HIGHLANDER: The Highlander’s Surrender Bride (Scottish Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (23 page)

“I have also considered that, your honor.”
Alexi drew up a breath and squared his shoulders. 
“To that end… I believe that the opposition would accept a
political
avenue,”
he added pointedly.

The judge’s face changed in a way that Regina wouldn’t have thought possible.  It lit with glee.  She found that expression more frightening than when he had looked red with rage. 

“You are aware, of course, Mr. Romanov, of what that will entail should I rule so?”
Utkin said, his smile nearly dripping with anticipation.

Alexi nodded. 
“I am, your honor, and I am prepared to accept it.  I have already made preparations for such… my companion, Yuri Salnikov, has agreed to oversee the transition of my estate into federal hands.”

The judge was quiet for a short time before bridging his fingers and gave an approving nod. 
“In the old days, a sacrifice like this would have seen you well-rewarded for your service to people and country, Mr. Romanov.”

“Alas, these are the new days, your honor,”
Alexi said, though Regina thought she detected a note of sorrow in his voice. 

Utkin nodded. 
“Very well.”
  He looked to Abram.  
“Mr. Fyodorov… do you object to what Mr. Romanov has proposed?”

Abram, who looked as if he had been in some fantasy of how to spend vast amounts of money shook his head. 
“No, your honor… what the defendant has proposed sounds quite agreeable… but if I might make one small addendum?”

“Yes?”

Abram gave a small look to Alexi and Regina saw a brief flicker of… forgiveness?  But just as quickly as it had come it had gone and the plaintiff turned his attention back to the judge. 
“Your honor, I would move that my clients give the namesake of one of the community centers that they
donated
to my late daughter.  Many of these projects were her ambitions, after all.”

Regina was not religious by nature, but she did believe that she had just witnessed a miracle.  She held her quiet and waited to see if other miracles may yet follow. 

The judge nodded. 
“Very well… I’m sure it would not be a terrible effort.”
  Utkin made a note on his pad and gave one final look to Alexi. 
“Are you prepared to hear your sentence, Mr. Romanov?”

Alexi nodded knowingly. 
“I am your honor.” 
With that, he sat back into his chair and Regina struggled to keep from reaching out to hold his hand.  She wasn’t entirely sure what was happening here, but whatever it was, Alexi was comfortable with it.

The judge made a final note on his pad before speaking, his voice becoming official once more. 
“Alexi Romanov… in my judgement, you have abused your powers of business for selfish purposes.  If we were in Russia, such an action as that would be grounds enough to revoke your business license.  Yet the money you have diverted has gone to the benefit of those in our country who cannot help themselves.  Admirable as that aim might have been, I cannot allow your methods for doing so to go unpunished.”
  Utkin sat up straight in his chair.
  “In light of this new information, the court sees fit to accept the financial reparations that your associate, Yuri Salnikov, will make on your behalf and I shall see to it that he is made the executor of your estate.” 
He paused and his voice became lightly stern.
  “For your crimes, you will be sentenced to political exile, and all of your family’s assets in Russia will be confiscated by the state, and you will remain here in the United States of America until such time as you are decreed a legal immigrant or the American jurisprudence finds you worthy of resident alien status.”

Regina’s heart skipped a beat at hearing this.  It wasn’t a miracle, but it certainly was a better outcome than what she had managed to envision for an outcome at the end of this trial. 
It’s not perfect… but it’s not a bad outcome either.

“Court is adjourned,”
Utkin said, banging his gavel.  The sound carried like thunder across the empty room.  Utkin stood, as did she, Alexi, and Abram as the judge gathered his notes and made an exit from the room. 

Abram was next, picking up his briefcase – which he hadn’t even opened – and made for the exit.  Before reaching it, he stopped, and turned to look at Alexi.  Regina waited and watched, expecting there to be a final hateful glance or a threatening remark.  But neither came.  Abram Fyodorov silently turned and walked out of the room, saying nothing.

Alone with Alexi, Regina’s mind was still spinning with what had just occurred here.  In the silence of the court, she looked to Alexi and felt the questions bubbling within her.

Alexi answered them before she could even ask.  “This means that I will stay out of Siberian prison… but it also means that I can never return to Russia.  Ever.”

She nodded.  “And you’re ruined, financially.” 

He turned a sly look at her.  “Am I?”

Her face became inquisitive.  “Aren’t you?”

He chuckled and much to her surprise – and pleasure – he reached out and put a hand on her hip, gently rubbing at it.  “Through political exile, the Russian Federation will confiscate
some
of my accounts, Regina… but not all of them.”

She felt her eyebrows furrow.  “Huh?”

“I’ve had accounts here in America for several years now.  By now, the interest alone is… substantial.  And the Russian government cannot touch those.” 

She found that this puzzle was falling well into place.  “So… you’re not broke?”

He smiled at her.  “The five billion that I promised your firm can be paid twenty times over if I choose.” 

She smiled.  “When did you come up with this plan?”

He touched the underside of her chin.  “This morning… while I watched you sleep.  I knew there was no way I could ever return to Russia with honor… or without fear that one day my caviar might be poisoned.  At least this way, I am as good as dead to them.  My troubles are – for all intents and purposes – finished.”

She looked over her shoulder to where Abram had left.  “And him?”

Alexi shook his head.  “We have – in our own way – made our peace.  Perhaps it was not done as he would have planned, but it was also done in a way that he would not shun, either.”

She gathered up her brief case and they walked towards the exit of the courtroom and again she had to fight the urge to put her arm through his affectionately.  They weren’t clear of this place yet and until then, she had to retain some manner of professionalism. 

“So, in the end, you didn’t really need me at all for this, did you?”

“Not so.  Without you, I wouldn’t have had the thoughts that led me to your room last evening.  I was prepared, for all intents and purposes to fight this as best as I could to its inevitable – and troubling – conclusion.  But seeing you… I felt… different.”

She smiled.  “You needed me.”

“I still do… with my alien status now in question, I will need representation to become a United States citizen.”  He smirked.  “I don’t suppose you could recommend a firm to aide me?  Perhaps you know of one with experts in international law whom I could work with closely… for long periods of time?”

She smirked back.  “It will be a long process, Alexi… and after today my record will be…”

“Untarnished.  You did not win, but you did not lose either.  And I will be happy to give your supervisor my highest praises for your efforts.  And a case of this nature, settled in two days, will surely bring you much favor, yes?”

She wasn’t able to suppress it any longer.  She took hold of his neck and brought his mouth down to her own.  The kiss was simple but as passionate as it had been the night before.  Again, he did not fight it and she desired to try again that which they had both admitted shortcomings.  But there would be more time for that later.

When she broke the kiss she replied, “You know… I can think of someone who would love to work the case.”

THE END

Chapter 1

Callie looked at her reflection in the mirror with some small degree of dislike.  Though her gown was a brilliant shade of turquoise and spun with some kind of beadwork that was imported from somewhere in the Far East, she felt utterly out of place.  The dress, while impressive, was entirely her mother’s idea and not at all like the fashions that she fancied for herself.  The drawback to being the Maid of Honor was that she no say in the fashion process… especially not when the bride was a world-renowned fashion designer and her own mother to boot.

The dress just didn’t
feel
right on her.  While it showed her large figure to be short of what – in her mother’s business – was considered to be the perfect woman’s figure, it made her feel like she was attracting unwanted attention.  She wasn’t ashamed of her figure and she never had been.  But there were times when certain clothes just didn’t feel as if they belonged on her.

This was one of those times.

The color of the dress clashed against the chocolate color of her skin, making it stand out.  She thought she looked the same way that a distress flare was meant to attract the eyes of a search and rescue team.  It was too bright… she preferred darker colors and simpler clothes.  Something about them was just warmer… more vibrant… and more comfortable. 

She sighed and her reflected twin mirrored the expression and the emotion behind it.  It was like she was wearing someone else’s skin that was stretched uncomfortably over her like the surface of a disgusting drum and she was expected to dance to the tune. 

Her only consolation was that she would not have to wear the dress long.  The arrangements had been made and her mother and her new father would depart for their honeymoon as soon as they had sealed their vows with the oh-so-familiar kiss.  So… she would only have to wear this thing for thirty or forty-five minutes tops.  After that, she could get back into whatever made her comfortable.

Still, she would have to be seen in this dress, and that held no small amount of discomfort for her.  Perhaps people would notice her dress more than they would notice her?  Most of the people in attendance here after all were from her mother’s line of work and their eye was for material… how it was cut… how it was sewn… and like that, not for the flesh that wore it.  But no, she decided that that was equally uncomfortable, since anyone here at the wedding was likely to know her and her tastes for fashion.  Then again, it was a wedding, and not her own.  People would understand why she was dressed so unfamiliarly.

I hope
.

“Are you ready Ms. Eve?” asked the squeaky voice of a woman behind her.

Callie turned and looked at the voice that had spoken.  Standing in the doorway to her private dressing room was a skinny little woman she recognized the as one of her mother’s many aides, still dressed in the same attire as any of the others.  She was as much a part of the ceremony as any of the chairs that the guests sat on.

“Yes,” she said, trying to sound sweet and enthusiastic though she did not feel it.  “I’m ready.”  She picked up her wide-brimmed hat, fit to be worn by Scarlet O’Hara if she had lived in today’s world and pulled it on.   She was careful not to disrupt a single strand of her scalp which her mother’s best makeup artists had spent an hour getting ready.  Once the hat was in place, she followed the tiny attendant out of her private dressing room.

The California summer was already upon them as she stepped from her dressing space into the open air.  Though it was still early in the morning the air was warm.  Callie could feel small beads of sweat forming at the back of her neck as she walked.  She recalled hearing that the temperature was supposed to climb up to the triple digits by noon and she was glad that her mother and soon-to-be stepfather had elected to have their wedding early so that at least people wouldn’t have a chance to melt under the hot sun.  Or possibly because her mother knew that most people in her world never got out of bed before 10 AM and wouldn’t have made it here.

Most of the guests probably never spend more time outside than it takes to get from their limo to the office anyway
, she thought. 

The smell of the sea was pungent in her nostrils and the gentle rolling sound of the waves was soothing and though she wasn’t particularly fond of how she had to appear while being here, she did enjoy the setting.  There was something positively serene about it, however marred by the fact that she would soon be under the gaze of at least a dozen people that her mother worked with. 

As she looked around she saw that a number of the guests had already arrived and been shown to their seats.  By the look of them, they weren’t all that interested in their surroundings and more interested in each other or in their phones.  Some of them spoke anxiously with other guests or into their phones and she knew at once that even at a time and place like this that they were discussing business.  She had seen as much often enough, even in her childhood.

Never an opportunity wasted to make money
, she thought with a small amount of scorn.  But she kept her face happy and passive.  What others did with their lives and time was their concern and none of hers.

Still, that did not stop her from thinking these people were fools not to enjoy their surroundings here.  While most weddings took place in a chapel, her mother had always been more inspired by nature and thought that a wedding was just the perfect excuse to be married in the wide open spaces.  Callie counted herself lucky that her mother had favored the beach over having to drive into the mountains someplace where the air was so thin it would have been hard to breathe. 

Their venue was a simple thing and despite the money that had gone into getting this marriage rolling it was nothing more than a pair of white tents that had been erected on the beach.  One for the bride and the other for the groom, with a little room left over for the she – the Maid of Honor – and for the groom’s Best Man.  And sitting on the sand before them were at least two dozen chairs bisected by a red carpet.  And at the end of that long stretch of fabric was a wire wedding arch decorated with artificial flowers and leaves to give the place a more “natural” feeling since there wasn’t even a single piece of driftwood washed up on shore here.  Her mother had chosen this place for her wedding and though Callie wasn’t overjoyed at having to be presented this way in front of all these people, she admired her mother’s taste for such things. 

She looked at the guests that had arrived.  Of the two dozen chairs, only half as many on either side were filled.  Callie knew that her mother and future step-father had wanted to keep this whole thing small.  So small that only those that were rich and full of influence had been invited to witness the ceremony, like a queen of one country about to be wed to the king of another.  And in their respective worlds that would keep out the unwanted and the unpopular.

Fine by me
, she thought as she gazed out at the small crowd.  The less people there were, the less self-conscious she would feel. 

“Not exactly a thriving crowd is it, Callie?” said a rough and gruff voice.

Callie felt a twinge in her temple that was a mixture of anger and regret.  She tried to keep her face bright and cheery but as she turned to look at the voice that had spoken she felt as though she were looking upon some stray and mangy dog that had just wandered up and licked her leg… infecting her with some horrible disease.  Standing beside her, emerging from the groom’s tent, was an image of loathing. 

Standing in a suit that would have been expensive in any country was a large and burly man.  When she had first met him he had been clean-shaven with a head of long dark brown hair.  But now he wore only a dark brown beard that had grown to be four inches long since she had first known him and braided together to make him look like some kind of a medieval warrior.  He was broad-shouldered, his skin looked as rough as treated leather, and though it was mostly concealed she could see the sharpened tail of the scorpion tattoo on his neck protruding out from under the color of his suit like a submarine periscope.  His suit was black, though the shirt and tie he wore was a dark blue.  And despite the elegance of his attire, he remained as brutish as a hired mercenary with no sense for decency however he was dressed. 

“No it’s not, is it Jay?” she replied, though there was a touch of venom in her voice.  Venom, that she was sure, he felt.

He smiled at her, or maybe he was smiling at her covert signs of dislike.  Several of his teeth were missing as he smiled, showing that they had been replaced by top-of-the-line fillers that had been made from gold, giving him a literal million dollar smile.  This added scope to how brutish she thought he was.  She had often wondered how Jay had lost so many teeth but she had not cared enough to ask.  But judging from his demeanor, his posture, and from his general devil-may-care attitude she was hoping that he had deserved it when those teeth had been lost and that whoever had relieved him of them had had the decency to use a hammer when doing so.

That she was about to spend her life – or at least up to the point where her mother chose to get a divorce – with this man as her stepbrother sickened her.  It was like inviting Attila the Hun over for tea knowing that he would never leave.  She only hoped that her mother, like she had with husbands in the past, chose to get a divorce soon and quickly.  The marriage before this one had lasted only eight months.  The one before for that lasted for three, and the one before that for a year.  She was hoping for a new record… like maybe as soon as the honeymoon was over.

“Well, you know how they get,” he said, dusting a little stray sand from his jacket.  He was of course referring to their parents.  “If they’re not dripping with money then they’re not invited.”

She wanted to smirk at the remark but held it in.  Unbearable as her new brother was, he at least had one redeeming quality: he always told the truth.  He never made any effort to try and disguise it either.  The truth was just like him, ugly and overbearing. 

Somewhere from inside the tents the first song of the wedding procession began to play.  Callie knew that within minutes her mother and new father would take their respective places and this over-simplified wedding ceremony would begin.  And then there would be no escaping Jay and the loutish behaviors that he possessed. 

Not how I wanted to start the summer before college
, she thought.

Though the idea of being in her house without her mother or father around had always been a sweet and delectable one, she was repulsed by the idea of having to share the house.  For years, it had just been she and her mother in the mansion that her mother had built with the money of her trade.  Though she would never admit it aloud she
lived
for the days when her mother would be gone for days at a time.  It allowed her to feel like she was in control of her life for once in her life. 

Her mother, like most others in the fashion world, was obsessed with schedules… looks… punctuality… meetings… making money in general… and of course, appearances.  As far back as she could remember Callie recalled being tended to by a waiting army of servants to tend to her hair… her nails… picking out what clothes she would wear… reminding her of any appointments that she had to keep… it was never ending.  The people followed her around like a shadow that had learned to talk back and she had always found such attentions to be a bit wearing.

But for the sake of deportment she had borne it.  Her mother expected it of her, after all.  Callie received no better or worse treatment than any of the models that worked for her mother.  But since she wasn’t actually a model – and her daughter – that worked for her mother, there was some leeway.  So when her mother wasn’t around it was Heaven and Callie was the goddess that ran it.

But now that Jay was going to be cooped up in the house with her while their parents were away on their honeymoon, the perfect image of two months of bliss came crashing around her like a football stadium being imploded with her standing on the fifty yard line.  And it would be the first time that they spent so much time together since their parents had become engaged.  She wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Well,” Jay said, offering her his elbow.  “Shall we?”

Though she didn’t want to she slipped her arm through his larger and more muscular one. 
I might as well get this over with
, she thought as the music hit the right note.  She and Jay started forward.