Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (23 page)

''What did you do to Mel? The poor kid couldn't stop bubbling when I came back yesterday evening.''

''What did I do to Mel?'' he retorted sarcastically. ''It's your fault.''

Andrey looked around trying to calm himself. It was
a pretentious
house. All the sofas in the large sitting room were
gold,
and the carpet was a different shade of
gold
. The
wallpaper
was gray with gold
stripes,
and all the pictures on the walls had gold frames.

''How is it my fault?''

''Andrey, how much money have you got in the bank?''

What the hell has that got to do with
Mel?
''About thirty million.''

''And how did you come by all that money?'' Sokolov was being smug and
coy,
and Andrey hated him for it. Sure he'd helped him a lot during the early days, but there was no need to keep reminding him.

''Real estate deals.''

''Yer, real estate
deals
. And who gave you the first piece of real estate?''

''You.''
This was
what he always did. Whenever he disliked something Andrey did, he'd call him in, and reminded him that it was he who had given Andrey a property to get him going.  Sokolov was also from St Petersberg and when he'd bumped
into Andrey
they'd chatted about the city. Sokolov had been impressed by Andrey's physique and given him a job as one of his rent collectors. Some of the things Andrey had done, he was not
proud of
. Evicting men and women with young children had never been his thing, but
he
'd done it. He'd seen Sokolov's real estate gift to him as justified payment for the sleepless nights he was still having.

''Me indeed.'' Sokolov looked at the fire for a while then jumped up and took Andrey by the throat. ''What the fuck were you doing screwing that black journalist in my restaurant the other evening?''

''It was just that, a
screw
, so what's your problem?'' Andrey thought he was strong enough to push Sokolov from him, but he wasn't sure he could beat him in the boxing match that was bound to ensue if he did so.

''My problem is two fold. First she's a journalist and
second;
she's black. I don't want a
person
like that snooping around in my life. If I see her
again,
she's a goner. Got it?''

''So what if she's black, you racist pig? She's hotter than any slut you've ever had.'' Andrey fell back onto the sofa as Sokolov landed an
upper cut
to his chin.

*****

Nicki
stood outside
the Crab and Lobster for half an hour before she got the courage to go inside. Mel looked at her and turned away.

''Mel is Andrey here?''

Mel had nothing against Nicki but she didn't need another confrontation with
Sokolov,
and she was scared he would do worse than tear her blouse next time. ''Upstairs, but leave now. You're not welcome here.''

''I need to speak to him. It's important.''

Mel turned to her. When she saw Nicki's face, feminine intuition told her why Nicki had come to the
restaurant,
and she felt sorry for her. ''You know the way,'' Mel said pointing to the stairs.

Nicki knocked on the apartment door and turned the door handle. When the door opened
slightly,
she saw him lying on the bed. ''Andrey.''

When he looked across at her, she saw he had two
back
eyes and a lump on his chin. He jumped off the bed and ushered her inside. ''What are you doing here? It's too dangerous for you to be here now.''

Nicki didn't understand why, it had been fine a few nights
ago,
but now it was dangerous. ''Why?'' He didn't reply. ''Andrey, I need your help. I'm pregnant.''

''You've got to leave. I don't want to see you anymore.''

''Did you hear me, I'm pregnant,'' Nicki sobbed.

''I heard you, now go or I'll carry you out of here.''

''But you can't treat me like this.''
Her sobs became stronger.
''But we
had.........
such a lovely time.......I know
you........
care about me.'' She put her hand on his shoulder trying to pull her to him.

''No, Nicki, I don't want you, I'm not interested in you or your baby. Now go. I won't ask you again.''

This can't
be happening. Three weeks ago everything was
fine;
now her life had become a living hell. Her tears went, replaced by anger. ''How can you do this, you heartless bastard. You
could look
at the very least offer to help me look after the child financially.''

He took hold of her by her coat, marched her to the door and pushed her through it. She heard it close and the lock turn. When Andrey lay
on the bed,
he put his hands over his ears to block out the echoes of Nicki's sobs as she went down the stairs.

Before Nicki left the stairwell, she wrote a note. When she went
through
the restaurant she handed it to Mel. ''Give him this will you?'' she said.

*****

Betty's tea room wasn't busy. Nicki counted four people. Two elderly ladies, deep in conversation, a young mother struggling to keep her toddler quiet and a man in a business suit. Betty's was the premier tea room in New York and usually impossible to get a
table at
. Nicki wondered what she was doing in such an expensive place. She had precious little money and not much prospect of getting any
in the near future
.

Nathan came in through the main entrance and looked around for her. When he spotted
her,
he smiled and wandered over to the table in his usual casual manner.

''Can't stay away from me,'' he said hopefully.

''Nathe I called you because I need your help.'' She knew it was a liability contacting him after she had dumped him, but she was getting desperate.

''Sure anything,'' he smiled. He took her
hand,
but she pulled back.

''I'm pregnant Nathan. I'm
pregnant,
and I
really
need a favor.''

''You're what?'' Now there was no chance they would ever get back together.  ''So why the hell did you call me and not the father?'' Nicki avoided his gaze.

''He doesn't want to have anything to do with me.''

''I'm not surprised,'' he said cruelly. ''You're behaving like a whore. Limping from one man to the next.''

Nicki tried to ignore his words. ''Can you help me get a job at the Times?''

''You're kidding. Maybe I could have helped you, but now you're pregnant how do you expect anyone to employ you?'' The waitress appeared carrying a menu. The manner in which he waved her away did little to make her long day any better. ''There is no chance. Do you seriously expect to start a job and then a few months later go
on pregnancy
leave?
Which boss in his right mind would welcome that?'' She nodded and stared out of the window at a woman with a
pushchair
. ''What happened to your dream of being freelance. Did it go down the pan as I told you it would?''

''I have written a couple of things
that
haven't sold.  I don't have the energy to chase the big stories. Most mornings I'm hanging over the toilet.''

''Well you should have thought about that before you went screwing around.'' He scowled and drew in a large gulp of air. ''Here's what I suggest. You either go home to your parents or you look in the paper for a part-time job until the baby is born. I've noticed
there's
plenty of jobs for office cleaners.
Goodbye,
Nicki.'' When he got
up,
her eyes followed him to the door. What he was no longer there, she felt empty as never before.

*****

When Andrey saw
Sokolov,
he wanted to kill him. His treatment of both him and Mel had been arrogant and brutal, and it was time to teach him a lesson.

''Andrey, my boy, have you come to apologize?''

''No I've come to tell you that you are a
two-bit
piece of shit. You're nothing but
a low
life, whore fucker.''

Sokolov flew into a rage. He got up and tried to grab Andrey, but he was too fast and dodged the heavier man. Andrey continued to goad him. 

''All you've done with your life is threaten and rob people.''

Sokolov was now at one side of the sofa and Andrey, the other. They played cat and mouse
around
the
sofa
for a few seconds, before Andrey spoke again.

''You've never done half the things attributed to you. Everyone thinks you're a tough guy. You're not, you're a pussy.''

Sokolov was now beside himself. He jumped over the sofa and caught Andrey by his T-shirt. Andrey pulled away
hard
, leaving Sokolov holding the shirt. ''I've done more with my life than you will ever do. Who do you think you are? I'm
gonna
kill you,'' Sokolov shouted. One of his
bodyguards
appeared, but Sokolov held his hand up. ''Leave this to me.''

''You're just a
show-off
. Leaving everyone to think that you killed Judge Hudson but got away with it. Why don't you ever deny it? Everybody knows the jury was right.  You haven't got the balls to kill
any body
.''

''I killed Judge Hudson, just like I'm
gonna
kill you.''

''You didn't, you're a liar and a cheat, I've never met anybody so full of bullshit.''

''I tell you, I killed him with this gun.'' He walked over to a cabinet and opened the drawer. When he pulled out a Magnum, he pointed it at Andrey. Andrey put his hands up and stood still.

''Bring him over here,'' Sokolov said to the bodyguard. The
bodyguard
took hold of him and brought him closer to Sokolov. Sokolov hit him in the stomach as hard as he could. Andrey fell to the floor and curled up. ''Lift him up,'' Sokolov ordered. He hit him again in the same place and again Andrey fell.
This time,
Sokolov began to kick him. On the back, in his
face,
and on his ribs. The bodyguard cowered away at the sickening noises Andrey was making. When Sokolov was out of
breath,
he looked at the
bodyguard
. ''Take him and dump him next to the freeway,'' he said.

*****

Nicki was lying on her bed considering what she should tell her parents. Her cell phone rang.

''Hello, is this Nicki?'' the man said.

''Yes, that's me.''

''My name is Sergeant Jonathon Greaves from the New York Police Department. I was wondering if you could help me.''

''Er....sure I will, if I can, but I haven't done
anything
wrong.''

''No I'm sure you haven't. It's just we've found a man lying by the side of the freeway, very
badly
beaten. When we checked his clothing, we found a note with your name on it.'' Nicki put her hand to her mouth. ''It says quote, '
Dear Andrey, I am sorry I have disappointed you. If you ever change your mind, please call me. I will always wait for you,'
and then your telephone number.''

''Oh my God, is he dead?'' she asked fearfully.

''No. But he's in intensive care. Who is he?''

''He's a man I met at a restaurant in New York,'' she lied. We had a good time and then a bit of an argument. I liked
him,
so I left him a note. Can I go and see him?''

''Sure, but I warn you he's a mess.''

*****

Nicki almost screamed when she entered the hospital room where Andrey was lying. A TV hung from the
ceiling,
and there was a cupboard on wheels to the side of the bed. She didn't want to count how many tubes were sticking into him. There was a machine on a stand
that
seemed to be measuring his
heartbeat
and other vital functions.

She took off her coat and pulled up a chair.  What had he been doing? Who had done this to him? Will he be angry when he wakes up and sees me? She would have to wait.