by Leslie North
“I can’t she’s already gone. She took off like her life depended upon it.”
“I’m coming down, get the car, and meet me in front of the building. We’ll find her and take her to the damn hospital and then I’m going to get some answers.” Stubborn woman! She could have asked for a ride!
Sergei called for the car to be brought around front, and it pulled up just as Misha exited the elevator. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 6
Sergei headed the car in the direction Jasmine had gone, and before long, he spotted her up ahead. She was keeping up a good pace, but even from a distance, he could see how tired she was. “There she is.”
“Pull up in front of her and stop.” Misha mentally prepared himself for the battle to come. Jasmine was going to fight his help; he just knew it. But she was going to accept it!
Sergei pulled to a stop several yards in front of her and Misha stepped out.
Jasmine saw the black car pull in front of her and stop. She slowed slightly, preparing to avoid the car and its occupants when she saw Misha step from the back of the car. She came to a halt, leaning over with her hands on her knees as she attempted to get her breath regulated.
“Jasmine, get in the car.”
“Misha… I don’t…”
Misha took a step closer to her, “Jasmine, you are in a hurry, are you not?” When she nodded, he continued, “Then I would assume you would rather argue with me while Sergei drives us to the hospital, rather than stand along the side of the road and fight it out.”
“Misha…” Jasmine knew she was beat and frankly, she was past her breaking point. There was no way she could finish the run to the hospital. Her body was completely spent. Nodding, she joined him, crawling into the backseat while he held the door for her.
She leaned her head back against the seat, closed her eyes, and tried to stem the tears that threatened to fall once more.
Misha got back into the car and Sergei pulled back into traffic. “Which hospital?”
Jasmine murmured the name of the hospital, cringing when Misha cursed softly next to her. “That’s more than fifteen miles away from the office. What were you thinking?”
Jasmine opened her eyes and took her frustrations out on him, “I was thinking that I needed to get to the hospital, and walking would take too long. Running is much faster in case you hadn’t heard.”
Misha looked at her for a moment and then burst out laughing, delighted in the reappearance of the fire that had once again circumvented her ability to control her mouth. “There it is.”
“There what is?” she asked sarcastically.
“The fire. I wondered where it had gone to. I’m glad it’s back. Now, please explain to me what is going on.”
Jasmine looked at him, the fire he was so happy to see dying a quick death. She delayed answering him until she saw the light of battle enter his eyes and knew that he would have his answer. “I need to see someone at the hospital. It’s urgent.”
“Who?” Misha demanded.
Jasmine couldn’t tell him the truth. Your son! Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that little fact when we met the other day. Jasmine shook her head, “Dasha…”
“Dasha is your neighbor, yes?”
“Yes.” He’s been checking up on me! What else does he already know?
“Is Dasha ill?”
“Not exactly.” She was saved from having to explain further as Sergei announced their arrival at the hospital.
Jasmine didn’t wait for Misha or Sergei to open her door; she opened it herself and bolted inside. She quickly asked the charge nurse where Dasha was, and was rewarded with a smile and an explanation that the pediatrician was meeting with her now in his office at the end of the hall.
Jasmine didn’t see Misha following her, nor did she care. She almost ran down the hall, looking for the correct room number, sagging in relief when she found it and saw her son sitting quietly on Dasha’s lap as he was being examined.
“Mikhail!” Jasmine entered the room, taking her son from Dasha and hugging him close. “I’m so sorry baby. I’m so sorry,” she cried as tears once again leaked from her eyes.
Dasha focused her attention on the large man who had followed Jasmine into the room. She looked at his facial features and knew right away that he was Mikhail’s father. Jasmine had said the father was out of the picture, but she was almost sure he was now standing in front of her with a very confused look upon his face. And if she wasn’t mistaken, he was a Fedosov!
When Jasmine continued to hold the child, answering the pediatrician’s questions, and Dasha just continued to watch him, he knew that his initial assumption of the boy being the nurse’s was wrong.
“Jasmine?” Misha quietly asked.
Jasmine turned, shielding her son from his gaze, “Misha?” She tried to hand Mikhail back to Dasha, but her son was having none of that. He clung to her, whimpering when she tried to force the issue. Giving up, she nestled him back in her arms, ignored Dasha’s pointed look, and faced Misha full on. ”You didn’t have to come in. Everything’s fine, as you can see.”
“I can see, but from where I’m standing, everything is certainly not fine. Doctor, are you through with your examination?”
The physician looked at the adults in the room and then nodded, “Yes. The infection caused his eardrum to burst; however, it has already started to heal itself. I will give you some eardrops and some liquid pain relievers and in a few days’ time, he should be good as new. Dasha, come with me and I’ll get the medications for you.”
“Dasha?” Jasmine inquired, both to ask about the paperwork and a plea to not leave her alone.
Dasha whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry. Dr. Pokrovsky took a look at him as a favor to me. No one will know Mikhail was even here. He’s gorgeous by the way,” she added, nodding her head towards Misha.
Jasmine said nothing, just grateful that her son was safe once again. Or was he? She looked up at Misha as Dasha and the doctor left, wondering what was going through his mind.
Misha approached her, his attention focused on the baby boy in her arms, “How old is he?”
Jasmine swallowed, “A little over ten months.” She knew Misha would put two and two together, but she was tired of the daily struggle. She sagged onto the waiting exam table, cuddling Mikhail closer to her as he dropped his head onto her shoulder and fell asleep.
Misha looked at the features of the baby and could have been looking at his own baby pictures. There was no doubt in his mind that Mikhail was his. The only question that remained was why Jasmine had not sought him out sooner. “So this is why you applied for the job?”
Jasmine looked up at him sharply, “No. I never intended for you to know Mikhail existed.” She mentally kicked herself when she saw the anger light his eyes. Wrong thing to say!
Chapter 7
Misha clenched his fists while he struggled to maintain his control. She’d never intended to tell him he had a child?
“So why apply for a job where you knew you would run into me?” He was angry and confused, but he needed answers before he gave into the rage that was flowing through him.
Jasmine shook her head, “I didn’t ever plan to see you. I thought you still had a few months left in the Army and I needed the money. I was also hoping I’d have a chance to talk to Dmitry or Alexey.”
“Why?” Misha was growing more furious, but still trying to understand what had motivated her to keep his son a secret from him. Had she been planning to blackmail his cousins?
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. After we fought and you left, I thought maybe I was pregnant but kept hoping it was just the flu. I waited for three weeks for you to come back, but then I got really sick. So sick, in fact, that I was unable to finish my doctoral thesis. I finally went to one of the clinics inside the city, and there I met Dasha. When she told me I was six weeks pregnant, my world fell apart.
“I was very ill; I could barely fend for myself, let alone care for my unborn child. Da
sha took me home with her and played nursemaid until the morning sickness got better. During that time, my visa expired.
“When I inquired about renewing it, I was told that I would have to show proof I was still a registered student at the university. When I inquired what would happen if I stayed in the country after my visa expired, I was told I would be arrested.
“I was scared to death that they’d toss me in jail and throw away the key. I didn’t want to give birth to our son in prison.” She started to cry silently, the tears running down her cheeks as she made no effort to stop them. I’m so tired of trying! She laid her head against that of her son’s, thankful that the authorities wouldn’t learn of his visit to the hospital, but now she was faced with an even bigger obstacle. His father!
“So, why didn’t you try to find me? Why didn’t you leave word for me, or with someone at the university? I tried to find you when I came back eight weeks later, but no one knew what happened to you.” Misha shoved his hands through his hair, angry at the circumstances that had kept him and his son apart.
“You don’t get it do you? I’m in your country illegally. I can’t leave the country. I can’t work to support myself or Mikhail. If I apply for a new visa, I can’t take Mikhail with me because he’s a Russian citizen.” Jasmine knew she needed to calm down, but her circumstances had finally beaten her down so that just listing all of the things wrong in her world became too much to bear.
Misha looked at the broken woman sitting before him, kicking himself for not having looked harder for her. She had born the burden of having his son and caring for him without anyone to help except Dasha. That woman was definitely an angel sent from above!
“Do I ask how you have been supporting yourself?” Misha murmured, not really meaning to say the words aloud.
Jasmine shook her head, “I don’t think you’ll be very happy.”
“Tell me anyway. We might as well get all the unpleasantness out of the way at once.”
Jasmine took a breath, “The apartment building I live in is owned by one of the Bratva bosses…”
“The most notorious Bratva boss, you mean.” Misha made no attempt to hide the fact that he had been checking up on her.
Jasmine looked at him, seeing that he already knew the truth. “Yes. Well, anyway, he agreed to let me live there and pay me a small stipend, enough for food, if I would help translate the American newspaper he likes to read. I spend thirty minutes, several times a week, reading him the New York Post. Luckily, he’s only interested in certain sections of the paper.”
“You’ve been spending time with, alone, with Tomas Alenin? Are you crazy? Why would you do something like that?”
“Look, you can judge me all you want while you sit in your nice little office, but I did what I had to do to keep Mikhail and I alive.” Jasmine was getting angry and she could feel her anger affecting her sleeping son as he whimpered in his sleep.
Taking a few deep breaths, she relaxed her muscles, whispering for him to go back to sleep. “I’m sorry,” she said, both for her outburst and for how things had turned out.
“You’re right. I have no right to judge the decisions you’ve made. But tell me this; if you knew Alenin was Bratva, why would you willingly stay there?”
“I was told he had the connections I needed to get a fake visa for myself and Mikhail. I couldn’t leave the country without paperwork.”
“Why not try and find me?” Misha really wanted to know the answer to that question.
Jasmine didn’t answer for the longest time. She contemplated telling him a lie and driving him away, but now that the truth was out, her feelings for Misha wouldn’t be denied.
“Jasmine, tell me why you didn’t try to find me? Dmitry or Alexey would have helped you? Please, I’m trying to understand. Help me.”
“I was afraid you’d try to keep me here.”
“In Russia? You knew I would. You know I will, in that you were correct. You never explained to me before why you felt you had to return to America. I need to understand why you would risk everything to go back.”
Jasmine shook her head, and was prevented from having to answer, as Dasha and the pediatrician came back in. Jasmine thanked him for everything to which he just smiled. She noticed before he left, he leaned down and whispered something to Dasha that had her blushing scarlet. Interesting! But not enough so as to change her focus from her son. That was a discussion for another time.
Dasha handed the medications to Jasmine, explaining how they were to be given and leaning down to place a kiss upon the sleeping boy’s head. “Do you want me to take him back to the apartment so you can finish your lesson?”
“No! She’s not returning to that apartment!” Misha crossed his arms over his chest and dared Jasmine to argue with him.
“Misha, be reasonable. I live there.”
“Not anymore, you don’t. We will return to collect your belongings, but then you are coming with me.”
Jasmine thought about arguing with him, but she was just too tired. Finally, she gave him a single nod of her head and watched him relax slightly.
“Miss Orlov, may we offer you a ride back to your apartment. It seems we are headed there directly.”
“That would be very nice. Thank you. I took the public transit here, but I’d rather not, if you know what I mean.”
“Good. Jasmine, is there anything else you need here?”
Jasmine shook her head, standing with her precious bundle and staggering slightly. When Misha placed his hand at the small of her back to steady her, she had to lock her knees to keep from sinking to the floor. His touch burned her, heightening her senses to an almost painful level. She needed to find her control. Now!
Chapter 8
Jasmine didn’t know what to say as he escorted her from the hospital to the waiting vehicle. Sergei gave her an encouraging smile, glancing quickly at Mikhail and then smiling broadly. She didn’t pay him much attention; her thoughts had drifted back in time. Eighteen months in time.
They had been together for three weeks. Three very lust-filled weeks. Three weeks where she had come to know him better than anyone else in her life – ever. With Misha, it hadn’t just been lust, but a connection between two souls that had grown tired of being alone in this world.
She knew that Misha had family, but some part of him had been looking for his other half. The person with whom he could build a future. She knew he considered her that person. He had told her often enough.
She remembered the first time he had said such a thing to her; she had tried to laugh it off as the emotions that occurred after great sex. He had gotten angry at her response and spent the next half hour convincing her he meant every word.
He had talked of introducing her to his mother, his father having already passed away. He had talked about his cousins, with whom he would be working once his commission expired at the end of the next year. He’d never mentioned the company, and so when he had left, she hadn’t known how to reach him.
She’d had the occasion to meet both Alexey and Dmitry. Once at an art exhibit, and again at a newly-opened restaurant operated by some family friends. Both men had been handsome in their own right, but compared to Misha, had been but bad replicas of her image of a strong Russian male.
Misha was everything she had ever dreamed of in a lover and a friend. She had found herself sharing things with him that no one else on the earth knew. She had shared everything with him, except the knowledge that somewhere she had a brother. She had kept that information to herself, afraid that if she mentioned it, the fates would take it away just like they had taken every other person in her life away.
They had spent every available moment with each other during those three weeks. And two days. She couldn’t forget those two days, as they had spent the entire two days with each other. Misha had given his troops some much deserved leave time before they headed farther north to complete their training mission.
Towards the end of day two, Misha had become i
nsistent on taking her to meet his mother. She had adamantly refused. She had to return to America and didn’t know how long it would take her to locate her brother. Until she accomplished that task, she didn’t feel right committing to a relationship with Misha.
He had so much when it came to family and history. He had talked of growing up with his cousins, and how they had vacationed together, their father’s taking them hunting and skiing together.
She wanted to come to him with something. Even if it was only with the knowledge, that she had tracked her brother down and he hadn’t wanted her. She would still have been able to claim him as hers. She wouldn’t have been totally alone in the world.
Not wanting to give away her small glimmer of hope, she had refused to explain why she needed to return to America. Misha had jumped to conclusions, accusing her of hating all things Russian and looking down upon his beloved country. He couldn’t have been further from the truth!
She loved Russia! She loved the Russian people! She didn’t exactly care for their customs or their laws, but since she wasn’t a Russian citizen most of them didn’t apply to her. It wasn’t until she discovered that she could spend the greater part of her future years in a Russian prison for having out-stayed her visa that she began to think poorly of the country.
She was still determined to locate her brother. It burned within her soul as a need, not a want. She had to find him.
The drive to Ligovo was short and Sergei insisted on staying with the car while the other three adults entered the building. He saw the young man two doors down, take off down the street upon their arrival, and was readying himself for the inquisition he knew was forthcoming. Nothing happened in Ligovo without the Bratva bosses knowing about it. Word of the strange vehicle and of Misha’s presence in the area would spread like wildfire.
Jasmine carried Mikhail up to her apartment, followed by Misha and Dasha. When Dasha offered to find her some boxes, Jasmine nodded her head, thankful for her presence.