Page 13 of The Pakhan’s Hidden Heir

I can probably look past the negatives.

But one thing I might not be able to do is hand over a child that I bore in my womb to a man I’m not sure is ready to be a father.

Maybe I’m already just thinking the worst before it happens, and maybe I should cross that bridge when I come to it, but it’s going to nag at me until I get to know him better.

I don’t know who Bastian Dravenko is.

And I don’t like not knowing.

5

BASTIAN

For the past two hours I’ve been staring at my lawyers, who seem to think a rezoning issue on a high-rise we’re pouring money into is life-or-death.

Grigor is worked up, bickering with his younger counterpart I’ve never met, probably some paralegal or lawyer in training. Pavel, I think. And I’m ready to shut the book on this and make them pack it up.

The day has left me pent up and irritable. “So pay someone to do it, gentlemen. I’m not sure why this is taking so long or why it took two of you to come into my office to tell me this. A simple email would’ve sufficed.”

“There’s a separate matter,” Grigor mumbles, but his head hangs. I can tell before he even opens his mouth that he’s going to try lecturing me about something and I’m already on the edge of my seat, clenching my jaw. “It’s come across my desk and I’d be doing you a disservice not to raise it. The arrangement…with the Volina woman.” His head dips and he narrows his eyes at me.

“Go on,” I tell him, sighing. He’s about to slam me with legalese about why things won’t go the way I intend for them to, and I’m going to put him in his place.

His job is to witness the contract and nothing more, not advise me on my life choices.

“The child,” he says carefully. “You’ve built this on the understanding that the mother carries, delivers, and steps aside, and that you walk away with full custody and no complications. Legally, that isn’t how it works.” He purses his lips, sighing through his nose as he continues. “She’s the biological mother. When that child is born, she has rights to it that no contract can sign away. There’s no clinic, no agency, no court oversight—if she decides she wants that child and takes it to a judge, she has a real claim. A strong one.”

“Do you think I care?”

Grigor meets my eyes, which is more spine than the younger one has shown all afternoon. “I’m telling you this because you pay me to tell you the truth. You cannot legally take that child from her once it’s born.” His eyes flick toward the window that looks out over my garden where Akim walks past. “This isn’t a surrogacy, sir. You’re sleeping with her. There is consent involved and⁠—”

“When has anything being illegal ever stopped me, Grigor?” I lean forward and laugh. Pavel looks between the two of us like he’s waiting for one of us to explain the joke. Eventually the new guy will get the point, but Grigor knows I’m not beneath a little dicey business to get what I want.

“The law is a fence built for men who intend to stay inside it, and I have never once intended that,” I tell them. “If the girl signs away the child and keeps her word, we’ll have no trouble. If she decides to fight me, she’ll learn quickly that a judge is a very small obstacle compared to the wall around this house.” There’s no mistaking my intent here. Raina Volina will produce my child and do as I say. She doesn’t have a choice in the matter.

“But sir⁠—”

“I note your objection,” I tell Grigor, “but I’m ignoring it. Keep the paperwork tidy. If it ever gets that far, the record will show her intent.”

“Understood.” His head drops and shrinks back into his seat, but like clockwork Akim struts right into my office and drops into the chair beside Pavel, propping one ankle on the opposite knee. I watch Pavel lean away from him unconsciously.

“We were in the middle of something,” Grigor says, scowling. He’s never liked Akim, which is one of the reasons I very much like Akim. They don’t get along, which means between the two of them I will get solid advice when I need it.

“What can I do for you?” I ask him, leaning back in my chair to drum my fingers on my desk.

“You’re talking about the woman?” Akim asks, turning to Grigor.

“Yes,” he says with an air of distaste in his tone.

“While you’ve got your files open, there’s something you should know.” He’s very bold speaking out of turn, but I know he’s doing his due diligence to protect me. “She’s got collectors on her. They call her four, five times a day, and the interest is stacked so high she’ll never dig out of it on what she earns. If she’s living in this house now, I don’t want strangers with a financial claim on her circling anywhere near it. That’s a loose thread⁠—”

“How much,” I interrupt. This isn’t news to me. Raina told me this in her interview, but I’m interested in knowing just exactly how much debt she’s carrying.

Those debt collectors can be sharklike, and Akim’s right—I don’t want them on my property for any reason. It looks bad.

Grigor flips to a page he already had ready, which tells me both have been looking into this situation.

Good, they both have my best interests at heart.