She needs this. Needs to remember what it feels like to just exist without the constant weight of survival crushing her.
I settle at her small kitchen table with her laptop, the one she had open on one of the tables downstairs that first night. All those red numbers glaring into the dim light of the closed bakery. She didn't protest when I asked to look at her finances. Just nodded, exhausted and trusting in a way that made my chest tight.
The numbers are worse than I thought.
Three months behind on rent for the building. Suppliers demanding payment before they'll deliver. Utilities threatening disconnection. Insurance lapsed. She's been juggling debts like a circus act, and the whole thing is about to crash.
She never had a chance.
I pull up a separate window and start making notes. Property value. Business assets. Debts that can be negotiated versus ones that need to be paid immediately. It's a mess, but it's fixable.
Everything is fixable with enough money and the right connections.
My phone buzzes. Iosif.
I glance at Lily. She's absorbed in her book, legs tucked under her, completely unaware. I step into the bedroom and close the door.
"Talk to me," I say.
"The situation's handled," Iosif replies without preamble. "The crew that jumped you? They won't be a problem anymore."
"Dead?"
"Two of them. The third ran to New Jersey. He knows better than to come back."
"Good."
"You owe me for cleaning up your mess,” he grumbles.
"Put it on my tab."
He snorts. "Your tab is getting expensive. The Pakhan is asking questions, Zakhar. He wants to know where you've been, what you're doing."
I let out a frustrated sigh and push my hand through my hair. "Tell him I'm securing my heir situation."
Silence. Then: "You're serious about this woman. After a week."
"Deadly."
More silence. I can practically hear him thinking, trying to figure out if I've lost my mind.
"Does she know what she's getting into?" he asks finally.
"She's learning. I need a favor."
He sighs. "Of course you do."
"I need you to contact Vitali. Have him draw up a prenuptial agreement."
The silence this time is stunned. "A what?"
"Prenup. Full financial protection for Lily in case of divorce or my death. Assets, property, income, everything. I want her set up so she never has to worry again."
"Bratva marriages don't ever end in divorce, Zakhar."
"I know that. She doesn't. She's not Bratva, Iosif. She's anxious, terrified of losing the last shred of what she has left. This will help."
"The Pakhan won't like it."
