Page 53 of The Pakhan's Secret Baby

I pull Rashid into the office and slam the door, then turn on him before he can sit down. "How the hell do you have my father? Who do you think you are, sending men to drag people out of their homes like you own this whole fucking city?"

The man is such an ass he walks past me to lean on his desk and lifts an eyebrow, unbothered by how pissed I am. "Your father wasn't in his home, Emory. He was hiding in a hostel across town under a fake name, because he's a coward who stole from me and didn't have the spine to face what was coming."

"He stole from Gusev, not from you." My arms fly out, gesturing wildly, but I'm so mad I can't control it. He can't do this. Batya is sick; he needs a doctor and help, not to be caged with me. God only knows what torture this man has in store for him.

"He stole my shipping routes and sold them to Gusev's people. How he got them I still don't know, but he had them and he sold them. I've lost three shipments and a quarter of my territory because your father decided to play middleman for the men who are trying to destroy me."

I scowl, rubbing my forehead with the palm of my hand while I scowl in frustration. "He's a drunk and a gambler. He's not some criminal mastermind running operations behind your back. Whatever he did, he did it because he was desperate and scared and trying to get enough money to get us out of the country." Rashid doesn't understand; this is insanity.

"And that's supposed to make me forgive him?"

I'm so mad I stomp my foot like an angry animal and spit, "He's not your enemy, Rashid. He's a broken man who made a terrible choice and he deserves the chance to explain himself before you pass judgment on him." Tears are welling up but I blink them back. This can't be happening. What will I tell Batya? Of course he's going to assume Rashid's taken him because of his own crimes. But when he sees me here, what then? And when he sees how much Lex looks like Rashid...

"Your father chose to involve himself in my business, and?—"

"He didn't choose anything," I snap. "He was born into this the same way I was, and the same way Lex was. None of us asked to be part of your world." I'm so hot, shaking and pissed off. He lives on a different planet where he thinks he's God. And he's wrong. "You have a Surikov in your hallway," I say more quietly. "I saw it when I came in..." That gets a hint of attention.

He tilts his head slightly but doesn't say anything.

"A man who loves Surikov's work has a soul that understands beauty and suffering at the same time. You're better than this, Rashid. Let me and my father go, and we can work out you seeing Lex when he's older and it's safer."

"You're trying to manipulate me now?" He chuckles darkly, which makes my blood run cold as I move closer to him.

He's out of touch with reality.

To him this is nothing more than a transactional conversation. To me it's life.

"I'm trying to save my father's life because he's all I have left. My mother's dead and my sister vanished three years ago. If you kill my father then Lex and I have no one. Is that what you want for your son? You want him growing up knowing his grandfather was murdered by his own father?"

Rashid can only offer a cold stare.

He could care less.

I'd believe it if he told me he murdered his own father to take his throne.

Trying to rationalize with someone who is heartless is pointless. He's never going to hear me or understand.

"I'll make you an offer," he says, though I doubt it will be one I'm comfortable with. "If you agree to stay here with me permanently, I'll give Oleg a chance to speak for himself before I decide what happens to him. He gets to tell me his side and I'll listen to it. That's more than he deserves and it's more than I've given anyone else who's stolen from me."

"What the hell does permanently mean?" Now my heart is hammering and I feel nauseous.

I think I may pass out. I have to walk over to the desk where he perches and lean on it, because I feel lightheaded.

"It means you stay in this house. You raise Aleksandr here, with me. You become part of my life." I don't like the tone he's taking. He's too calm and possessive. It scares me.

"So I'm supposed to be your prisoner forever now?" No fucking way. I'm not a pawn. I have hopes and dreams. I want a future in art and to travel and see the world. I want Lex to go to school and have friends and a chance at a normal life.

"I want you in my bed, Emory. Aleksandr needs his mother and I need someone I can trust beside me. It's a good arrangement for both of us."

Oh my God. I back away, shaking. Flashes of his hands on me and his body buried inside mine return. His stubble on my neck, the way he growls as he consumes me. Yes, I had sex with him in his car, but it was just sex. I'm not going to marry this man.

"I can't..." I mumble, swallowing my tension.

"I'm offering you a seat at the table, Emory. Don't be foolish enough to walk away from it." Rashid stands, walking over to me until he towers over me.

I stare at him and every option I have comes up empty.

If I say no he kills my father and keeps Lex, and I walk out of here with nothing.