Ivan's Dilemma: The Mila K Mysteries, #2

By K.C. Brennan

It's been a month since Mila returned to Chernivtsi. And it had been an eventful homecoming. She was still contemplating how Pietro, whom she thought was the lost love of her life, could have been such a fraud and then killed so horribly?

 

She was glad the school year had started, and she was now able to focus on her courses and students instead.

 

However, with the arrival of the new dean circumstances become both good and bad for Mila. Though Sergei Vasilovici seems to be a challenging fellow with no real connections or much of a personal history, Mila finds him an acceptable replacement for Pietro Melnik as dean, especially when he offers her a promotion. At the same time, he is not as amiable with the students, particularly Ivan Popov. The two are seen arguing at Sergei's welcome assembly and when Sergei is found murdered in his office the next morning Ivan is pulled in as the likely killer.

 

When she realizes what has happened Mila rushes to help Ivan. For though Ivan may be a womanizer and headstrong, Mila is very sure he is NOT a murderer.

Ivan's arrest also brings his brother Oleck rushing home from his posting in Kyiv.

 

The two join forces to help Ivan and soon discover that there is more going on than meets the eye…and maybe that applies to the two of them as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: KCB Mysteries
• Release date: Sep 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223020332

Book preview

Chapter 1

One month had passed since Pietro Melnik’s death and Mila still couldn’t wrap her head around it. How could the one who she thought was the lost love of her life turn out to be such a fraud?

She had seen Natalia, his widow, just once after the event, and somehow she had looked relieved. Mrs. Melnik had left the University and had decided to do something else with her life. Probably because it was too painful to regularly see the place where both her husband and her brother were murdered. But then again, she wasn’t destined for an academic career either.

A new Dean was to be appointed, but until that day came, no one from the University actually wanted the job. The general belief was that the position was cursed. The former Dean, Professor Kulik, had also died under suspicious circumstances. And when you live in an Orthodox country, two deaths are enough to build superstition.

The rumor was that somebody from Kyiv was about to be appointed by the leading party, but Mila didn’t care. She just wanted this to be settled already so she could only focus on her job. She had started teaching and giving lectures to her students, but she knew that a new face would mean new rules. 

The last thing she wanted was to start a program and to not to be able to finish it. This is why she needed this waiting to be over as soon as possible. Also, she wanted to get an apartment of her own, but couldn’t make any decisions without having the new person in charge. What if he or she would decide that Mila was not a good fit? She wouldn’t be able to afford rent and would have to move back in with her father.

She was about to get in her car when her phone buzzed. 

Meet me at Danylo’s. I have news.

Sweet Ania, Mila thought. 

Her friend was her best moral support. She was always cheerful and ready to combine serious talk with bullshiting around. Mila didn’t understand what kind of relationship Ania and the owner of the pub, Danylo, had, but the only thing that mattered was that Ania was happy.

Every time Mila went into that pub, she inevitably asked the bartender for information about his best friend, Oleck. She never planned to do so, but she never could restrain herself. She didn’t understand why he had left without saying goodbye. 

Mila was no expert in relationships, but she really felt something growing between them. So, the young detective leaving town the way he did, made her feel even less confident about her feelings. It was bad enough that she felt this way. What she needed even less was to see Oleck’s little brother, Ivan, every day in class. 

At first, she thought that they were nothing alike, but now she was seeing Oleck in every inch of Ivan.

Get a hold of yourself, woman!

With that thought in mind, she put on some very loud music and drove to the pub, reassuring herself once again that she would not ask Danylo any questions about his friend.

Chapter 2

Sergei Vasilovici arrived in Chernivtsi, and immediately it felt like home. He had been given the opportunity to start a new life and to wipe out all the bad things people liked to say about him. He knew that he was born to be a leader and that all that superstitious crap about this town was only for simple-minded people.

Sergei already knew how he would begin his leadership. He would not support any misconduct from the professors. If some of them were not happy about it, he wouldn’t mind letting them go. There were others who could fill those positions. As for the students, the same applied. Only people who deserved an education would actually graduate. 

He had been happy when he heard that Natalia Melnik resigned. Sergei knew that if not for her resignation he would have had to fire her and that would have brought tons of hatred towards him. Firing a woman who had just lost her husband was not something that people appreciated, even though she was not fit to be in charge of the History Department.

Sergei heard that a new face from Kyiv had recently been hired. He was very pleased to hear this because he actually gone to one of her lectures a year back, and even then he had been impressed with Ms. Kovalenko’s potential. 

Without further ado, Sergei knew that he and Ms. Kovalenko would have the best professional relationship one could hope for. This was why she was the first person he told his secretary to call in for a meeting.

Chapter 3

Mila was parking the car when her phone rang.

Hello! Ms. Kovalenko? the voice on the other end of the line said.

Yes, she replied.

"I am Katia from the dean’s office. You have an appointment with the new dean in two hours. Can I let him know that you