"She won't agree to it."
"She will."
"You don't know her?—"
"I know her brother owes fifty thousand dollars to the Morozovs. I know he's missing. I know she's desperate." Bianca's smile is cold. "And I know that desperate people do desperate things to save the ones they love."
Understanding hits me like a fist to the gut.
"You're going to use her brother as leverage." It's a smart move. It's one I'd do. Though, while my mother likes emotional manipulation, I'd be more likely to send Sera pieces of her brother until she agrees to marry me.
From the Morozovs, of course.
"I'm going to give you leverage. What you do with it is up to you." She returns to her desk, pulls out a folder, slides it across to me. "Everything we know about Gabriel Romano. His debts. His gambling problem. His current location."
I don't touch the folder. "You found him?"
"Of course I did." There's satisfaction in her voice. "He wasn't difficult to locate once I knew what to look for."
"Alexei hasn't found him."
"Because Alexei was looking for a gambler hiding from debts." Her smile is sharp. "I was looking for a man who'd put his sister in danger. Different search parameters yield different results."
I take the folder, opening it slowly.
Inside are surveillance photos. Gabe outside a betting parlor—two months ago. Outside a bar—six weeks ago. Meeting with known Morozov enforcers—four weeks ago.
And one photo of him talking to Alexei Morozov himself.
My blood goes cold.
"When was this taken?"
"Ten weeks ago. Right before your little encounter at the gala." Bianca's voice is clinical. "Notice the timeline. Gabe meets with Alexei. Two weeks later, Sera appears at a gala she shouldn't have been able to access. You take her to bed. She disappears. And now she's pregnant and conveniently back in your orbit."
I flip through more photos. Gabe at the docks. Gabe in Queens.
And then one that makes my stomach drop.
Gabe three blocks from the alley where Dimitri attacked Sera. Watching. Waiting.
"When was this taken?" My voice is barely controlled.
"This afternoon. About twenty minutes before Dimitri made his move." Bianca's eyes gleam. "He knew, Adrian. Your precious Seraphina's brother knew she was walking into a trap. He watched it happen."
"Where is he now?"
"Safe. For now." She waves a hand dismissively. "I had him picked up after the attack. He's in one of our safe houses. Alive. He'll stay that way as long as his sister cooperates."
Rage floods me. My mother refuses to allow me to handle this. "I am more than capable?—"
She leans forward, cutting me off. "You're going to marry Seraphina Romano. You're going to legitimize that child. And you're going to stop acting like a lovesick fool and start acting like the heir to this family."
"Or what? You'll kill her?" I want to know how far she is willing to go. I like to get a sense of my enemies, and right now, my mother is at the top of that list.
She sneers. "I would never kill my grandchild, Adrian." She purses her lips. Her eyes gleam. "You want her, Adrian. I'm giving you a way to have her. Do not spite yourself because of me."
She's right. God help me, she's right.
