"It’s a brilliant plan," Lev agrees. "With the deed, we own the company."
"A deed is a piece of paper," I say, shaking my head. "It’s flimsy. A judge could overturn it. Arthur could wake up tomorrow, find a spine, and claim he was coerced. A court might freeze the assets for years. I cannot risk that."
I reach into the bottom drawer of my desk. I bypass the gun and stacks of cash. I pull out a thin, manila envelope that has been waiting for two weeks.
My lawyer, Dmitri, drafted it at my request long before Arthur Blackwood ever walked into my casino. I always knew it would end this way. I always knew what I had to do.
"I need something permanent," I say, placing the envelope on the desk. "A bond that international maritime law cannot break. I need to be more than an owner."
"You don't mean..." Lev’s eyes widen.
I slide the paper out.
A marriage license.
The groom's name is already filled in:Konstantin Viktorovich Morozov.
The bride's name is blank.
I pick up a pen.
"Helena thinks she’s here to work off a debt," I explain.
The black ink flows onto the page as I write her name with sharp, heavy strokes.Helena Blackwood.
"She thinks she’s an employee. A collateral. She believes that if she works hard enough, if she pays off the millions her father owes, she’ll earn her freedom."
I look up at Lev.
"She’s wrong. She’s the key to my Crown."
"She’ll never agree," Lev warns, looking at the document uneasily. "She fights too hard. If you force this on her now, she might choose death over the altar."
I look at her name on the paper.
He’s right.
She stood up to me in the car. She stood up to me in the hallway.
She has fire in her veins.
I don't hand the paper to Lev. Instead, I slide it back into the manila envelope.
I seal it and place it back in the dark recesses of my desk drawer, burying it beneath the other files.
"I won't tell her," I say. "Not yet."
"You’ll wait?"
"I’ll break her first," I promise. "I’ll let her think she has a choice. I’ll let her run her little shipping routes. She’ll exhaust herself trying to save a company that already belongs to me."
I lean back in my chair. The frame creaks.
"I’ll strip away her hope, layer by layer. Then, I’ll isolate her until she realizes that her father is gone, her allies are gone, and I’m the only gravity left in her world. And when she’s tired... when she’s on her knees and realizes there’s no exit..."
I look at the drawer where the license waits like a loaded gun.
"Then I’ll put the pen in her hand. And I’ll force her to sign."
