There’s silence.
"Say it," I command.
Mikhail shifts uncomfortably. "When you seem distracted by other matters."
"Other matters." My voice drops an octave.
"The captive," Yuri says bluntly. He’s older, someone who worked for my father for decades. He thinks he’s earned the right to speak up, and maybe he has, but as far as I’m concerned, he should be building up the heir to the man he was loyal to for so long. Not giving the men more fodder for discussion. "The men are talking. Saying you're too focused on her. That you're letting her distract you from real threats."
The rage that flares is immediate, but I control it. Barely.
"The men are talking," I repeat. "And what exactly are they saying?"
"That you reassigned a guard for talking to her," Viktor says. "That you watch her from your window. That you spend more time thinking about her than about Volkov.."
"And you?" I look at each of them. "What do you think?"
More silence.
"I think," Yuri says carefully, "that she is a complication we don't need right now. That keeping her here is a risk. Being done with it would let you refocus on what matters." He pauses. “Her father has set himself against us. Whether the girl lives or not is of no consequence any longer. He will not restrain himself if she is alive or dead, it seems.”
My jaw clenches. It takes everything in me not to pull a weapon and shoot him where he sits, for suggesting I hurt Liesl. That alone should concern me, and it does. I force myself not to move. Reacting that way would only prove his point.
"What matters," I say slowly, "is maintaining control of this organization. Showing strength. Making strategic decisions instead of emotional ones. Yes?"
They all nod.
"Then trust that I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" Alexei asks. My gaze snaps to him. I can barely believe he’s found his tongue after what I did to him. I’d almost respect it if I wasn’t so fucking pissed off. "Because from where we're sitting, it looks like you're losing control. And that makes us vulnerable."
The room goes cold, and everyone tenses, waiting to see how I'll respond.
He’s had one chance. I could take his tongue. Demote him to a silent position, one with no honor and no responsibility. I could kill him now for trying to undermine him again.
But again, that might only prove that I’m erratic. Emotional. That Liesl is a liability.
I lean back in my chair and study him. "You think I'm losing control.”
"I think you're human.” Yuri speaks up, cutting in no doubt to prevent another punishment directed at Alexei. "And humans make mistakes when they're distracted by beautiful women."
"She's a captive." I bite out the word. “Nothing more.”
"She's a complication."
"She's leverage." I narrow my eyes, and Mikhail speaks up from further down the table.
"She's a weakness. And our enemies will exploit it if we let them."
My anger flares, because he’s right. All of them are. Liesl is a weakness, a distraction. A complication that's making me irrational and possessive and everything apakhancan't afford to be.
But I can't let her go. Not yet. Not when I can still taste her on my lips. And I can’t kill her. I’ve never harmed a woman. I can’t make her the first.
"Her father is playing games,” I say flatly. “Stalling. Using her as a pawn in whatever scheme he's running with Volkov. Until that resolves, she stays here, under my protection. And anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me directly."
The challenge is clear. The room stays silent.
"Now," I continue, "let's talk about Volkov. Viktor, show me the shipment routes they hit."
