Close Up: Exposure Book Three

by Jocoby, Annie

  He shook his head. “No. I want you to take my place permanently. Your business acumen is astounding. I could not be more proud of you, looking at how far you have come and what you have done. I feel as if my business could be in sound hands if you take over.”

  Natalia stepped in at that point. “Father, you know that Alexei will not do a good job for you. He does not like your line of work. It makes him want to….” She contemplated what word she wanted to use, but could not think of it. So, she pantomined vomiting by making a gagging sound and sweeping her hand like it was puke coming out of her mouth.

  My father nodded his head solemnly. “I understand this, Alexei, which is why I am going to leave you with no choice in the matter. You must take over. If you do not, then you will not be protected anymore. You will be dead within a month.”

  I knew what my father was talking about. If he were ever incapacitated or if he died, I would still be protected. I would be protected by the person who took over for my father. That was the agreement that the Pushkins had with all the other families, and it was inviolate. Everybody knew that if you messed with the son of a Pakhan, you and your group would be dead.

  Crap. “Father, I don’t want to make a commitment on that right now. What I do want is for you to tell me what happens to Natalia. When you were in this position before, you said that she could come to America and work with me. I would like that to happen this time, father.”

  “Natalia can go to America. But I want you to stay here and run my business.”

  I was going to have to talk him out of that. “I won’t do it. I refuse. You can threaten me all you want, but if you want your organization to collapse into utter chaos after you retire, then put me in charge of it. Because that’s what will happen. You’ve always known that. You’ve always known that I can’t stomach 99% of what goes on with your business.” I crossed my arms.

  My father stared at me for a few minutes, but he called my bluff. “You are right, Alexei. I would like the business to stay in the family, but if you are going to do a poor job running it, then I cannot chance that. I will assign Evgeny to my job. He has always wanted it anyhow. He is very ambitious.”

  I nodded my head, feeling relieved. I was just a tad bit concerned that he backed down so quickly, but, then again, he seemed weak to me right then. Defeated. I wondered if he wanted to retire from his position, anyhow, and this “health problem” just gave him the excuse to do so. I wouldn’t be surprised, as he seemed on the edge of burnout.

  “Okay, then, so I will go back to America and Natalia will come with me. Right?” I looked over to Natalia, and she was nodding her head. I could see hope in her face, and I closed my eyes. I needed the commitment from my father. Natalia needed it, too.

  “Yes. Natalia, I want you to be happy. That is another thing that I would like to see before I die. For you to be happy. You have expressed to me many times that you are unhappy working for me. If you can be happy in America, working for Alexei, then that is where you should be.”

  I smiled. It was amazing how differently people feel about things when they’re facing their own mortality.

  “Thank you, father,” Natalia said, and then hugged him again. “And you can survive a surgery. You’re strong and fit. You cannot give up.”

  He nodded his head. “I probably will try the surgery, but I am weighing my options. There are less invasive ways of treating this disease, and I have to meet with my doctor to find all of these options out. At any rate, even if I do opt for surgery, I do believe that this health issue is a sign that I need to retire.”

  Then I looked over at Natalia and nodded. I held my breath, for this was going to be the trickiest part of the process. Once my father knew about Sophie, the shit could hit the fan.

  “Father,” Natalia said. “I have something to tell you about Sophie.”

  My father said nothing, but just nodded his head, giving her a non-verbal cue to continue on.

  She took a deep breath. “Sophie is pregnant, but it is not Alexei’s child.”

  My father didn’t look surprised about this. “I know this. It is Viktor Kazakov’s child. But Alexei must take responsibility for the baby. Nobody will ever know.”

  I shook my head. I never even considered the thought that maybe my father knew the truth. Then again, it made a lot of sense. He was going to protect Sophie, even if it was at my expense.

  It was then that I made a decision. It was a lie, because CJ’s last pregnancy test came up negative, but, at that point, I did what I had to do. “Father, I can’t marry Sophie. She’s not carrying my child, but CJ actually is.”

  Then my father’s face changed. He furrowed his brows and looked like he had no idea what I was talking about. “I do not understand. Alexei, when you told me that you wanted to meet this CJ woman, you did not tell me that she was pregnant. When did this develop?”

  I tried hard not to look at Natalia. I could just imagine the look on her face.

  “She’s pregnant now. We just found out today, as a matter of fact.”

  My father shook his head. “Alexei, you cannot do this to me. I have already promised Sophie that you would marry her and give her child a name. I know that you know what will happen to her if the truth was ever brought to light. I do not know this CJ. She is not one of us. I cannot trust her. Sophie I can trust.”

  “You don’t know her, so how to you know that you can’t trust her? And I’m in love with her, and I want to make a family with her. You told me that you wanted a grandchild before you died. CJ will give you that. But if you don’t approve of her, then she’ll die and so will your grandchild. CJ isn’t safe unless she gets protection from you, the same type of protection that I have gotten over the years.”

  My father contemplated what I was saying, but he seemed unconvinced. “CJ is in danger because Sophie put her in danger. But, as long as you marry Sophie, then CJ will remain untouched.”

  Again, I was taken aback by the fact that Sophie told my father everything. But she apparently did, and my father remained firmly in her camp.

  I decided to use simple logic for the situation. “Father, I’m not going to marry Sophie. I won’t do it. And as soon as Sophie finds out that this meeting between you and I took place, CJ’s life will be danger. I’m breaking my word just coming here to talk to you about all of this. If you don’t bless my union with CJ, again I must say, father, that your grandchild will die with CJ.”

  “How will Sophie find out that you talked to me? As I understand it, you’ve already agreed to accept paternity for this child. I am not sure how Sophie will know that you talked to me.”

  It was then that I knew that I had to take a risk. Perhaps the biggest risk of my entire life. “Father, if you don’t bless my union with CJ, then I’ll tell Sophie that our deal is off, and I’ll tell Viktor’s wife what is going on. Sophie will immediately put a hit on CJ in that event, and then, as I said, your grandchild will be no more.” I crossed my arms. “You said that you wanted a grandchild, and I would assume that you meant a grandchild that is blood related. CJ’s child would be blood-related. Sophie’s child would not. Now, if you want your grandchild put into that kind of danger, then refuse me, father. Refuse me. You’ll lose everything in that case – your grandchild and you’ll lose me. Because I will refuse to talk to you anymore. I know that might be a death sentence for me, but I’m willing to risk that. I would rather die than marry Sophie, and I would literally give my life for CJ.”

  My father looked like he was going to murder me right on the spot. “Impossible. CJ is not Russian Orthodox. She is not even Russian at all. How can I trust her?”

  “She’s not Russian Orthodox, but neither am I. Neither are you, for that matter. I don’t think that you have ever even been inside a Russian Orthodox church in your life.”

  My father shook his head. “I understand that you might believe that I have required that your wife be Russian Orthodox because her religion is important to me. But that is not why. I really just
want to make sure that your wife is Russian, and I do believe that the Russian Orthodox Church teaches excellent values and morals.”

  I sighed. “If the church is going to teach excellent values and morals, then wouldn’t a religious woman be less likely to marry me, considering my background? Father, think about this logically. If anything, a religious woman would be more likely to want to go to the authorities and turn you in.”

  “Alexei, as I said, it is just more important to me that your prospective wife is Russian. That is why I put the stipulation in that your wife must be Russian Orthodox. In truth, Alexei, I do not care if she is religious or not. I do care that she is Russian. And this CJ is not Russian, I assume. If she were, you certainly would have told me that she was by now.”

  “No, she is not Russian. But I only ask you to meet with her. Just meet with her. She’s carrying my child. That should be your insurance policy that she won’t do anything to you. She knows that your protection would extend to our child. She knows that if something happens to you or to Evgeny, if you choose to retire, that she will be exposed and so will our child. She’s not stupid, father.”

  He drummed his hands on the desk, seemingly contemplating what I had just told him. The minutes ticked by, although it seemed like hours. I didn’t say anything more, for I knew that if I did, I might jinx it. He obviously was swayed by my arguments, although he didn’t say as much. But the fact that he was swayed was written on his face.

  Finally, he spoke. “I will meet this CJ, on one condition. That condition is that you continue to support Sophie’s child. That you continue to assume paternity for that child. If I meet this CJ, and I approve of her, than I will handle Sophie.” Then he sighed and looked towards the heavens. “What am I doing?” he said in Russian. Then he looked at Natalia and me. “Go. Go and find this CJ and bring her here. Bring her here, and I will see if I like her well enough to approve.” Then he shook his head. “Then again, you leave me no choice, Alexei. If this woman is to be a mother to your child, then I suppose I must approve of her if I want a true grandchild.”

  “Thank you father,” I said to him as I stood up. I shook his hand, and Natalia gave him a hug, and we both left.

  Once Natalia and I got to my car, she laid into me. “You just told our father a lie. What do you suppose you’re going to do about that? It is obvious that he only agreed to meet CJ if CJ is to be a mother to your child. Otherwise, he still would be pressuring you about Sophie.”

  “I know this.” Then I also knew that I was going to have to re-double my efforts to impregnate CJ. “We’ll make this work out somehow. Even if we have to do in-vitro, we’ll make this work out.”

  “In-vitro is not fool-proof. How long have you and she been trying to get pregnant?”

  “Only for a matter of months. So, there’s still time. I just had to tell him right then that CJ is pregnant, because, otherwise, he was going to try to force me to marry Sophie right now.”

  Natalia shook her head. “This will come back to chew you on the leg, Alexei. I hope that you know that.”

  “The term is ‘bite me on the ass,’ and I know what you’re saying.” I was going to have to think of something soon. It wouldn’t be enough for CJ to get pregnant in a few months. My father would be wise to that. And, once he found out that he prematurely let go of Natalia, he wasn’t going to be in the best of moods. I imagined the blow-back that would happen when he found out that I lied, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  CJ was going to have to get pregnant soon. Otherwise, there was going to be hell to pay.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  CJ

  Asher came back to the hotel room, and he looked…defeated, yet happy. I surmised that he had a mixed bag to tell me.

  I soon found out how right that was.

  “How did it go?”

  “It went well. His health scare has caused him to re-evaluate his life. So, he’s willing to let Natalia come with me to America. And he’s willing to meet you.”

  My heart soared. “He’s willing to meet me? That’s a good thing, right?”

  Asher didn’t meet my eyes, and I knew that there was something else that he wasn’t telling me. “Actually, yes, he’s willing to meet you. He told me that he wanted a grandchild before he dies. Of course, he’s not dying, nor anywhere close to dying, but he doesn’t know this. So….”

  It all made sense. “You told him that I was already pregnant with your child, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. You have to understand, at the start of the meeting, he was adamant that I was going to marry Sophie. I only got him off of that idea when I told him that, since you’re carrying my child, your life and the life of his grandchild would be in danger if he didn’t approve of my marriage to you. If he didn’t believe that you were already pregnant, he wouldn’t have approved of meeting you and he would have continued to insist that I marry Sophie.”

  “Oh boy. Now what? I can’t just snap my fingers and become pregnant. And your father isn’t stupid. If there’s not a baby in about 8 months, he’s going to know that you lied. I wouldn’t imagine he would be happy about that at all. This puts an awful lot of pressure on us.”

  “I understand. We’re going to have to resort to fertility treatments.”

  “I agree. But I’m not pregnant right now. If I don’t get pregnant within the next month, then there’s going to be a huge problem. In fact, even if I could pregnant right now, today, there’s going to be a mathematical problem.”

  “Not necessarily. I just told my father that we got the test results for your pregnancy today. I can plausibly tell him that you took a test that detects a pregnancy after seven days post-conception. If we get pregnant within the next few weeks, then I believe that we should be in the clear. We’ll just tell my father that you had the child past your due date. Happens all the time.”

  “And what if the fertility treatment doesn’t work? What if I cannot get pregnant? What then? Your father will know that you lied.”

  Asher shook his head. “We’ll tell him that we lost the baby.”

  “Why don’t we do that anyhow? We get married, we get his protection, and then we say that we lost the baby. That sounds like a safer idea than what we’re about to try.”

  “That’s too much of a risk. He might ask for some kind of proof that you were ever pregnant, because he’ll be suspicious. I’m not saying that he will ask for that, but there’s a good chance that he will. So, we really need to go with Plan A, which would be to get you to take fertility drugs and hope for the best.”

  “Okay. Well, let’s just say for the sake of argument that the fertility drugs work, and I’m able to get pregnant. I lose the baby. What then? Your father is going to investigate and he’ll find out that we were doing fertility treatments after you lied to him. He’s going to be pissed.”

  Asher took a deep breath. “I know. Listen, I never said that this particular ruse is without risk. I’ve only said that it’s our only chance.”

  I suddenly felt like puking. It was getting complicated again, and I didn’t like that one bit.

  I finally just sighed. There wasn’t anything more that I could do at that point. “Okay, let’s go see Sergei. I’ll kiss the ring, and hopefully he’ll agree to the two of us getting married. And then we have to keep trying to get pregnant. If I can’t, then…” I shook my head. “I don’t want to even contemplate it. Sophie isn’t even going to have to kill me. Your father will probably want to do that himself. And you too.”

  “Okay. Let’s meet with him tomorrow.” Then he raised his eyebrows. “But, right now, we have to try to get you pregnant.”

  I nodded my head, feeling the familiar tingling in my nether regions when he said that. “We’re going to have to try really hard,” I said with a smile. “Really, really hard.”

  At that, he kissed me passionately on the lips. I sighed as he removed my blouse and jeans. He laid me down on the couch, and unsnapped my bra. “I know that this is a very stressful time for both
of us, but, mother of god, I want you.” I felt his cock, which was hardening underneath his pants, and I knew just how much he wanted me.

  He kissed and lightly bit each of my breasts while his hands roamed my stomach. He unbuckled his pants, and freed his enormous manhood. I kissed his rock-hard chest and abs down to his beautiful cock, and put it in my mouth. He groaned as I sucked and nibbled, harder and harder. He wrapped his legs around my neck while I sucked and licked his manhood and his jewels, which were firm in my mouth. I then kissed his chest and abs again as I made my way to his mouth. Our mouths enveloped each other while his cock slowly made its way inside of me. I felt the usual sensation of fullness and completeness as he slowly thrust in and out.

  I sighed as I felt him rhythmically thrusting. “You want this, I know you want this,” he was saying. Then he whispered into my ear. “You’re going to be my wife soon, and the mother of my child. I find that incredibly sexy.”

  “I do too,” I whispered. “I love you and I love that we’re hopefully going to be a family soon.” I prayed that the whole nightmare of Sophie and her threats were finally coming to an end.

  I felt Asher coming inside of me, and I put my legs together, my feet up in the air. I had to get serious about this. There was no time for anything else. A pregnancy had to happen, and it had to happen quickly.

  So, we made love for the rest of the night. And, every time I felt Asher come inside of me, I said a little prayer that this would be it. That I would end up pregnant, and all would be well.

  It had to happen. I just had to.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The next day, Asher and I went to see his father at his home. When we arrived at his gated mansion, I was astounded at how huge it was. It was one of those mansions that seemed to be as large as the White House and probably had just as much security. For good reason, of course. I would imagine that this man probably was constantly under threat. It was Tudor style and set behind a gate on acres of land.