Chapter 9
Oleg
“What do you mean, she is gone?” Oleg was fuming. He had spent nearly all night entertaining and charming the immortal guests of the Báthory Summit, and all he wanted—all herequired—was an hour or two with his mate.
“I called Sándor,” Mika said. “She left the ball and proceeded immediately to the airport.”
Oleg narrowed his eyes. “Was Kezia with her?”
“My spies say the elder Poshani terrin is still in her mansion in the city and will remain here for at least another week, doing follow-up meetings and finalizing contracts that were negotiated during the summit.”
Which meant that Tatyana left for another reason. There was no rush and clearly no emergency since Kezia was remaining in Budapest.
Mika walked to the blue upholstered chair in the corner of Oleg’s dressing room and sat, stretching his legs out. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.” Oleg ripped off the kaftan and tossed it on a chaise. “We danced. I could not dance with her again—that would not have been strategic.”
Mika rubbed his temples as if he could get a headache. “Did you make plans to meet when you saw her last night?”
“No.” Oleg kicked off his boots. “Not definitely. She didn’t know what her schedule would be.”
“You did burn her gloves,” Mika muttered. “Maybe she was upset about that. It certainly set tongues wagging at the ball.”
Oleg froze. “And? What was the consensus of the gossips?”
“No consensus. It’s as it always is with you two. Some say you are lovers. Some say you are angry because she stole from you. Some say that she hates you, and others say that you hate her. Everyone agrees that you two react to each other, which is not a secret.”
Oleg nodded. “Good.”
“It is noted by almost all that Tatyana le Tala remains polite and practical with everyone she interacts with… save for you.”
He smirked. “I should hope not.”
“Ivan was muttering something about her, but I couldn’t catch it. They danced, and then he left the ball shortly after that.”
Oleg lifted his chin. “Was there a connection made between the two events?”
“Not really. He danced a couple more dances after her, then went to meet all his men at a club downtown.” Mika waved a hand. “Everyone knows that Ivan isn’t the ballroom sort.”
“What did they talk about?”
Mika pursed his lips. “She shut him down. He was trying to get her to run ground cargo for him again. He—not incorrectly—thinks that she’s the main roadblock to getting the Poshani to work in his territory again.”
“She’s not the only roadblock. Kezia and Radu both know what happened with Vano.”
Vano, the previous terrin of the Poshani, was dead because he’d entered into a secret alliance with Ivan to seize more power and had backed Ivan against Oleg.
And in the midst of that, he’d violated Poshani hospitality laws and stolen from the people, which was why Vano was dead and Tatyana was terrin.
But Ivan didn’t know for certain that Vano had been found out. All he knew was that Vano was dead and the new Poshani terrin didn’t want to work with him.
“Drop it in a few of Ivan’s ears on the ground: Tatyana is cautious.”
Mika frowned. “Tatyanaiscautious.”
“Yes, but that’s the reason they’re not getting Poshani ground support now. It’s because the Poshani don’t see Ivan as a reliable or safe partner.”
“None of that is false.”
