“So, what was your second thought?”
“I think we need to use negative publicity to preemptively strike at the Antonovs. They’re not nearly as famous as your family, but they still hold a lot of notoriety. What happens after you take them down? The media is bound to notice the fall of an oil empire, and they’ll be salivating over the story. They’ll want to know who and what is responsible. It seems like going after the Antonovs’ reputation now may prove to work in your favor later. There needs to be a story, a narrative, to explain their downfall. I think planting the seeds of that now will protect your family in the future.”
“Hot damn, Ella, I think you’re onto something. With bothideas. Let’s have some directions to go in when Asher returns from Singapore.”
“I’ll start digging.”
“Good. But to be clear, Asher has too much on his plate to deal with this, so you’ll probably need to work with Sterling and me on it. He can get you the information you need, and you and I can strategize what to do with it. Does that work for you?”
I nod.
Declan shoots me a mischievous smile that reminds me of Asher and raises his tumbler of Asher’s expensive as hell whiskey. “I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun together, future-sister-in-law.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “I think we are, too.”
14
ASHER
Iloosen my tie and groan as I slump into a chair in my hotel suite after a long day of meetings.
Only one more meeting to go.
I can’t wait to get home. This entire trip has been mediocre at best as far as business pursuits, and it’s only been made worse by the fact that I feel like I can’t breathe without Ella. All I want is to get home to her.
“I got an interesting call from Jenkins,” Robert says, entering the common space of the suite.
I sit up, my back rigid. “What happened?”
Robert waves a reassuring hand. “Nothing. It’s not security related, exactly. He told me he accompanied Ella and her friends to a gun range yesterday. Apparently, Ms. Morozov attempted to teach Ella to shoot a gun.”
By the smirk on Robert’s face, I can tell he’s trying not to laugh.
“Ella went shooting with Lucy?”
Robert’s smirk cracks into a twitching smile as he nods. “Jenkins reported to me that Ella did not take to shooting well and is not interested in further tactical training.”
“She needs to learn for her own safety.”
“Jenkins let me know that for her own safety, as well as anyone around her, she should never touch a firearm again.”
I raise my brows.
“Apparently Ms. Hale screams and waves the gun around in fear every time she fires it. She could miss a target from a few feet away.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, exhaling heavily, as my worries over Ella’s safety go up another notch.
“But Waters reports that she’s making very good progress in self-defense, so there’s a bit of a silver lining.”
“Small mercies.”
I stand to make my way to the wet bar when a chemical smell assaults my nose. I freeze, sniffing.
“Do you smell gas?” I ask Robert.
He stands frozen, his eyes wide as his eyes scan the room.
“Fuck! Get down!” he cries out.
