Page 51 of The Pakhan's Secret Baby

I'd be sitting in my home waiting for her to return, unless he fears his employers have her—but why would they do that?

He just gave them solid intel to bury me.

"He's scared of somebody. Could be Gusev, could be you, could be both. Either way he's not acting like a man who thinks he can go home. He's on the run scared, boss. Probably won't leave town without the girl, though." Now Devid is thinking straight.

And I'm not taking any chances. "Send a team to collect him and bring him here. Don't hurt him and don't make a scene. He's the girl's father and I need him cooperative, not beaten to a pulp." If Rostov shows up here bloodied, Emory will never yield to me or be pliable.

I have no intention of letting that boy go, so that means a very tense life for my foreseeable future. I have to keep her calm.

"You want him today?" I hear a lighter flick and Devid suck on a cigarette.

"I want him before noon. And make sure your men understand that this is not a torture event. This man's going to be a guest in my home whether he likes it or not, and I don't want him showing up with bruises that I have to explain to his daughter."

"Understood. I'll send Mikhail and two others. They'll be gentle." When he says "gentle" he means he won't draw blood, but that doesn't mean he's going to be kind.

"Get it done," I say, hanging up and sipping my coffee. The house is starting to wake up now. I can hear Marta moving in the kitchen and the radiator clicking in the hallway as the heat kicks on. And in the distance I faintly hear some fussing, like the boy is awake and not being tended properly.

I push back from my desk and walk into the hallway.

Emory's pacing the front of the house with Lex on her hip. His face is red and scrunched up and he's screaming.

At first I wonder how she's gotten out here alone when I gave orders for her to be watched, but a quick check down the hall reveals Krispin, standing with his shoulders squared and his hands clasped behind his back, watching her.

She sees me and stops. "Your guard won't leave me alone. I can't even walk to the bathroom without him standing outside the door." She rolls her eyes, looking annoyed at me, and I scowl.

"He's doing his job."

"His job is to make me feel like a prisoner?" She bounces the boy, who quiets momentarily as he stares at me with wide eyes. I'm beginning to wonder if he just hates all men or if it's me in particular.

"His job is to make sure you don't leave this house with the boy. If you want to walk around freely you can, but he stays with you." I nod toward the kitchen. "Come eat something. You must be famished."

She scowls again but she follows me into the kitchen.

Marta's already setting out bread and fruit and a pot of kasha.

I pull a chair out for Emory, but she stands bouncing Lex on her hip, trying to quiet him.

I'm not sure what the problem is but he's just so damn fussy. Even his own mother can't keep him quiet.

"Can you make the boy stop?" I ask, pouring a second cup of coffee that I set on the table for her. It's annoying that I have to put up with this so early in the morning.

"His fucking name is Aleksander!" she snips. "And he's not a machine, Rashid. He's a baby. He's in a strange house and he hasn't slept well and he's probably hungry and scared. You can't just make a child stop crying because it bothers you."

Her expression is pure hatred.

I want to smack it right off her face, but I know it's the wrong move.

She's the boy's mother and she knows far more about rearing children than I do.

She pulls Lex tighter against her, and his crying drops a notch, but he's still fussing. "Has it occurred to you that he's been ripped away from the only home he knows? That he doesn't understand what's happening? He just knows everything is wrong."

"Then help him understand," I growl through clenched teeth, unable to fight back my anger.

"He's eighteen months old. He doesn't understand words yet. He understands tone and touch and whether he feels safe. And right now nothing in this house probably feels safe to him." She shifts Lex to her other hip and he buries his face against her neck. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you about him. You heara child crying and your first instinct is to silence him instead of asking what's wrong. He's not one of your men you can just order around. He needs patience and warmth and someone who actually cares about what he's feeling."

I stalk past her to the fridge where I get the jug of milk.

Marta is avoiding eye contact to stay out of this argument, and I bite my tongue rather than snapping back again.