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Since her mother’s death, the only people she had allowed herself to form attachments to were Anneke and Alyx and her family. When she had felt her life was too empty, she had only toyed with the idea of being someone’s girlfriend, and now she knew she had chosen the professor because while he was perfect on paper and he could make her heart skip a beat, he didn’t threaten her. Her world wouldn’t collapse if he left her or said no.
But Sergei was different. The Russian billionaire hadn’t just gotten under her skin but had found a way to permanently glue himself to a part of her heart.Even worse, Fredericka thought with just a tiny amount of unease, the other members of his family had somehow managed to make themselves just as important to her as well.
What was it with these Grachyovs that they made you want them to stay in your life forever?
“Is it true, Freddie?” she heard Seri ask.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, she asked, “What’s true?”
“That Amal’s your mentor?”
“Nope,” Fredericka admitted cheerfully, “but Sergei brought me once to an event, and George Clooney and Amal were there, and I sort of did a photo-bombing thing—-”
“Sort of?” Sergei coughed politely. As far as he could recall, Fredericka had practically pushed her way to the front in hopes of catching Amal Clooney’s attention.
Misha, the middle Grachyov brother, took the article from his sister’s hand and scanned the rest of it. Dark-haired and silver-eyed, Misha was the family’s genius, with two degrees under his belt – and counting – at the ripe old age of twenty-four. When he looked up, he said dryly, “I don’t think you should take this article as a compliment.”
“Why not?” Fredericka was confused.
“Because, my future sister-in-law—-”
Fredericka turned red and Sergei grinned.
“It’s saying that the two of you are hooking up with famous rich guys because you want trophy husbands.”
Her jaw dropped open, but before she could respond, Sergei leaned close to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s fine,pchelka.” His tone was silky smooth. “I’m fine with being a trophy husband. It means I can retire and you’ll start working for us,da?”
His siblings burst out laughing, and even the patriarch of the family, the intimidating ex-pugilist Fyodor Grachyov, was doing his best not to smile.
“No one’s going to be my trophy husband,” she protested.
But no one was listening to her. The other Grachyovs were too busy congratulating Sergei for finding the ideal wife.
Fredericka made a face, but she knew deep inside that she was just pretending to be mad. The truth was, shelovedthis family. If love at first sight was possible, then that was exactly how she felt the moment she had moved in with this rich, gorgeous bunch of lunatics. They had made her feel like family from day one, so much so that she couldn’t even recall what life was like before Sergei Grachyov and his family entered the picture.
Beside her, Sergei leaned close to her again, and she tried not to sniff appreciatively when she caught a whiff of his cologne. He had always smelled so good, but these days she just couldn’t get enough of his scent.
“Eat the rest of your food,pchelka,”he urged gently.
“But I already feel full.”
“You have to eat for yourself and for our baby, you know that, right?” Sergei reached for her spoon, asking, “How about I feed you—-”
What?When she saw that the billionaire was indeed serious, she hastily grabbed the spoon from his hold, muttering, “I can feed myself, thanks.”
Sergei smiled. “Good girl.”
And just like that, she knew that he had only bluffed about feeding her, knowing that it would get her to eat.
Jerk,Fredericka thought without heat.
Sergei Grachyov should have been everything that she hated, but instead he was proving her every prejudice wrong.
Younger guys were supposed to be immature, but instead Sergei had taken his impending fatherhood in stride. He had issued a press release about her pregnancy, and he had his secretary pen all her doctor’s appointments and workshop dates into his calendar. He also seemed to know more about the ins and outs of pregnancy than she did, and when Fredericka had asked him about it, he had told her without an ounce of embarrassment that he had already read six manuals on the subject.
He was perfect husband material in other words, and it was getting harder and harder for her to remember why she had to turn his proposal down.
When everyone was finished with breakfast, the Grachyovs started to stand and Fredericka cursed in her mind.Shit.She had been so busy daydreaming she had forgotten about this. She hastily came to her feet, hoping to escape, but it was too late.