Read Online Poppy: Bride of Alaska (American Mail-Order Bride 49) by Cassie Hayes - Free Book Online Page B

watching.
    “You’re a thief!” Matthew bellowed, pointing an accusing finger past Poppy. “You’re a no-good, cheating, lying thief! ”
    The man’s face turned the color of borscht, a meal Poppy had eaten often with her Slavic neighbors in the tenement. It wouldn’t take many more insults for him to switch from protecting that boy to defending his own honor. It was just like men to start off screaming instead of talking.  
    Rolling her eyes, she stepped between them, one palm held up to each of them. “Stop! Both of you, stop yelling. Can’t you see you’re upsetting the boy?”
    Understanding grew in Matthew’s eyes as he got a glimpse of the cowering boy. He stumbled back a step, as if she’d slapped him, and blinked away some of his rage. The Russian looked between Poppy and Matthew, confused and alarmed, but also calming down.
    Turning to the man, she said, “Now, are you Vladimir Vinchenko?”
    His dark, deep-set eyes narrowed.
    “Why you want to know?”
    Poppy smiled grimly.  
    “I’ll take that as a yes. Tell me, Mr. Vinchenko, does this man look at all familiar to you?”
    Vinchenko gave Matthew a once-over, frowning deeply.  
    “ Nyet .”
    “Liar!”
    Poppy threw a dark glare at Matthew, who glared back but stopped talking.
    “Sir, this is Matthew Turner. You know his father.”
    Vinchenko’s brow folded in on itself, then recognition dawned on his broad face. For a brief moment, it almost looked as if he might smile, but then his frown grew deeper.  
    “ You call me ‘thief’? Your father da vor , da thief!”
    This proved more than Matthew could bear. Shooting past her, he lunged at Vinchenko, who was more than ready to grapple. Poppy stumbled backward and caught the eye of the boy, who’d taken cover behind a pile of fabric bolts. He bore a slight resemblance to Vinchenko, but he definitely had Indian blood in his veins. Her heart ached at the fear in his dark eyes. No child should have to witness his father fighting. At least Vinchenko wasn’t drunk or beating on his own wife, but still…it needed to stop.
    Giving him a wink and a quick smile, Poppy took a deep lungful of air and let fly the loudest blood-curdling scream of her life.
    * ~ * ~ *
    Blood and hate pulsed through Matthew as he tried to punch Vinchenko in his lying mouth, but the man was too quick, always ducking before a blow landed. This only enraged Matthew further, until Vinchenko’s attention was drawn away and Matthew saw his opening. Drawing his arm back, he summoned all his strength and prayed for a clean shot.
    Then the scream of a dying woman split the very air, sending both men reeling while their animal brains tried to figure out what was happening. Matthew spun around just in time to see Poppy slowly tumble to the floor. Instinct took over and he lunged for her, catching her body before her head hit. Hate flipped to fear.
    “Poppy! Poppy, what happened? Are you hurt?”
    Her moan was music to his ears.  
    “Matthew?”  
    Vinchenko loomed over them.  
    “What happen to pretty lady?”
    “I don’t know.” He’d never felt so helpless. Had he knocked her down on his way to Vinchenko? The very idea that he might have hurt her filled him with anguish. “Poppy?”
    Her eyes fluttered open, and he’d never been more affected by their vibrant blue. They showed no sign of pain, and suddenly he could breathe again.  
    “Are you finished?” she asked quietly.
    Why must she always speak in riddles? Maybe she hit her head after all.  
    “Finished?”
    “Acting like a fool? Fainting’s hard business, you know.”  
    With that, she scrambled up, with a helping hand from Vinchenko’s grinning boy, and planted her fists on her tiny waist, glaring at them. She faked it! The little vixen.
    “Shame on both of you, behaving like brawling schoolboys. What kind of lesson are you teaching this impressionable boy, Mr. Vinchenko? And you, Matthew. What on earth could you possibly gain from attacking him like