Chapter Two
Igor
“Igor, this is a surprise. Hello, Maxim.” My oldest friend in the world, Maria Ivanova, opened her door with a smile. “Come in, both of you.”
“Maria, you’re looking well.” I leaned down to her petite frame and placed a kiss on both of her cheeks. “How are you?”
“I am good. What brings you by so unexpectedly?”
I smiled at her question. Maria grew up in the same world I did.
Her father was an associate of mine and we played alongside each other for decades.
“I have come to a decision on the matter of securing my future.” It was a matter of great importance, securing my future and producing the next generation of the great Romanov family.
Maria turned and arched an eyebrow. “Just last week you were inquiring about using my womb and now you’ve already come to a decision? You move fast, don’t you?”
My lips pulled into an amused grin. “Well you are the one who told me that forty-one was entirely too old to carry a healthy baby to term, which is a lie by the way. I’ve spoken to several physicians who insisted that women are having healthy babies later and later.”
She smiled again and nodded for me to follow her through the foyer and down a long hall with black and white tiles that led to her state-of-the-art kitchen. “Well my decision was based on more than my age, Igor.”
“Of course, and it means a great deal to me that you would consider such a big favor.” Her refusal shocked me, but I understood and immediately began digging into my backup plan.
“So, your plan? Tell me about it.” Maria took her seat at the round table on the terrace overlooking her prized garden and I took the one right beside her while my right hand man, Maxim, took his lunch in the kitchen.
I sighed. “I’m going to find a woman and have a baby.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. It was the only time her formal, icy facade faded, when she was laughing at me or calling me a fool.
“Just like that? You think it so easy to find a woman and put a baby inside of her?” She laughed again and shook her head as the housekeeper set two shot glasses on the table between us.
“I know you have led a charmed life, but even for you that’s extreme. ”
My nostrils flared and my jaw clenched in frustration, which only made Maria laugh harder. “Maria,” I groaned.
“Sorry,” she replied not sounding sorry at all as she lifted her glass. “Let’s toast to new life and new beginnings.”
The icy vodka went down easily, and I let out a sigh. “I have found a surrogacy agency with a good reputation. The only thing I need to do now is find the perfect candidate in terms of age, heritage, and ability to give me a male heir.”
“Oh, that’s all?” she laughed again and shook her head. “How do you plan to combat the problem of your identity and everything that goes along with having your baby?”
I smiled proudly. “I have it all worked out.”
“Okay, tell me about how you will conceal your identity from your incubator?”
“Maria,” I growled to voice my displeasure at her teasing.
“I will meet her, but I will not give her my real name. I am hardly a public figure so a fake name will be sufficient.” It was all worked out, the only thing missing was a good candidate.
“And then you will raise the baby, and I will keep you both safe.” That was the rest of the plan, the part Maria had agreed to.
“I am hardly in need of your protection, Igor. I never have been, but I let you believe it.”
She was right, of course. “And that is why you are the sister I never had, Maria.”
Her smile was sad, and I understood why even though we never spoke about it. Eventually she sighed and tilted her head as her gaze met mine. “You don’t have to do it this way, Igor.”
“I do and you know why.” I had a plan for my life that might have eventually included a wife and children but that was no longer an option.
“That fucker Voronov, he took everything from me. He killed my brother, my sister-in-law, and their unborn child. He took the next generation from my family.” I smacked a fist against the table as the fury welled up inside my chest all over again.
“Boris should be here, heading up the Bratva and issuing orders. He should be building the Romanov empire, not me.” It was never meant to be, and I was fine with that.
As the second son I knew my place in the organization, and I accepted it.
“Now that it is me, I must produce an heir.”
“Have you considered the traditional way of making a baby?”
I scoffed, disgust evident in my tone. “And end up like Boris and Nikita?” I shook my head, anger and hurt swirled in my gut.
“Or worse, like Father?” He had to live out his days with the knowledge that the life he chose took away his greatest love.
“Love is a weakness, and I will not allow it to be used against me.” I was not groomed for this position as Boris had been which meant I had to learn on the job, and I cannot risk the distraction a woman would bring.
“Fine, Igor. You know I am unable to deny you a thing. I will care for your lab grown baby out here in the middle of nowhere. I will be his spinster aunt,” she looked away, once again hiding emotions that we don’t talk about.
“You can and you should find love, Maria. You are young enough to have the life you want.”
“Perhaps,” she sighed. “But I refuse to leave my home for any reason.”
“Even the danger of being so closely connected to me?”
Her lips parted into an affectionate smile. “The danger is a constant, Igor. Father was an infamous assassin for Bratva and many of his enemies have family who would not hesitate to take my life.”
“Of course. But you don’t want to spend the rest of your days in this big, beautiful home alone. Do you?” Her lips pinched into a thin line. “I didn’t think so. You have options, Maria. Online dating is the perfect buffer and if you find someone you like, I’ll have Maxim vet him.”
“If only it was that easy, Igor.”
I smiled. “You are a catch, Maria. Beautiful and rich, and you can drink everyone under the table. What’s not to love?”
“What, indeed?”
Silence descended between us while we ate lunch and simply enjoyed being together. If I could have given Maria what she wanted, I would have. But my love for her was familial. “Lunch was delicious, Maria.”
“Better than those awful tacos you eat nonstop?” her lips twitched.
“I won’t go that far. Tacos are pure perfection, but no one does blinis and caviar quite like you.”
“Thank you. One more drink?” she discreetly summoned one of her servants. “An Igor special, please.”
Another servant entered with an awkward expression on her face and Mikhail, my driver, was on her heels.
I stood. “Mikhail, what is the meaning of this? Why are you not watching the car?”
“Ivan spotted Dmitry near Treacherous.”
I nodded. “Thank you. Go back to the car and make sure it hasn’t been tampered with.”
He frowned. “It’s been less than a minute.”
“Which you will learn soon enough is more than enough time to do plenty of damage. Go.” I waited until he was out of sight before I took my seat again.
“You were too hard on him,” Maria smiled.
“He has a listening problem.”
“Let’s toast once more before you handle Dmitry once and for all. I hope.”
“I will. But securing an heir is my top priority.” I picked up the mother of pearl spoon with a heaping pile of Beluga caviar on it and eat it, washing it down with a shot of vodka. “I will see you soon, Maria. Be well.”
“You too, Igor. And more than that, be safe.” She kissed both of my cheeks and bid me farewell.
Maxim joined me before I reached the front door, which was held open by another one of Maria’s servants. “Did you get her agreement?”
“I did. Now I just need to find the right woman.”
Maxim laughed. “I am unfamiliar with this phrase, the right woman. Where will you find this fairytale woman?”
I laughed with Maxim who was soured on love by a betrayal when we were young. “She’s out there. I just have to find her.”
And get her to agree to my terms.
And do it all without revealing my true identity.