Oleg continued. “I see you slipped away from the Poshani revelry to meet your fiancé.”
Tatyana shook her head. “My god, you’re so arrogant.”
“And you love me for it.”
She rolled her eyes, and a stray thought flitted through his mind:It is no wonder I adore you.
She didn’t move from the doorway. “What would you have done if Kezia had said yes?” Her eyes were narrowed. “It was a huge risk, Oleg.”
“Not if you know Kezia. That one will never marry.”
“She likes to be contrary. She might.”
“True, but I trusted in her innate dislike of me. I knew Radu would call a meeting of all the terrin, and she would reject the proposal.”
“Is that so?” She uncrossed her arms.
“I also trusted you to weigh in on the business consequences of her rejection.”
“Hmm.”
“You would very practically state all the benefits alignment with the Kievan Rus would bestow on the Poshani, which would make Kezia dig her heels in even more.”
She had uncrossed her arms, but she still didn’t move. “You were that certain?”
“Yes, but on the off chance Kezia had felt like being a martyr, I would have simply found something ridiculous to request during contract negotiations, which would have scuttled the plan.”
She narrowed her blue eyes. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“To get everything I want? Yes.” He held out his hand. “Lady Tatyana.”
She slowly walked to him. “Are you really going to make Mika call me lady every night?”
“Yes.” He set the signed contracts on his side table and took her hand, pulling her into his lap.
His erection was trying to distract him, but Oleg ignored it. He wasn’t a newborn vampire even though his mate made him feel that way at times.
Oleg knew his wife, and he also knew she needed to think aloud for a moment while she was in his arms.
“My family is coming around to the idea of this.” She let out a breath as soon as his arms were around her. “More and more, they’re mentioning ‘my sacrifice for the clan,’ which means theydo see the benefits that being formally allied to the Kievan Rus will bring.”
“Mm-hmm.” He nodded, then rested his chin on her shoulder. “And what about your mother?”
“She just laughed when I told her about it. Then she asked if she was going to have to go to any fancy vampire banquets, and I reassured her she would not.” She glanced at him. “She won’t, will she? She would hate it.”
Oleg shook his head. “There is no formal role for the mother of the knyaginya of the Kievan Rus because it is rare for a vampire to still have human family when they reach that level of authority.”
“I’m not going to have actual authority though, will I?” She frowned. “I thought this was a ceremonial role.”
“In public? Of course not. I will remain the supreme authority of my people. But privately, I will always listen to your advice. You will not always be right, but I will listen. I would be a fool not to.”
“You want my advice? You need to do something about your cybersecurity. You have no unified structure, and your organization is ridiculously vulnerable to?—”
“I am meeting with an expert in immortal cybersecurity next week.” He kissed her temple. “Anything else?”
She put her arm around his shoulders, and her fingers brushed along the back of his neck. “You need to kill Ivan.”
“Mmm.” He shrugged. “There is no rush on that.”
