Dmitri had failed him.He’d sent him off and immediately become so enthralled with Keira that he hadn’t checked in or sent anyone else to do the same.Another misstep.He tried to think fast and find an angle to exploit, but ultimately Alethea had him painted into a corner, and she had to know it.She wouldn’t have waited until now to make contact if there was a way for him to regain the upper hand.“I’ll take that under consideration.”
“You do that.”
He gritted his teeth and then forced his face to relax so that tension wouldn’t bleed into his voice.“In themeantime, any damage done to my man from here forward will be repaid in kind, so think carefully about what you want to accomplish, Alethea.”
She laughed, a harsh, grating sound.“We both know that the second you get your hands on me, you’llrepay in kindregardless of whether he’s further injured.Don’t toy with me, Romanov.”
“You will bring him to me.I’ll consider sparing you if he’s not irreparably harmed.”Mikhail might very well die despite everything Dmitri had to throw at Alethea.The thought made his hands shake, and he had to press his free one to his desk to keep from throwing something.Dmitri didn’t make mistakes, but he’d made a massive one when it came to Alethea—two now, if he was keeping track.
“I’ll take that under consideration,” she parroted back to him, and hung up.
Dmitri roared and swept the shit off his desk.“That fuckingbitch.”She’d outplayed him.He could blame his distraction on Keira, but the only one responsible was Dmitri.He’d incorrectly assumed that because the Eldridges were in hiding, they were weak and focusing on surviving.
He should have known better.
Alethea hung up the phone and turned to the man handcuffed in the dingy tub.“You know, I think Romanov might actually care whether you live or die.Fascinating.”
Mikhail stared at her with hateful eyes.She’d gagged him before making the call—no one liked interruptions—but now she reached over and unbuckled the strap holdingit in place.He coughed and turned his head to the side to spit.“He won’t deal with you.Not for me.”
“Perhaps.”It would bother Romanov if this man died, but he was too smart to risk himself or his wife for a mere second in command.That wasn’t what this was about.She needed Romanov off-center and expecting an attack from any quarter while her mole inside his operation did what was required.Expecting an attack from the outside would keep him busy in the meantime.
Mikhail studied her.“You can’t win.You have to know that.”
“Do you have any children, Mikhail?”
His expression instantly shuttered.“Nyet.”
It was a lie, but she chose to let it stand.Mikhail was only a means to an end.Hunting down his family was a waste of time and resources—but it wouldn’t hurt for him to think otherwise.“It wouldn’t matter.Fathers are wonderful, but ultimately replaceable.There’s nothing in this world as pure as a mother’s love.”She picked up the scalpel Mae had left behind and cleaned it in the bathroom sink.“My mother created a safe space for her children to grow up in.I merely expanded it for mine.All I wanted was the freedom to operate as I saw fit.I’d bend a knee to Romanov, but being his lapdog was too much to ask.”
“You are not special.Everyone who swears allegiance to him is treated the same.”
“And if they’re not, he plots their deaths.”She set the scalpel down on the sink with exaggerated care.“He would have killed Mae and me simply for being too good at running our territory within his territory.I won’t stand for it.”
“Mae ispsikh.She will kill you in the end.”
She shook her head and forced the ball gag back into his mouth.“That’s enough out of you.I know my daughter’s faults better than anyone.It changes nothing.”She would move forward with her plan through sheer self-defense.Alethea took no pleasure in the thought of killing every man and woman inside the Romanov household, but she’d do what it took to survive.
To do anything else went against her nature.
After Dmitri had walked out and left her sitting there on the floor, a few things had become clear to Keira—the main being that Dmitri was right.He’d thrown her a life raft, but he couldn’t force her to climb in.He hadn’t been playing a game or a part when he’d stormed into her bedroom.With the exception of the two times they’d hooked up since she arrived in New York, it was the first time she’d seen him without his carefully mocking mask firmly in place.
If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he cared whether she was sober or not—and not only because he needed her not to embarrass him.
He’d offered to make her his queen.
She didn’t know what to do with that.He didn’t have to make her his partner, even if it was the illusion of being a partner.Queen to his king.All the power she’d craved, but no more freedom.
There was no freedom for Keira.It was time she made her peace with that.
She pulled herself from the floor.Nothing good came from poking at their last interaction, to go over it againand again, peeling the layers away to try to get to the good stuff beneath.He’d offered her what was essentially a business transaction, but if she didn’t set the terms now, he’d try to steamroll her just like he had in the past.He wouldn’t be able to help himself.Dmitri was a force of nature, and her being his wife wouldn’t save her from his machinations.
If anything, she was more at risk than anyone else.
She padded downstairs on bare feet, praying she wouldn’t run into anyone on her way to Dmitri’s office.The door was closed, but no one was around to tell her to stay out, so she opened it and slipped into the room.
And stopped cold.
Papers and pens and the phone lay on the floor, scattered as if Dmitri had swept everything off his desk in a rage.Considering how clean said desk was, that had to be exactly what he’d done.He bent over it, his hands braced on the shiny surface, his shoulders heaving as he dragged in a breath.Oh my God, I’ve broken the Russian.
