«At your service, Your Highness.» He bowed.

«My God!» She looked at the coat. «I know the price of fur coats. It costs a fortune!»

«Just say the word,» Oleg uttered passionately, «and I’ll throw my life under your feet, as I did with the coat.»

Lana did not smile; she gawked at him.

«I have to go now,» she finally said. «Can we meet tomorrow? About 10 a.m., in the library. Is that okay with you?»

«Any time, any place,» he replied emotionally. «Say it, and I’ll go to the edge of the world!»

She smirked and left. Oleg picked up his coat.

«Oleg,» Ruslan Grafinsky said coldly. «You are a bastard.»

Merkulov grinned. «I’m just a businessman. And I strongly recommend you mind your own business. Maybe I feel real love, how do you know?»

Ruslan didn’t reply.

Next day, at 9:55 a.m., Lana Limpson went to the city library. Oleg Merkulov was already there. He saw her entering the hall, and he gasped, throwing his arms up.

«Lana,» he addressed her, taking her hand and kissing it. «Milady, you came in, and it was like sunshine lit up this dull boring place.»

Lana smiled at his reaction and looked around. She saw some people were reading and writing nearby, and she felt uncomfortable.

«Let’s go somewhere,» she suggested. Lana liked how Oleg spoke to her, but she was ashamed that someone else might take it as a joke and make fun of her.

«To a restaurant?» Oleg looked at her with concern. «Are you hungry, sweetheart? Just name it and we can go. I’ll pay.»

«I can pay myself.» She smiled.

«No way,» he retorted peering deep into her eyes. «No Russian man could allow the woman next to him to pay for herself. One man, when he found out he couldn’t afford to pay for their dinner, went outside and shot himself. He preferred to die than to live with such a disgracing act.»

«Wow. No, in the United States women often pay for themselves and for their men.»

Oleg demonstratively sighed and shook his head with disapproval, then gallantly gave her his hand.

As they left the library, Lana saw Ruslan Grafinsky. She remembered him next to Oleg, and now she smiled, not noticing Oleg frown and the spite that glinted in his eyes.

«Miss Limpson,» Ruslan started resolutely. «I have to talk with you.»

Unexpectedly, Oleg leapt at Ruslan, pushed him aside, and said something in Russian. The men started wrangling, and Lana watched them with terror. «What was going on?» She wondered about the reason for such emotion.

Suddenly, Oleg punched Ruslan in the face so hard that he sat straight down on the sidewalk. Oleg took the hand of a shocked Lana, and quickly brought her to his car.

«Your friend,» mumbled Lana.

«He will be okay,» Oleg said through clenched teeth. «It’s Russian business, don’t worry.»

«Miss Limpson!» she heard Ruslan scream, but Oleg drove away.

They kept silent for a while. Oleg parked his car in the first parking lot.

«I want make things straight,» he started slowly. «I want to show you that I’m honest with you. I am and I will be. And this is my proof: I’m married.»

Lana gaped at him.

«I told you this, first of all, because I don’t want to lie to you, I didn’t and I won’t. Second, for to know, if I’m married, it means I honestly just want to be your friend, and I’m not looking for your money.» He said it with pain and bitterness in his voice, and Lana was touched.

«Money.» She shook her head. «I couldn’t forget one event from my childhood. My dad took me to a carnival. He was already rich enough, not as rich as he is now, but he was making good money. I wanted him to buy me a toy bird. It was so funny. Purple, with a huge beak. I wanted it so much. I begged dad, but he said it would be a pointless waste of money. And he didn’t buy it. The carnival moved away, and I never saw such a toy again. When I grew up and we started discussing where should I study, I refused his offers. I said, „It would be a pointless waste of money. I want to study here, in my own town.“ He agreed. He probably forgot this, his expression, but I never could.»