Radu rolled his eyes. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
Tatyana had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. The chin tilt and the snapping were too accurate by far.
She spoke but kept her voice low. “Oleg Sokolov’s territory represents roughly half of our current markets.” Tatyana shuffled some papers in front of her needlessly. “Kezia, you know how I feel about Oleg and his entire clan, but all of us have to consider realistically what a rejection of this proposal would mean.”
The entire room fell silent.
Kezia’s eyes went wide. She looked as if she’d just received a death sentence.
Objecting to the arrogant Oleg Sokolov? Understandable.
But rejecting a serious proposal of political union from the vampire lord of the Kievan Rus?
Their people would have to uproot homes and businesses.
They would lose the years of financial progress they had made.
Radu would lose his closest ally in the precarious Black Sea region.
Now. She heard Oleg’s voice in her mind.Speak now.
With that death sentence hanging in the air…
“I will do it.” Tatyana raised her head, then gave Radu a firm nod. “Not Kezia. Me.”
Kezia’s eyes went wide. “Tatyana?—”
“I know him, and I know what to expect.” She persisted. “I will do it. Send our reply back to Oleg Sokolov. He will secure a wife from the Poshani terrin and unite our clan and the Kievan Rus, but only on the condition that itmustbe me.”
Radu usheredTatyana into his library after Kezia left. She’d been casting guilty looks at Tatyana as she walked out the front door with her personal Hazar, but she appeared desperate to disappear, so Tatyana had mercy on her and asked Radu if they could meet about some miscellaneous contract term for a factory he was building in Timi?oara.
“Tanya, are you sure about this?” Radu sat across from Tatyana in front of the fireplace. “I know you don’t need to talk to me about the keyboard factory, so don’t bother. You and Oleg had a relationship, and judging from the way you both avoid the topic, your parting was complicated at best.”
Tatyana waved a hand and tried to reassure Radu without lying too much. “Oleg and I… we have this reaction to each other. It can be volatile.”
Radu shrugged. “Of course. This isn’t a surprise to me. Oleg is an old friend, but you are my sister. You are Poshani.”
“I can handle being around him. It will be fine.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I’m not a newborn anymore.”
“According to Kezia, the two of you were literally burning up in the middle of a ballroom with barely a word spoken.” Radu raised an eyebrow. “Do not tell me that you are indifferent to the man.”
“It is not that I am indifferent, but I know myself better. I’m not a confused girl anymore.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know that I would have ever called you a confused girl.”
“Both Oleg and I can agree on one very important subject. We are devoted to our people. I agree that he made the proposal to Kezia so that all this appeared less personal, but I can do this, Radu.”
He still appeared skeptical. “And you can keep things friendly? We cannot afford to be at war with the Kievan Rus because you killed their knyaz for what would no doubt be a perfectly understandable reason.” Radu shrugged. “But still.”
She offered him a rueful smile. “I couldn’t kill him if I wanted to, and you know it. And you know I’m far less likely to cause an international incident with Oleg than Kezia would be.”
Radu heaved a sigh of relief. “When I contemplated the two of them interacting even in formal settings, I saw nothing but fire and destruction.”
“So you know I am right.”
