Page 46 of Pregnant By the Russian Pakhan

Hearing Alena’s name made Mira remember the pretty woman with cat eyes and a volcanic temper. She should ordinarily feel jealousy or hatred toward the other woman, but all she felt was a kind of sympathy. She had only just discovered herself that she’d fallen in love with Mikhail, but he didn’t seem ready to hear her confess it to him. Maybe he was one of those men who couldn’t accept love?

Mira sank onto the sofa beside Williams. “Why did they break up? Alena seemed to love him very much when I saw her.”

Williams peered at her. “Are you sure you can stand to talk about another woman’s feelings for your husband?”

Rationally she knew it shouldn’t hurt, because she had also only married him to get back at her father and escape an unwanted marriage. But now her feelings had changed, in addition to which they had a child on the way. She loved Mikhail with every fiber of her being and she needed to know if there was any hope in hell of him ever loving her back.

“I can take it,” she whispered.

Williams stared off into the distance as he said, “Alena was the love of Mikhail’s life. He is a passionate man and he does everything with his heart, ruthless though he might seem. Well, he was consumed with his love for Alena and he made no bones about it. Until one day, he walked into her room and found her in the arms of one of his men.”

Mira stared at him in mute shock.

He patted her hand and forged on, “He executed Dmitri, and banished Alena to an isolated island far away, because despite her betrayal, he loved her and he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her.”

His words echoed in her mind, and Mira felt a new wave of hurt begin to course through her chest. Alena had done the unimaginable, but Mikhail had been unable to hurt her.

And now she had escaped whatever island he banished her to and returned to Chicago, rubbing her disobedience in his face, and yet he still could do nothing to her. If that wasn’t a man in love, she didn’t know what was.

Mira recalled again how he had stopped her from speaking when it had been obvious she wanted to tell him she loved him, and her heart churned in her chest.

It hurt beyond words to know that the man she loved more than life itself simply saw her as a convenient outlet for his lust and a means to an end.

He had to still be in love with Alena, she concluded. Alena was right.

Chapter 28 - Mira

Pregnancy cravings, Mira was quickly discovering, came when one least expected them and they were terribly inconvenient. She had been having a hankering for peppered meat with a chewy and smoky flavor all morning and the best thing she could think of that came even close to her craving were rib tips. She had never much cared for the smoky taste of rib tips which was why it was a surprise to her that she was having this almost uncontrollable craving for them now.

With a sigh, she headed towards the garage, intent on driving out to buy the meat. Sarah materialized beside her. “You’re not going out alone, are you? The boss said—”

“Oh, stuff it, Sarah. I just want to go for a little drive and buy some street food while I’m at it,” Mira said laughingly. “Pregnancy cravings, you know.”

When Sarah bit her lip with a look of uncertainty crossing her features, Mira rolled her eyes sensing already what the girl was thinking. “Fine. You can come along.”

The girl gave her a dazzling smile of thanks and Mira lost some of her slight irritation. No matter what else she thought about Sarah’s hero worship of Mikhail, Sarah genuinely liked her and cared about her. It was normal for people to be worried about that those they cared about so she was just going to have to suck it up and get used to people hovering over her.

Growing up with an aloof dad who never did more than bark orders at her and express his displeasure every chance he got, had forced her to become used to being her own person with no one hovering over her in concern. She carried a hand thoughtfully to her mid-riff. Now that she had a baby on the way, she would have to get used to someone being important to her. She would have to get used to someone relying on her for love and also giving her more of that love.

A small smile played around her lips as she thought that she couldn’t wait to meet her baby. She hoped it would be a little boy who looked just like Mikhail. The man was so devastatingly handsome that it wasn’t even fair at all.

As they drove out of the gates, Mira spied a small white saloon car parked a little down the street. She wouldn’t have paid much attention to it except for the fact that as soon as she drove out of the gates, the vehicle pulled into traffic behind her.

Mira threw a quick glance in the rearview mirror, noting immediately that the car’s glasses were so tinted that she could barely make out the driver.

As she drove, she kept stealing worried glances at her rearview mirror.. When she couldn’t take the suspense anymore, Mira parked abruptly on the shoulder of the road and stepped out of her car, taking the driver of the white car by surprise. She saw the person hesitate and knew whoever was behind the wheels was thinking of stepping on the gas. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited even as Sarah also exited their car and ran up to her worriedly. “What’s going on, Mira? Who’s that?”

Mira shrugged, “We’re about to find out.”

The white car eased onto the shoulder and parked too. Then the door of the white car opened and Alena stepped out to lean against the hood.

“Alena,” Mira said feeling anger course through her at seeing the other woman.

Alena grinned, “You say my name like I’m one of the Seven Wonders. But in truth Mira, that’s you. I mean, the great Oleg Dostoevsky’s offspring, married off to his arch enemy. One would have to see it to believe it.”

The words were purred tauntingly, escaping with wafts of smoke as Alena took great puffs from a Cuban cigar in her left hand. She was dressed in a deep purple dress that stopped just below her thighs with fluffy fur at its hem and neckline. Her hair hung down her back in waves, and her ears were adorned with tiny diamonds which reminded Mira poignantly of the sort of diamonds Mikhail had been showering on her since she’d married him. “Were you honestly waiting at the gates for a chance to see me?” Mira demanded.

Alena shrugged, “The welcome mats will hardly be rolled out for me. I needed to speak with you.”

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