The Hot Lawyer (A Romance Love Story) (Hargrave Brothers - Book #4)

by Alexa Davis

  "Hey, kiddo!" he called from behind his desk. "Come on in and have a seat!"

  "Hey, Peter," I said. I walked over and settled on one of the chairs across from his desk. "Tell me the news, would you, please?"

  "Kid, the director of Hedda Gabler wants you in the role of Hedda," he blurted out. "You're going to be the lead role!"

  "Who? Me?" I said stunned by the news. I had been hoping I'd get the part, but I hadn't allowed myself to completely believe it was possible because I didn't want to be disappointed.

  "Yes, you," he said with a big smile. "You are the lead in the Ibsen play!"

  "This is unbelievable!" I cried as I shot up out of the chair and danced in front of Peter's desk. "I did it!"

  "Yep, and they want you to start next week," he said. "They're sending the script to your place and rehearsals begin on Monday and run through the next two months. And, they're paying you fifteen hundred a week plus benefits!"

  "Wait, next week?" I said as a sick feeling swelled in the pit of my stomach. "What about my job with Max? I've still got a month to go."

  "Aw, don't worry, kid. I'll find a replacement and have her in there on Monday morning," he waved me off trying to allay my worries.

  "But, Peter, I've got responsibilities over there," I said, suddenly realizing that Peter had no idea how far I'd gone in helping Max out. He had no idea I was living at Max's apartment, nor did he know about the faux wedding we were planning.

  "Look, kid, this is your chance to break into the Chicago acting scene," he scolded. He was frustrated with me – and rightfully so. "Why do you care what that Russian mafia prince does with a jewelry store?"

  "Wait, what?" I said. I was confused. "What did you just call him?"

  "Russian mafia prince? He's the son of Vladimir Malinchenko, the Wicker Park mafia boss. Didn't you know that?"

  "No, how would I know that, Peter?" I shouted. "What the hell are you telling me? That I've been working for the Russian mafia? Jesus, Peter!"

  "Calm down, Lexi," he said with a worried look on his face. "It's not a crisis. Nothing bad happened, did it? I'll get another girl to fill in and it'll all be over. Don't get your panties in a twist, kid."

  "You are such an asshole," I said. I was beyond mad at him for putting me in such a situation and even angrier with myself for having dug in deeper. How in the world was I going to get out of this mess?

  "Hey, hey, hey, let's not get personal here," he said as he looked at me with genuine concern. "What's going on, Lexi?"

  "Nothing!" I yelled as I marched toward the door. "Absolutely nothing!"

  I stormed out of Peter's office and headed to the lobby. As I crossed the marble floor toward the door, I caught a glimpse of a man following me at just enough of a distance that it became obvious he was my security detail. I marched over to him and hissed, "Stop following me! You are fired!"

  "You can't fire me, ma'am," he said not even pretending that he wasn't what I was accusing him of. "Mr. Malin hired me and he's the only one who can fire me."

  "Don't you mean, Mr. Malinchenko?" I spit out in a venomous tone. "I don't care if he's the Leader of the Free World, you're fired! Do not follow me anymore or I'll call the police and have you arrested for stalking!"

  He considered me for a moment before nodding, turning, and walking away. I turned and marched out the front door and headed back to Max's penthouse where I threw a few things in a bag for me and Anna before calling a cab and heading over to Viv's for the night.

  If Max Malinchenko wasn't going to tell me the truth about who he was and what he was doing, then I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to hear what new lies he'd come up with to make me help him rule his West side gang of thugs.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Max

  On my way back from my meeting with Dementyev, I stopped at the store to pick up the special piece of jewelry I'd ordered for Lexi to wear. It was a three-carat platinum art deco ring that retailed for well over twenty thousand dollars, but I'd gotten a deal on it through Mr. Petrov's people. I wanted Lexi to start wearing it so that Petrov's people would see that we were serious about the wedding plans and would continue to funnel money into my business. I'd used up a good portion of the initial investment and I was hoping that Petrov's second infusion of cash would come soon so that I could buy more of the rare pieces that were out on the market. I knew the Chicago crowd would love them because they were vintage pieces that would remind them of the good old days back in Moscow.

  I pulled the ring out of the safe and looked at it from all sides. It was exquisite, much like Lexi, and I knew she would love wearing it. I polished it and set it in one of our black boxes where it sparkled in the light. Satisfied that I'd done well, I called and ordered dinner to be delivered and then went out to the car.

  When I stepped out of the elevator I was surprised to find the penthouse completely dark. "Lexi?" I called as I turned on lights and walked through the empty place. "Are you home? Anna?"

  There was no response and I wondered if I'd missed a message from Lexi telling me that she'd gone out with Viv or something. I checked my phone and saw nothing and then began to worry. I quickly dialed Lexi's phone, but it went to voicemail, so I left a message asking her to call me and then called Viv. Her phone went to voicemail, as well.

  I called the guard I'd put on Lexi to find out where she was. When he answered, he told me she'd fired him that afternoon after he'd tailed her to her agent's office on Upper Wacker.

  "She what?" I yelled.

  "She fired me."

  "She didn't have the authority to do that!" I was pissed off and not holding back. "Your one job was to follow her and ensure her safety!"

  "She threatened to call the police and report me for stalking her," he said simply. "And that's not in my contract."

  "You idiot!" I shouted before disconnecting.

  Lexi was out there on her own and when I tried calling her again, I got no response.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  Lexi

  I showed up at Viv's towing a suitcase and Anna's carrier. She didn't ask me a single question; she simply sat me down, mixed me a martini, and told me to drink. I finished one martini and she had a second in my hand before I could even ask for it.

  "Talk, Wally," she said as she set a tray full of snacks down on the coffee table. "And, eat, otherwise you're going to spend the night on the floor in the bathroom."

  "He lied to me, Viv," I said as I picked up a stuffed grape leaf and popped it in my mouth. After I'd swallowed, I continued, "He lied about who he was by omitting the fact that he is the son of Russian mafia boss Vladimir Malinchenko!"

  "Holy shit! Are you kidding me?" she gasped, spilling her drink on the sofa. She quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a towel to wipe it up with before sitting down again. "You're kidding, right?"

  "No, I'm not kidding, Viv!" I said. "Why do you think I'm here and not at the penthouse tonight?"

  "How did you find out?"

  I spent the next hour telling her all about what Peter had told me, and then I told her how I'd fired the security guard who'd been following me all day. While I was telling her about Max's secret, I remembered that I hadn't told her about my own secret.

  "Viv, I got the part," I said quietly.

  "You what?" she replied, looking up from playing with Anna, who was curled up in her lap on her back and batting at Viv's fingers.

  "I got the part," I repeated. "I'm going to play Hedda Gabler. I got the part."

  "Holy fuck, Wally!" Her shout scared Anna, who ran and hid under the dining room table. "You got the part! You're a star!"

  "Hardly," I laughed. "I'm a mediocre actor in Chicago who is going to headline an Ibsen play. That's a little more accurate."

  "Bullshit!" she exclaimed. "This calls for a celebration!"

  "Viv, my life is ruined right now," I interjected as she ran into the kitchen and returned carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She popped the cork, poured the bubbly
liquid, and handed me a glass.

  "Let's celebrate," she said.

  "My ruined life?"

  "No, silly, let's celebrate your role on stage and the fact that you are now a working actor!" she clinked her glass against mine and sipped. I followed her lead and thought about what she'd said.

  "Viv, what am I going to do?"

  "Well, it seems to me that you have the perfect out, now," she observed. "You got the role and Peter is going to find a replacement for you, so there's really nothing to worry about, right?"

  I sat silently, sipping my champagne as I thought about it.

  "Wally, there's nothing to worry about, right?" she asked again.

  "Well…" I said slowly, drawing my response out.

  "Oh no, no, no, no, no!" she cried. "You've fallen for him!"

  "Viv…" I shrugged.

  "Yes, you've fallen for the billionaire Russian mafia guy!" she exclaimed. "You actually think he's going to fall for you and secretly hope that the fake wedding is real by the time it happens, don't you?"

  "That sounds so cliché," I protested.

  "That's because it is!" she yelled. "Jesus, Lexi, you can't fall for a guy who kills people who get in his way for a living!"

  "Max isn't a killer!" I yelled back. "If he was, I'd know it by now."

  "Right, and all those people who were taken in by con artists and fakes and lost their life savings knew, too," she said as she raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Sex clouds everything, Lexi, and you've definitely been clouded when it comes to Mr. Malinchenko."

  "That's not fair, Viv," I protested. "He's been nothing but good to me and he's never once done anything that put me in harm’s way."

  "Hello? Where the hell have you been, sister?" She was getting exasperated. "You were attacked in the store by the Russian junior mafia, and Max assigned a security guard to you!"

  "That was different."

  "Oh, you've got it bad, girlfriend," Viv shook her head in disbelief. "Look, I'm not going to try and talk you out of your schoolgirl crush on Malinchenko, but I am going to tell you that it's not healthy to hang on to a man who is a criminal! No good will come of it!"

  "But, Viv!" I yelled. "I love him!"

  She gasped and then fell back on the sofa holding her glass in one hand and draping her free arm over her forehead. She sat there in silence for a minute before she sat up and looked at me.

  "Lexi, if you are, in fact, in love with this man, then you need to sort out the mess that this whole thing has become," she said seriously. "You need to go back and have a real conversation with him and find out what his intentions are because until you know that, all of this is just speculation and fantasy."

  "What am I going to say to him?"

  "I don't know, how about starting with the truth?" she replied with a smile. "Tell him how you feel and see what he says."

  "And, if he says it's just a business deal gone awry, then what?" I asked.

  "Then, you'll have your answer and know that you're taking things a little too seriously," she said with a shrug. She turned to look at me and asked, "But what if he says he feels the same way?"

  "Huh?"

  "What if he says he feels the same way and that all of this is real for him, too?" she repeated.

  "I don't… I don't know," I stammered. It hadn't occurred to me that maybe Max did feel the same way I did and that maybe he'd respond in a positive way, rather than blowing me off. Then, I felt anxious. I turned to Viv and said, "What if he does like me?"

  "What if he does?" She smiled as she sipped from her glass.

  "Oh no, this can't happen!" I cried. "Not now! Not after Josh! It's too soon, Viv!"

  "Hey, hey, hey, slow it down, Wally," she said as she leaned over and rested her hand on my arm. "What's so bad about having a rich, handsome guy fall for you?"

  "Because I didn't plan for it!" I said. "It's not logical, and it makes no sense!"

  "I think you're nuts," she said shaking her head. "Listen to yourself, of course there's never a good time for falling in love. Please. That's how this stuff works! It's life, Lexi! You don't get to control it all, you just have to roll with the punches and decide which ones to absorb and which ones to deflect. Sometimes you are so hard headed."

  I sat thinking about what she had said until Anna hopped up into my lap. She sat staring at me as she raised a paw and patted my arm. When I didn't respond, she chirped and patted harder.

  "What? What do you want?" I asked as I looked down at her fuzzy, gray face. She mewed loudly and head butted my arm before sitting back down and staring up at me. "Okay, fine. We'll go home and see what's on Max's mind. Fine."

  Viv smiled as Anna purred loudly. This was going to be a difficult conversation, but maybe some good would come out of it.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Max

  I decided that I needed to go visit Babi. I told my driver the destination, and then sat back as I thought about what Dementyev had said about Papa. I knew my father was a hard man, but to have ordered a hit on his own son was beyond the pale. Or was it? I wanted to talk to Babi and find out what was really going on with Papa.

  When we pulled up in front of her building a little while later, I noticed that the house was dark, and I wondered if she was even home. Sometimes, Babi went out visiting and stayed the night at friends' houses when the hour got too late to get home safely. I knocked on the door and waited. When I got no response, I used my key to let myself in.

  "Babi?" I called as I moved through the dark front room. "Babi, are you home?"

  "Vladimir?" came the response from the kitchen. "Vladimir is that you?"

  "Babi? What's going on?" I called as I raced to the kitchen and found her sitting curled up in a corner on the floor. "Babi! Are you okay?"

  "Maksimka!" she cried as she stretched out her arms. I pulled her up off of the floor and sat her in a kitchen chair so I could check to see if she'd been injured.

  "Babi, what happened?" I asked as I pushed the sleeves of her robe up so I could see her arms. There were fresh bruises that looked like someone had gripped her very hard, and I looked up at her and asked, "Where did these come from?"

  "There were men here, Maksimka," she said in a grave voice. "They were very bad men looking for your father. They pushed me around and they looked for information, but they did not find it. I wouldn't let them."

  "Babi, what are you talking about?" I asked as I got up and dug through the freezer until I found a couple of bags of frozen corn. I wrapped the bags in dishtowels and put them on the bruises. "Babi, what bad men? How did they get in? Who sent them?"

  "Maksimka, your father has a lot of enemies," she said as she looked down at her arms. "He's been a target since he left Moscow, and now, they are out searching for him. "

  "How do you know that?" I asked.

  "I know because a mother knows," she said looking back up at me. "I know because Vladimir warned me that these men would come looking for him and that I should never give him up."

  "Babi, Kristov is dead," I blurted out. I had no idea what my father had told her and after my talk with Dementyev, I wasn't sure what was true.

  "Kristov?" she asked. A look of confusion washed over her face. "Kristov is dead?"

  "Babi, he was executed in his home," I said. She looked at me and then shoved the ice packs off of her arms before bringing her hands up to cover her face. She shook as she tried to hold back sobs, but before long, she was wailing as the tears flowed.

  "Not my Kristov!" she cried. "He was a little boy!"

  "Babi, what happened with Papa?" I asked, trying to be gentle, but knowing that time was of the essence if I was going to figure out what had happened. "What did Papa tell you?"

  "He told me that something bad was happening and that bad men were coming to find him, just like in Moscow," she told me as she gulped back the sobs. "He said they wanted to take everything away from him and kill his family and that I had to help him hide."

  "Babi, why did he think th
at they were coming for him?" I asked.

  "Maksimka, you're father is not a bad man," she said as she looked up into my eyes. "He was just trying to do what he had to do to survive. Life wasn't easy for us after the wall fell. You know that. Your father did what he had to do to protect us."

  "What did he do, Babi?"

  "He got involved with some men who promised a way out of the country for you and your mother," she said as she tried to replace the ice packs on her arms. I reached out and repositioned them. "They got you all out of Moscow before the police came to try and arrest your father for desertion."

  "Desertion?" I asked. "He always said he retired with honors from the KGB."

  "Don't be stupid, Maksimka," she scolded. "No one retires from the KGB. You are KBG for life or you are dead. Your father deserted so he could relocate his family, and those who remained paid the price."

  "You?" I asked afraid to hear what she would say.

  "No, I was one of the lucky ones. I was able to hide with friends until your father could make arrangements to get me out of the country," she said. "But other family members were not so fortunate, and when the KGB came to extract information, some of them did not survive."

  "That's barbaric," I breathed.

  "You have no idea what barbaric is until you see the people you love slaughtered by a government that despises dissent," she sighed sadly. "I couldn't help them, no one could help them. So, I waited until your father sent word and then I trusted complete strangers to move me out of the country in the dead of night. I was loaded onto a truck carrying chicken carcasses to a farm in Poland and driven out of the country. It was disgusting – the smell of rotting chicken and death. But, it was better than staying and waiting for the police to come and question me."

  "But you didn't do anything."

  "Maksimka, you don't understand, you didn't have to do anything," she said. "You just had to be accused of doing something, that was good enough."

  "But what about Papa?" I asked.