Free Kholodov's Last Mistress by Kate Hewitt

gave another hiccuppy sob.
    Sergei smiled and sat next to her on the bed, tucking a hank of hair behind her ear. ‘I could never pretend such a thing, Varya. We’ve known each other since we were children.’
    She offered him a watery smile. ‘Not much of a childhood, eh?’
    ‘No.’ Sergei observed her with a weary despair. Every time Varya drifted back into his life, she looked more worn, more
used.
The lines on her face, the caked make-up, the bloodshot eyes … all of it told a story he’d tried so hard to rewrite. Yet Varya had never wanted to take a handout, and she’d always felt ill at ease in Sergei’s new world. She only came to him when she was desperate, and left as soon as she could.
    ‘You’re good to me,’ Varya said again, sniff ling. ‘But you’re so alone, Serozyha,’ she continued, using her pet name forhim from childhood. ‘So lonely. You never let anyone close. Not even me.’
    I find that very sad.
‘Old habits die hard, Varya.’
    She looked up at him blearily. ‘I want you to be happy.’
    Happy? Sergei couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such an emotion. Satisfaction, yes. Triumph, certainly. But a genuine joy? Never. ‘Let’s worry about you,’ Sergei replied, helping her up from the bed. ‘Come get in the bath.’ He helped her undress, as if she were a child, knowing in her current state she couldn’t do it by herself. When she finally sank beneath the bubbles and closed her eyes, Sergei left her in peace but kept the door ajar so he could check on her.
    A knock sounded on the door of the suite, and after Sergei called to enter Grigori slipped into the room. His face was pale except for the port-wine birthmark that had been the reason he’d been abandoned, and had made his childhood at the orphanage a misery.
    ‘Sergei, I’m so sorry. Security told me that Varya had been looking for you, but I didn’t realise she’d found you in the restaurant—’
    ‘It’s all right,’ Sergei cut off his assistant’s frantic apologies. ‘I’m glad she found me.’
    Grigori still looked anxious, although whether for his sake or Varya’s Sergei didn’t know. Grigori had never told Sergei he loved Varya, but it was obvious from the naked need on his face.
    ‘Is she—?’
    ‘She needs a bath and a hot meal and about twelve hours’ sleep,’ Sergei said. Grigori nodded; they both knew Varya needed a lot more than that, just as they knew she would never take it. Life on the street had been a lot harder for her than it had been for them. A woman was far more vulnerable and those hard years had marked Varya for ever.
    ‘And Miss Pearl …?’ he asked, hesitantly, and Sergei lookedaway. He could still feel the softness of her hand on his cheek, the kind urgency of her words. She’d wanted to believe in him. He was glad he’d shattered at least that illusion. He turned back to Grigori.
    ‘You can help her with her visa and passport tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I don’t intend ever to see her again.’

CHAPTER FIVE
    One year later
    S ERGEI stared moodily out at the Manhattan skyline as several businessmen around the conference table rustled their papers.
    ‘Mr Kholodov …?’
    Reluctantly he turned back to the table of executives, who were all eyeing him with different degrees of wary unease. He was acquiring their company, and this meeting was no more than a formality, the signing of a few papers. Clearly he was taking too long. He beckoned to the man nearest to him.
    ‘I’m ready to sign.’
    Sergei scrawled his signatures on half a dozen forms, his mind still on the city skyline.
    Hadley Springs … about four hours north of New York City.
    Even now, a year later, he hadn’t forgotten. He hadn’t forgotten a single thing about that evening. About Hannah Pearl.
    He pushed the papers away, barely listening to the babble of voices as they went over the transferring of assets. What was one more company when he already had a dozen? Too restless to sit any longer, he