I exhale through my nose, reach for it, and finally check the screen. Two messages.
I read it. My lips twitch, a smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth.
I type something in response, hitsend, and slip the phone back into my pocket.
Then I look up—at my father, at Tatiana and Filipp, the ones who had already prepared to take his place, at the war still waiting to be fought.
Let them scramble.
The game just changed.
Anatoly Belov is not dead.
Not yet.
The air inside the private lounge is thick with cigar smoke that lingers in the leather of the armchairs and the walls lined with dark wood. It’s an old-world establishment, the kind where deals are brokered behind closed doors, away from prying eyes.
Arseny sits across from me, his expression unreadable as he swirls the whiskey in his glass. Boris, ever the meticulous vulture, adjusts his wire-rimmed glasses and levels me with a look of disapproval, one he doesn’t bother to mask.
“We need to discuss your next step,” Boris begins, his voice clipped, sharp. “Your father’s recovery—if we can call it that—does not change the fact that you need a wife. Immediately.”
I lean back in my chair, fingers tapping against the armrest. “He’s waking up. That was the concern, wasn’t it? If he lives, the clause is irrelevant.”
Boris exhales through his nose, unimpressed. “Lives? That’s generous. He’s breathing, barely. Your father is in no condition to run the Bratva, let alone oversee Belov Global Holdings. Youthink the families will wait for him to regain his strength? You think Tatiana and Filipp will step aside and let you transition into power without opposition? They’ve been tightening their grip while he’s been unconscious, ensuring that when the time came, they’d be in control.”
Arseny sets his glass down with a quietclink. “They’ve been making moves while the throne sat empty. Buying influence, securing allies. If you hesitate, they’ll use your father’s weakened state as leverage to cut you out.”
I already know this. I’ve known it from the second I saw the way Tatiana’s fingers tightened around her bracelet when my father twitched back to life.
Boris watches me carefully, waiting for me to argue. When I don’t, he presses on. “Your father’s decree still stands, Konstantin. Whether he wakes up or not, the marriage condition remains in place. You were supposed to be married within the year to solidify your claim. And now, with Anatoly unable to rule, you need that leverage more than ever.”
I let the silence stretch, watching the way Boris straightens his cuffs, the way his lips press into a thin line as if dealing with me is a chore. He doesn’t trust me to lead. Never has. He prefers Anatoly’s command, the old ways. But he also knows the only way to keep power within the Belov family is through me.
“We don’t have time to negotiate a new arrangement,” Arseny adds, his voice level but firm. “The longer you wait, the more ground Tatiana and Filipp gain. If you don’t act now, they’ll consolidate everything under their control before your father can so much as open his mouth to stop them.”
Boris nods, satisfied that at least one of us has sense. “The BelovPakhancannot be incapacitated. And he cannot be unwed. If your father is not fit to rule, you must be in full command. That means securing your position the way Anatoly intended—by taking a wife.”
I reach for my glass, rolling it between my fingers. This was always going to happen. My father’s survival didn’t change that.
“It’s already handled,” I say smoothly, taking a sip.
Boris tilts his head slightly, a hint of skepticism in his cold brown eyes. “Handled?”
A slow smirk tugs at my lips as I set the glass down. “I have a bride.”
Arseny raises a brow but says nothing. Boris, however, leans forward slightly, watching me like a man studying a contract for loopholes.
“Who?”
I don’t answer immediately. Instead, I let them sit with it, let them wonder. Then, finally—
“Isabella Marquez.”
Boris exhales sharply through his nose, adjusting his glasses. “The contract doesn’t specify she has to be Bratva. It only states you must be married. Legally, she qualifies.”
“A necessity,” I correct. “The families respect power, but they also respect control. She provides both.”
Arseny studies me for a moment before nodding. “Then we move forward. Fast. You’ll need to make it official before Tatiana and Filipp find a way to block it.”
