Page 42 of The Oligarch's Daughter

“Well, yeah, I guess I do, come to think of it,” he said modestly.

“I want to invest with you,” Arkady said. “Just small amount.”

Surprised, Paul said all he could think of at the time, which was “We have a five-million-dollar minimum.”

Arkady snorted. “How you say the money you find in your pockets or under cushions of couch?”

“Spare change. Pocket change.”

“Yes, pocket change,” Arkady said with a smile. “I have for youfiftymillion.”

Paul tried to look cool. “For how long?”

Arkady played with his cigar, looked up at the chandelier. “Until you double it.”

“We might do a couple percent in a month, if we have a great quarter. You know how it goes.”

“There is Yiddish saying, ‘Der Mensch tracht, un Gott lacht.’”

Paul cocked an eyebrow.

Galkin translated: “Man plans, God laughs.”

“Isn’t that a hip-hop album?”

Galkin ignored Paul’s crack. “You may have every plan in world, and nothing goes like plan,” he translated. “Life unpredictable.”

“Well, be that as it may, you’re just going to have to trust me. Give us some time. Are you talking about investing in the fund or . . . ?”

“No, you.Youmanage it. My people will contact you in morning. We have deal, yes?”

Perspiration broke out on Paul’s forehead. He swallowed. He offered a hand to Galkin. “We’ll see what we can do.”

As he left Arkady’s office and walked back to find Tatyana, Paul felt an immediate flush of regret. What a mistake he’d made, agreeing to invest any money at all for Tatyana’s father—his future father-in-law! Even “pocket change” of fifty million. He should have politely, respectfully refused. Because even if fifty million was genuinely insignificant to the old Russian, Paul had a feeling he would care very much if he lost any of it.

27

Stuffed with blini, drunk on vodka, Tatyana and Paul collapsed into the bed as soon as they got back to her apartment. Quickly, Tatyana was asleep, and Paul soon after.

They awoke in the middle of the night. Paul felt logy, his mind thick and slow. He got up to use the bathroom, and when he returned to the bed he saw that Tatyana was awake now, too.

“What did you and Papa talk about?” she asked.

“Ugh,” Paul said, making a guttural sound. “I was drunk, and I agreed to invest some money for him.”

“Really? He must really admire you. Trust you. He’s very particular about where he puts his money.”

“I must have been out of my mind.”

“Why do you say that? He knows how well you do.”

“It’s a roll of the dice, Tatyana. The market could drop, you know? And he’s not going to be happy about losing money.”

“He’s a grown-up. He’ll understand.”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, then. If you feel that way, then let me speak to him. I’ll just tell him it’s a mistake, thatIdon’t want his future son-in-law investing his money. That it’s . . . awkward.”

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