That's all I get from him tonight? The sex is good, but doesn't he realize what it does to me?
Maybe it's my fault for allowing it—for wanting it. Maybe if I told him no instead of letting him sweep me off my feet, he'd realize I'm not going to keep fucking him while he chooses to marry someone else.
Or maybe my heart would shatter into a million pieces and I'd end up dying of broken heart syndrome.
20
ROMAN
I've put a lot of energy and emotion into making the plans for this gala perfect. Normally, it would be relegated to an event planner, and I do have one of those, but this time, more than ever, I need to be hands-on in the planning stage. Nothing can go wrong, not a single fork out of place for this year's event, because there is so much more at stake than a simple fundraiser for a hospital.
When we walk through these doors the night of the gala, I have a plan that will catapult me into my future. And it has to be perfect.
I stop at the double doors on the south wall of the grand ballroom and nod at my nephew. "Kazimir, that's you and Stepan. The two of you will cover the grounds and you'll have a team to check everyone who comes in. I'm trusting you to make sure the place is secure."
Kazimir nods, hands in his pockets, already looking at the doors.
"Stepan." I take a few steps toward the far end of the ballroom and point at the kitchen entrance. "This is where the cateringtrucks pull in. Last year, two people walked right through that loading dock because nobody was watching it. One of them had a weapon, and while we don't know what intent they had, they had not purchased tickets. We can't have any slip-ups like this."
"Won't happen again," Stepan says.
"It better not." I keep walking and push open the door near the stage that leads to the balcony stairwell, look up, let it swing shut. My entire plan hinges on this going as smoothly as possible. If we have a slip-up in security, it will throw off the focus and the timing. Which is why we'll have cameras mounted and our tech teams in place. "Timur," I say, turning to look up at the corners of the ceiling, "you're on cameras the night of—every room, every hallway. You get your men in here ahead of time and have the surveillance system installed and ready."
Timur leans against the wall with his arms folded. "I'll have eyes on everything. But Ro, you're asking me to track a woman who's gotten away with murder three times. She doesn't make mistakes. Don't you think if she was going to pull something, she'd know we have precautions? She'll plan for them."
That's where the boys are wrong. These extra precautions aren't for her, and they don't even know it. "You are too focused on the obvious, just like she will be. Your narrow thinking is exactly why I dragged you all down here. This isn't about Vera Volkov and her scheme. For now, she has no clue that we know who she really is."
"But she's coming and planning to hear you make your announcement." Kazimir glances at Stepan and scrunches his face in confusion.
"What gives?" Stepan asks, and I can't believe I have to spell this out in detail.
Timur pushes off the wall. "Yeah, Ro, what's the full plan? You've been feeding us pieces for weeks. We need the whole thing if we're gonna back you up."
My eyes briefly catch on Yegor, who stands behind them all watching me with a serious expression. He knows me better than all of them because we spend the most time together, but even he has no real clue what I'm doing. My goal is not to stop Vera's plot to take my empire from me and kill me. My real goal is to take her down—for good.
"I've invited the Police General and the Major-General."
"Holy shit," Kazimir grunts, drawing a hand over his face.
Stepan rolls his eyes at me and glances at Yegor, who doesn't look surprised, but it's my brother who insults me.
"You've lost your mind," Timur says.
"Careful," I warn, but he knows me well enough to know that little slip is as much as I allow.
"Everything we do to fund this gala is illegal. The fighters, the fights… If the police general learns about the fight club… Roman, we've never invited law enforcement to this thing."
I'm well aware of what he's saying, and he's right. This event has never hosted any law enforcement official in the past for good reason. What we do is very illegal, and if anyone caught wind of it, we'd be shut down and I'd go to prison. Not to mention several very good doctors and surgeons whom we need to continue helping our fighters at times would be in a lot of trouble.
But it's a risk I'm not only willing, but obligated, to take.
"Vera's killed three husbands and stolen assets across multiple cities under multiple names. Those are crimes the generals would love to investigate. Especially if the evidence lands in their hands at a black-tie dinner with an envelope and a nice bottle of wine—perhaps a pocket full of cash to boot." I narrow my eyes at Timur, who glares at me. As the one responsible for all of our security measures, he knows best how vulnerable we can be at times. He is the one who questions my judgment at times because it keeps us accountable. This time, I have to force him to see what I need him to see.
"What if something smells off? What if they start snooping around, Boss?" Kazimir asks.
"I think men who've been wined and dined and handed a murderer aren't going to waste their time on snooping around a fighting ring—if they even catch wind of what we do. Vera's a better headline than I am, and every cop in this city knows the difference between a career-making arrest and a life-ending one. Once they've been seen at my event shaking my hand, they've already committed to looking the other way."
"It's a gamble," Timur says.
