The Russian's Secret Child (The Fedosov Family Series) Read Free Page A

thought nothing about her fast departure. They had learned several new words, and were anxious to display their newfound knowledge to Mrs. Rusnik, and the men.
    Jasmine hurried home, her feet hurting by the time she finished the ten block walk across town. She kept her head down, and her eyes and ears open for danger as she walked the last two blocks. The Russian Bratva was currently fighting amongst themselves, and since she lived in the heart of their territory, it was more common than not to see violence taking place in broad daylight.
    She had never been the recipient of their violence, but she also knew there was a first time for everything and wasn’t stupid enough to think she could live in this part of the city without the possibility of harm coming to her.
    She breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the apartment complex. Climbing the stairs to the third floor, she knocked on her neighbor’s door, “Dasha, I’m home,” she called through the door.
    Dasha opened the door with a smile of greeting upon her face, “Oh good, I was just about to put him down for a nap. Now we won’t have to wake him. Mikhail, look who’s here, baby. Momma’s here.”
    Jasmine smiled at her son, picking him up and nuzzling his baby neck, “Hello sweetheart. Were you a good boy for Dasha?”
    “He’s always a good boy. He was a little cranky at first, but he seems fine now. So, how was your first day?”
    Jasmine smiled, “It was good. The two ladies I’m working with are very nice. I must say it’s nice to hear other American’s speaking English.”
    Dasha laughed, she wished she could speak English, but alas, she only spoke Russian. It was a bonus that Jasmine spoke Russian as well as she did English so they had no problems communicating with each other.
    “I should get out of your hair. Thanks again.”
    “Don’t mention it. It’s worth getting up, to know that I get to play with this little man for a few hours. See ya tomorrow?”
    Jasmine nodded, “Same time.”
    “Have a nice day.”
    Jasmine carried her son to her own apartment, making sure to fasten all of the locks and chains before she headed for the kitchen to put the kettle on.
    “Mikhail, I did well today, baby. In a few months, Mommy will be able to afford to apply for a new visa and then we’ll go home to America. We just have to hold on for a few more months.”
    Jasmine rocked her son to sleep, sipping her tea and dreaming of the day she could board a plane with her son and leave Russia. She should have left before her visa expired, but she had stuck around hoping Misha would come back so she could tell him he was going to be a father.
    By the time she had realized he wasn’t coming back, she was extremely ill and it was all she could do to take care of herself from one day to the next.  She had met Dasha at one of the medical clinics and Dasha had taken her under her wing.
    By the time she had been feeling well enough to make rational decisions, her visa had expired and she had lost her chance to turn in her final doctoral thesis. She had allowed her future to slip through her fingers, and ended up stuck in a strange country, pregnant and alone.
    The only way for her to fix this mess was to obtain a new visa, a forged one, but one that would most likely result in her being able to enter the U.S. once again.
    Unfortunately, the cost for such a piece of paper was in excess of two thousand American dollars. Money she didn’t have, and without a work permit, couldn’t earn. She was screwed!
    She had called the U.S. Embassy from a payphone shortly after Mikhail had been born, but had been told that they could only assist with her visa. They couldn’t help her get her son into the U.S. because he was technically a Russian citizen. Since there was no way she was leaving her son behind, she had become stuck here.
    When she had seen the advertisement for a Russian tutor and recognized the DAV Mining address, she had seen the first glimmer of hope. Now