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“And then what?”

“You appoint my nominee. The American companies recognize the change. The ports become available to my organization.”

“And then Dmitry kills me.”

Levon’s jaw tightened.

Apparently, I was getting somewhere.

“He needed me alive until Sergei arrived,” I continued. “Sergei is here now. What do you think happens the moment I finish being useful?”

“She will remain alive until the transfer is complete,” Levon dictated.

Dmitry didn’t answer him.

Levon shifted his narrowed eyes to Dmitry. “You agreed to this.”

“I agreed she would enter the room alive.”

Levon just stared at him.

I felt the cutter slide into my fingertips. Its edge was barely wider than a fingernail. I angled it against the plastic between my wrists and began sawing with tiny movements, keeping my shoulders still.

“He kills me,” I told Levon, “And the coercion shield freezes everything. No ports. No company boards pretending this was all voluntary. You walk away with dead men and nothing else.”

Dmitry’s breath warmed my hair. “You assume anyone is walking away from this.”

Levon’s head turned sharply.

“And you,” I said to Dmitry, “You really think he plans to share the corridor with you?”

“Enough,” Levon snapped.

“He wants respectable companies and legitimate port access, along with customs officers and board members who believe he belongs there. The second he has them, you become the only problem keeping the Bellandis and the Morozovs at war with him.”

Dmitry’s voice remained calm. “Levon understands the cost of betrayal.”

“Men like Levon understand profit. Peace with my father is worth more than your dead father’s revenge.”

Levon struck the table with one palm. “There will be no peace with Bellandi.”

“Not while you still need Dmitry’s guns,” I said. “Afterward? You give me back to Raffaele. My father will let you keep whatever he thinks he can take back later.”

“That is not the bargain.”

“No,” I agreed. “It’s an option after this, though.”

The cutter bit through the first layers of plastic. Dmitry shifted slightly behind me. I stopped moving instantly, but his attention remained on Levon.

“Would you agree to something like that?” he asked incredulously.

Levon gave him a disbelieving look. “You are really listening to her right now?”

“I’m watching you fail to answer me,” Dmitry replied.

“I brought the Bellandi heir into this room.”

“You brought her because my routes, weapons, and intelligence made it possible.”