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gone to lunch or shopped with any of my boyfriends."
    "It's different with Sergei."
    I had to hear this one. "Because?"
    "Because he's the father of my grandbaby," she said matter-of-factly. Her coffee brown eyes almost dared me to deny it.
    My emotions warred within me. Shock, fear and the slightest twinge of betrayal surged through me. "He told you."
    "Don't be too angry with him. He was trying to protect you."
    Feeling like a little girl and on the verge of tears at the thought of disappointing my mother, I whispered, "I'm sorry, Mama."
    Her face fell, and she opened her arms. "Sweetie, come here."
    Safe in my mother's arms, I burrowed into her neck and let some of the fear I had been feeling since learning I was pregnant escape. "Mama, I don't know the first thing about having a baby."
    "You'll learn," she assured me while soothingly rubbing my back. "You've got so much love in you. I'll be there with you." She hugged me tighter. "I'm always here for you."
    "I never wanted to embarrass or disappoint you, Mama. You taught me to be smart and responsible but—"
    "Baby, you could never disappoint me! After everything we've survived and all you've accomplished? No! You're the most amazing young woman I've ever known and I'm so proud to be your mother"
    Her kind words made me cry even harder. I pulled back and wiped at the tears that had spilled onto my cheeks. "You're not angry?"
    "Over a new baby in the family? Never!" She pushed my hair behind my shoulder. "You're a grown woman. I would have preferred that you had done things the right way but…" She smiled at me. "A baby," she whispered excitedly. "It's about time we started adding new members to this family instead of losing them."
    Thinking of my father and brother saddened me. They wouldn't be there to greet this tiny life growing inside me. A drunk driver and an angry, hateful white supremacist had seen to that. After all the pain our family had known, Mama was right. It was nice to have a new life to celebrate.
    "Go freshen up your face," she gently suggested. "We don't want to be late for our meeting."
    "Yes, ma'am."
    She touched me cheek. "It'll be all right, sugar. You'll see."
    Because my mother said it, I knew it had to be true.

Chapter Three
    "No, you're putting emphasis on the wrong syllable." Vivian leaned forward and drew lines under the word she had spelled out phonetically for me. "Zuh-dras-voo-tye. Zadrastvutje. Try again."
    Sitting in the library of the grand historic home she shared with her husband, I tried to concentrate on the Russian lesson, but the imposing, intimidating man hovering near the doorway interrupted my concentration. The man Vivi had earlier introduced as Ten leaned against the door frame now and watched us in the most unnerving way. He didn't speak or smile. He simply stared.
    For some reason I couldn't fathom, Nikolai had chosen this terrifying beast to replace Sergei as his wife's bodyguard. Blond with the faintest reddish tint to his hair, Ten was shorter than Sergei but still very tall. His shoulders weren't nearly as broad either, but he was uncommonly muscular with thick arms and legs. The mean hands curled into loose fists had probably done some serious damage over the years.
    He had more tattoos than I had ever seen in my life. Not even Ivan had as many as this man. Most of the ones on his neck and arms looked like prison ink with their rough, blurred edges and uneven coloring, but there was one tattoo—a bold, brightly hued tiger that stretched from the underside of his left wrist up above the crook of his elbow—that looked professionally done. I didn't even want to think about what those daggers with bloody tips or that creepy spider just visible inside the open collar of his shirt meant.
    Vivi seemed to notice my discomfort. "Ten, you don't have to babysit me. When we're here at the house, you should make yourself comfortable."
    "The boss said I'm supposed to keep both eyes on you."
    Her lips pressed together, and I