an ungodly sum?”

“Vladimir told me that you would have to pay three-quarters of a million dollars to the council if you wanted to keep me,” Lily admitted.

Nicolai cursed. “That jackass never could keep his mouth shut.”

“Is that really how much Ivan owed at the casino?” Lily could hardly wrap her mind around such a sum. “How did he get that much credit? Shouldn’t the casinos be cutting people off long before that?”

Nicolai shrugged. “I suppose, but that would hardly be good business.”

“Really?” Lily snorted. “Because from a collections prospective, I would think it would cut down drastically on your accounts receivable.”

“The woman is most certainly intelligent,” a councilmember commented thoughtfully.

“Very,” Nicolai agreed. “You should hear her when she gets angry. She argues like a lawyer.”

“Is that a compliment? Because if it’s not, I think I might be inclined to deck you,” Lily growled. “And shouldn’t we get back to talking about the debt?”

“Quite,” the old man said. Then he turned to Anatoly. “Bring Denisovich inside, please?”

“Wait.” Lily felt the blood drain from her face. “My father is here. Now?”

Nicolai took her hands in his. “Yes.”

She felt frozen. Then she watched as Anatoly led in a fat man wearing dirty jeans that hung below his gut. His T-shirt was covered in what appeared to be mustard stains and his lank hair hung over his ears and down nearly to his eyes.

She clutched Nicolai’s hand between her own, but the fear never came. It should have come by now. Instead she felt only pity.

“What’s wrong?” Nicolai murmured.

Lily took a deep breath. “He looks so pathetic. I used to be afraid of him, but now I can’t imagine why.”

“You’ve grown,” Nicolai told her gently. “You will never be that girl again.”

***

Nicolai could see the very moment those words set into Lily’s mind. She stopped squeezing the life out of his hand, threw her shoulders back, and straightened her spine. He had never been so proud of another person in his life. In her beautiful dress with a healthy glow to her skin and her lustrous hair, she barely resembled the woman she had been even the first time he had seen her at Vladimir’s home.

It became obvious the moment Ivan Denisovich recognized Lily. The man’s shocked expression gave way to a wide smile that showed off his missing teeth. He left Anatoly’s side and attempted to approach Lily. Anatoly was having none of that.

“Hey! Let go!” Ivan struggled against Anatoly’s hold. “That’s my daughter.”

“You told me never to call you
Father
again,” Lily reminded him in an icy tone. “You reminded me that I was nothing to you but a burden that you had fed and clothed since my mother’s death.”

“I was angry, girl.” Ivan motioned to her. “Come here and give your papa a kiss.”

The look of revulsion on Lily’s face tugged at Nicolai. None of them would ever truly know what she had gone through when she had been helpless and in this man’s possession.

“You’re not my papa,” Lily told him again. “You made that clear when you traded me to clear your own name without one care as to my welfare.”

“You look like you’ve done pretty well for yourself,” Ivan pointed out. “And I may not be your papa, but I did the best I could for your worthless carcass.”

Lily’s expression grew stormy. “Exactly, you worthless pig. I did pretty well for
myself
. That’s what happens when people take responsibility for their own actions.”

Nicolai glanced up at the council. A few of them were shaking their heads. A few others were trying valiantly not to laugh. All were enjoying the show.

“Gentleman,” Nicolai said in order to remind them of their task. “I would be happy to offer whatever payoff is needed in order to free my future bride from the debts of her family. But as you can see, Ivan Denisovich is
not
her family.”

Nicolai felt a pang of satisfaction when the man seemed to realize what had just happened. It was exactly as it should be. The dirty old man’s face crumpled and he began to weep like a child while falling to his knees before the council.

“Anatoly, take him away.” Sasha Orlov waved his hand. “We are done with him.”

Nicolai and Lily watched Anatoly drag Ivan back out of the room by the tail of his nasty T-shirt. She was trembling delicately against him. Nicolai wrapped his arm around Lily and held her securely against his side. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“What will happen to him?” she whispered.

“He’ll have to work off his debt somehow,” Nicolai explained. “We aren’t in the habit of cutting off thumbs anymore. That’s rather medieval, don’t you think?”

Sasha Orlov banged on the table. “What I think is that the new leader of the Pasternaks needs to get his lady home and start planning a wedding. I could go for some wedding reception entertainment, how about you?” He looked around at his cronies. They were all nodding.

“Then I suppose we need to plan a wedding,” Lily said with a smile.

Nicolai put his arms around her and kissed her until he forgot there was anyone else in the room. That was the only thing that mattered anymore.

THE END