"Of course he did," she says. "After all, he works for me."She puts her book down primly. "We need to discuss how to handle this."
"There's nothing for us to handle."
"You murdered Alexei Morozov's cousin."
I laugh. "Alexei can't stand Dimitri. He's a low-level thug."
"Doesn't matter. You just committed an act of war." She stands, moving to the window. "Do you understand what you've done? Do you understand the consequences?"
"I'm protecting what's mine," I say evenly. "Dimitri attacked a pregnant woman. Alexei would have done the same in my position, and you know it. The only difference is I didn't ask permission first."
"Alexei won't see it that way."
"Alexei can be handled."
"How? What is your plan? Starting a war we can't afford?" She moves closer, her heels clicking on the marble floor. "You're out of control, Adrian. First the incident at Eclipse, now this. You're letting emotion dictate your actions."
"And this girl?—"
"Is pregnant with my child. I'm thirty-three, mother. It's hardly a teen pregnancy."
She glares. "Don't be smart," she says. "This is serious. She could be working with any of our enemies."
"She didn't know?—"
"You don't know that. You WANT to believe she didn't know. Because it makes this easier. Makes you feel less foolish." Bianca's eyes narrow. "But wanting something to be true doesn't make it so."
The words hit harder than I'd like to admit.
"I looked into her," I say. "Full background check. I know her brother has a gambling problem. I know she works at Antiquarian Rare Books. I know?—"
"Did you know that her brother has been off the grid for weeks?" she interrupts. "He went underground almost to the day you met Seraphina."
"This doesn't prove anything."
"Doesn't it? A woman with no paper trail. A brother in debt to the Morozovs. She seduces you at a gala she shouldn't have been able to attend, disappears, and now suddenly she's pregnant and you're compromised." Bianca tilts her head. "If I were trying to destroy you, this is exactly how I'd do it."
I want to argue, but I know there's nothing she will accept. My mother has survived so long because of her cunning. A cunning she thinks I do not possess.
"She's still pregnant with my child," I say finally. "Real or not, that doesn't change."
"No. It doesn't." Bianca's expression softens slightly. "Which is why we need to handle this carefully."
"We?"
"The pregnancy changes things," Bianca says. "An heir is valuable."
I stay quiet, waiting to see where she is going with this.
She leans forward, intent. "I've spent twenty years building this family's reputation. Making us untouchable. Legitimate. We're not common criminals, Adrian. We're power brokers. And power brokers don't have bastard children."
The word makes my jaw clench. "Don't?—"
"It's the truth. If this child is born outside of marriage, it will be seen as weakness. As lack of control. As proof that you're not ready to lead this family." Her eyes bore into mine. "Is that what you want?"
"What I want is to not be manipulated by you," I say coldly. "And for you not to use my child to do it."
"This isn't manipulation. This is reality." She stands again, pacing now. Calculating. "The girl is pregnant. You're the father. Marriage is the only option."
