Chapter Twenty-Five
Alex drove beneath the big sign announcing the Dry Gulch Ranch, and the knot in his gut finally started to ease. Surely here he could keep Maddie safe. At least until he could get ahold of Jacobsen and find out what the hell was going on. Surely the State Department kept track of foreign traffic coming in and out of the country. The US had an entire department dedicated to that sort of thing. His brain was spinning. Perhaps Yuri had used a commercial airline instead of traveling in Tatiyana’s private jet.
“Alex,” Maddie said in a small voice. “It was Yuri. I’m sure of it. You believe me, right?”
He reached over and laced her fingers with his, lifting her hand to his lips. “Of course, my love. I absolutely believe you.”
“Why is he here?”
A thousand stars twinkled brilliantly in the night sky overhead. Alex could not believe that such a beautiful night could harbor the potential for something so negative. Yuri had certainly frightened Maddie, but what was his purpose? Did he really mean to murder her, or was there something else going on?
“Alex?”
He glanced at Maddie. “I don’t have any answers right now, love. All I know is that I’m going to keep you safe. The ranch is full of men that would happily shoot Yuri full of bullets if they thought he was going to harm you. Perhaps the best thing to do right now is to just go home and close ranks.”
“Is it really home?”
Alex pursed his lips. He’d intended to tell her this under slightly different circumstances, but perhaps this was the perfect moment anyway. “I had some extra time when I was in Dallas today.”
“Okay.” She seemed confused, as if he were changing the topic for no reason.
Alex smiled over at her. “I purchased land.”
She swung her entire body around in the passenger seat to face him. In the glow of the dash lights he could see that her mouth was open in shock. “You what?”
“I found a parcel of ten thousand acres that adjoins your family’s ranch.” Alex grimaced. “Found” was an exaggeration. He had paid dearly for what was apparently a very nice parcel of land with good natural water sources. “I was going to take you out there later this week and start working with an architect to see where you wanted the house and the barn.”
“Oh my God!” She was bouncing in her seat. “We can stay?”
He cocked his head, still a little confused on certain topics. “What about your career?”
“My career was awesome and I enjoyed it. But I’ve started to realize that I was so driven in New York because I had nothing else. Nothing. Even my friends were all tied to the music scene in some way. This place—” She gestured out the window to the wild moonlit Texas landscape. “—this is home. Besides, as long as I have Internet I can do some scouting. I’ll just be working with a team and not on my own.”
“Best of both worlds,” he murmured.
She was beaming at him. “Exactly.”
They flew into the ranch yard, and Alex headed straight for the house. He intended to get Maddie tucked safely inside before having a talk with the ranch foreman about security measures.
But all of those plans took a backseat when he saw the limo parked in front of the house.
“Oh God,” Maddie whispered. “It’s your mother. I can see her talking to Aunt Lori.”
Alex cursed in Russian. Why did the woman have to insert herself into everything? Hadn’t he made his position on her ideas quite clear?
“Looks like we’re going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation,” he told Maddie.
She gave his hand a squeeze. “I’m ready for it. She’s on my home turf now, and that’s not going to end well for her.”
“That’s my girl.” Alex took a deep breath and shut off the car.
He and Maddie both exited the vehicle. They met in front of the hood, and Alex took both of Maddie’s hands in his. He had never been so proud to belong to a woman before. He’d considered himself above belonging to someone as though he were property. Yet now he realized that it was mutual. They belonged to each other, and that made them stronger, not weaker. It was a fact that his mother was about to discover for herself.
Lori stood at the top of the steps to the ranch house. Her position put her above Tatiyana Nicolaevna, who stood near the bottom as though she was trying to go up and being denied the privilege. It was an interesting dynamic.
Lori was the one to speak first. “Alex, your mother has been gracious enough to explain a few things to me.”
Gracious? Tatiyana Nicolaevna? Surely Lori was being sarcastic. Yet what Alex could see of the woman’s expression in the bright yellow glow of the house’s carriage lamps appeared solemn.
Alex searched for words and realized there weren’t any that truly fit this situation. “My mother often forgets that I am in my thirties and no longer require her permission, approval, or input in my life choices.”
“Is that right?” Now there was a smile twitching at the corners of Lori’s mouth. “Because your mother has a very impressive offer to make my niece.”
“That is right!” Tatiyana announced. She raised her hand as though she were making an attempt to commandeer the entire conversation. “I will give Ms. Castillo a million dollars if she swears a legal document stating that Alexander Stepanov is not the father of her unborn child.”
“I see,” Alex said angrily. “So you failed to kill her, and now buying her off seems a better option.”
Lori pointed at Alex. “Why don’t you let my niece speak for herself?”
Alex was taken aback. Did Lori think that Maddie should take the money and cut Alex out of her life? He turned to look at Maddie. Her expression was completely unreadable. Would she take a deal like that? Even the notion cut him to the quick.
***
A MILLION DOLLARS was a lot of money. Maddie was mentally reeling from the huge offer. She stared at the woman who had birthed Alex and raised such a stiff and completely inflexible man. There were times when he seemed almost to be a robot. Yet when he was with her he relaxed. He was different. There was power to him, yes. But he took a step away from all that protocol and proper behavior and became a man. She loved him. She really did. He had done so much for her already. The fact that he would purchase land adjacent to her family’s ranch showed that he was willing to take a step outside his comfort zone just to make her happy. How could she ever turn her back on that just for money?
Maddie didn’t bother to hide the derision in her gaze when she looked Tatiyana up and down. “Look at you. You reek of effort. You know that?”
“Excuse me?”
“When I talk to music artists who spend so much time on their hair and their clothes, I advise them that the best thing to do is just be yourself.” Maddie made and up-and-down gesture to indicate Tatiyana’s tight jeans covered in ornamentation, her knee-high heeled boots, and her low cut top. “Look at this bullshit. Who exactly are you trying to be? Are you a Russian princess? You don’t look like one. Or are you just dying to have people notice you? You want so badly for your son to sit on a throne that was lost to the Bolsheviks so long ago that the only thing people remember about the incident was the horrific annihilation of an entire family. Is that what you want for your son?”
“I want his birthright!” Tatiyana snarled. She turned and took a step toward Maddie.
Maddie didn’t flinch away. She didn’t hide behind Alex. She pointed right at Tatiyana. “That is exactly right. You want your son’s birthright. You had a son by his father because of that birthright, not because you loved your child.” Maddie put her hand on her belly. “Well, this is our child. Alex’s and mine. And I’m not going to let you come into my backyard and try to take that away from me!”
Alex lifted Maddie’s left hand and displayed the emerald ring. “I’ve asked Maddie to marry me, and she’s said yes.”
Tatiyana’s gasp could have sucked all the hot air out of Texas. “You fool!”
“No.” Alex shook his head. “I would have been a fool if I let this woman get away from me. Marrying her is the only thing I’ve done right in a long time. And I’ve defected from Russia, Mother. I’m not even eligible for your throne.”
“What?” Tatiyana ran to Alex and grabbed his hand. “Say you have not! Say you did not throw away all of my plans for the future!”
“They were your plans. And yes. I did. I have political asylum here in the US. I renounced any claim to the Imperial Throne, and I did it legally before the United States government. It is final.”
“The paperwork is not finalized!” Tatiyana shrieked. “It cannot be true. You would not do this to your poor mother!”
Maddie snorted. “Oh. So he can’t mess with your plans, but you can crap all over his. Do you have any idea how narcissistic that sounds? You’re his mother! You’re supposed to love him and want his happiness. The only thing you’ve ever done is try to make him miserable.” Maddie plucked at Tatiyana’s grip on Alex, pulling her away. Maddie tossed the woman’s hand aside. “Now it’s my turn to love and care for him and make sure that he really is happy.”
Maddie could see her aunt from the corner of her eye. Aunt Lori looked apprehensive. “Are you sure, sweetie?”
“Alex just bought land adjoining our ranch,” Maddie told her aunt. “No guy has ever done more to prove that he wants a girl to be happy. Don’t you think?”
Aunt Lori grinned and turned her gaze to Alex. “Did you really?”
“This is where she wants to raise our child. I can handle my business from anywhere. If this is where Maddie wants to be, then I’m going to make it happen.”
Tatiyana was looking around her with distaste. “This is where you want to live? This dirty, disgusting place that reeks of animal droppings?”
“You mean not unlike the farm in Siberia where you grew up?” Alex retorted.
Maddie felt her eyes pop open. This crazy, insane, trendy witch of a woman had grown up on a farm?
“You know,” Maddie drawled. “You would have been more attractive if you had kept a little bit of the farm girl in you.”
“This is what you really want?” Tatiyana curled her lip and gazed with distaste at Maddie. “All of the money, privilege, and power at your fingertips and you choose an American nobody.”
“She isn’t nobody,” Alex told his mother. “She’s the woman who has agreed to be my wife.”
Tatiyana shoved her way past Alex and Maddie. “Do not come crying to me when you change your mind.”
“Oh I won’t,” Alex assured her.
Maddie watched, wondering if it was too good to be true. But Tatiyana walked regally to her limo without a backwards glance. At the last second, Yuri jumped out of the front seat and opened Tatiyana’s door for her. Alex’s mother disappeared inside her luxurious accommodations.
Maddie pointed at Yuri. The man had quite a bit of bruising around his face. Apparently the men at the club had done a real number on the accused pervert.
Maddie didn’t care. “Hey! If you ever touch me again, I’ll rip off your hand. Got it?”
Yuri didn’t answer. He was too busy scurrying back into the limo so it could leave. Maddie, Alex, and Lori watched the sleek black car leave the ranch yard and kick up swirling dust as it drove away.
“Are you sure?” Alex asked once it was out of sight. “Are you sure you want me?”
“Do I want you instead of a million dollars?” Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Is that really what you’re asking?”
“I suppose I am.”
Maddie flung her arms around Alex’s neck. “I don’t want anyone but you. Ever. I don’t care if it’s two million dollars. Or three. It still couldn’t ever buy me a better man. You’re it for me, Alex.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. His lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “Then I’m the richest man in the world.”
THE END
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