Allegra Valeri: I am a courtesan. No doubt it's strange to hear someone admit to such an antiquated profession, but there is no better way to describe it. First and foremost, I am not ashamed of what I do. I don't sleep around with countless men and in truth, I have probably slept with fewer men than most 23-year-old women living in Manhattan. This wasn't the life I wanted or expected, but I make do with the hand I was dealt.
I have three lovers who have access to me two days a week and then I have one day to myself. On those days, I am theirs and theirs alone. Most of the time, we have sex, but sometimes we just enjoy each other's company. I am not their mistress. For these men, a mistress is dangerous. A mistress falls in love and might want to become a wife. I will not. This is my job and I do not mix business with affairs of the heart. I live a life of leisure and in return I make them extraordinarily happy. I am a courtesan. That's my job.
Boris Malakhov: This isn't the life I wanted or expected, but some things were out of my control. My father fell into this crowd when he was still in Leningrad, St. Petersburg now. They helped him escape and then bring my mother over a year later. Times were different and it was harder to get out. He felt he owed them everything, including his son. When the Pakhan, or godfather, my father's closest friend, encouraged me to keep my nose in my books, I thought I would be allowed to make my own way, but they had other plans. He put me through college and law school, NYU then Columbia, because he wanted to create his very own mob lawyer entrenched from the inside and above all suspicion.
As much as I want something that resembles a normal life—maybe a family--I always feared dragging someone else into my world. That was before I met Allegra. Now, things are different. Right now, I share her with three others, but I can't take this much longer. It just needs to be us from now on. I know she loves me, she's just too stubborn and vindictive to admit it.
Nothing is ever as it seems. Find out what happens when jealous lovers fight to have her to themselves and her favorite, a Russian attorney with a secret, finally melts her icy heart.
