Page 16 of Pregnant By the Russian Pakhan

“Even if that weren’t a harebrained scheme,” Mikhail scoffed, “how many nice unassuming girls are willing to marry the boss of the most deadly Bratva in Chicago?”

“It means you have to work fast,” Williams said unhelpfully.

“Out of the question,” Mikhail responded at once. Alena had been a pretty Russian girl who he’d thought was nice too, and look how she had played him dirty. He didn’t want to marry any girl. Bachelorhood suited him just fine, and was pretty straightforward.

“One more thing—Dostoevsky has been working the police force to try to get them to be more concerned about your activities,” Williams continued, reading from the ludicrous document in his hands. “There is now increased police surveillance on your investments and businesses. I think we even need to sweep for taps again in the villa. Dostoevsky’s covered all the bases.”

“Of course he has,” Mikhail grumbled, half-wishing the old man was physically within reach just so he could strangle him. “Old bastard.”

Chapter 11 - Mira

“Sarah, he’s being so stubborn about forcing me to get married!” Mira wailed as she watched her father’s minions running this way and that as they decorated the estate.

Sarah said nothing but kept arranging the room quietly. She moved over to where some clothes were stuffed into a hamper and began to fold them carefully, one after the other.

Mira turned to look at the other girl and wanted to give her a shake. “Did you hear me, Sarah? Despite what I’ve found out about what he did to my mother, and despite knowing I’m no longer a virgin, he still wants me to get married to the stodgy old geezer he chose for me.”

Sarah looked up from the clothes she was folding, then dropped them onto the bed and came forward with a sigh. “It’s not my place to say, ma’am, but it stands to reason that s’long as you’re here and you’re single, he’s gonna be after you to get married.”

Sarah sometimes had an accent she spoke with that was somewhat hard to describe, but Mira had found the other girl to be wise beyond her years. She was also so loyal to Mira that they’d become friends almost immediately after meeting each other for the first time.

Mira’s eyes widened in alarm as she asked, “Are you advising me to run away?”

Sarah shrugged. “You’ll barely take two steps past the gate before his men would be all over you.”

“Then what should I do?” Mira demanded.

Sarah was silent for a minute as she thought. Then she sank onto the bed beside Mira and said with a quiet, shy smile, “I love reading romance novels.”

Mira failed to see how that helped her situation, but she wisely refrained from saying so.

“I once read a Judith McNaught novel where the male lead said he had only two hands and he had pledged them both. So he couldn’t marry the other lady who was angling after him because he’d gotten married already to her rival,” Sarah finished almost breathlessly.

Mira frowned. “So your advice is to just up and get married?”

Sarah threw a surreptitious look at the door as though she were afraid someone might be eavesdropping. Then she nodded vigorously.

“You’re missing the point, Sarah. I do not want to get married. Why would I escape one marriage only to end up in another one?” Mira demanded. “I don’t want to be shackled to some man. My career is only just taking off.”

“You don’t understand,” Sarah said, clasping Mira’s hands in hers. “It would be a fake marriage, but only you and the man would know that. Plus, he would have to let you stay at his place as well to lend um…what’s the word? To make your marriage believable?”

“You mean lend credence?” Mira offered.

“Precisely,” Sarah crowed with delight. “As far as your father is concerned, it would be a real marriage, and he would back off. Then when he’s off this marriage craze, you and the fake husband can shake hands on the deal and canter off, going your separate ways in a thrice.”

Mira mentally rolled her eyes. In a thrice! Angling after! Sarah did need to stop reading those Regency romances; they were affecting her speech patterns.

“Well?” Sarah prompted, oblivious of Mira’s distracted thoughts.

Mira had to concede that it wasn’t a terribly bad idea. It could work. Whoever her father had lined up for her could hardly marry her if she was already married. Then, once the threat of marriage was no longer over her head, she could divorce whatever poor sod she had fake-married and go her merry way.

And the best part was, she would get the satisfaction of being out from under her father’s control while she dug up more information on just what had happened to her mother. Her father had pretty much confessed it, but then he’d clamped up at the last minute.

Mira had forgiven him for a lot over the years, but if she found hard evidence that he really had killed her mother, she would be his worst nightmare. She wouldn’t stop until she had avenged her mother’s death.

Remembered anger coursed through her and she absently clenched her fist around Sarah’s wrist, making the poor girl cry out in pain. She released her friend’s hand immediately, with profuse apologies.

“What are you thinking about?” Sarah demanded.

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