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Amy sat beside Aleksei, one hand wrapped around his wrist as he spoke to someone at the New York warehouse. Ivan and Kit sat at opposite ends of the table, each working across several screens. Sloane stood behind Nikolai’s chair, reading over his shoulder. Maxim presided over the head of the table, fully dressed and in command.
By sunrise, the injured were fully accounted for, and both sites were reasonably contained. Shortly after that, Maxim moved the strategy meeting to the Iron Wolf. The tavern was closed when we arrived, and we quickly moved to the back room. Raffaele, Matteo, and their attorney, Giulia Ferraro, appeared on two secure screens from Palermo. A Morozov attorney sat beside Maxim, a legal pad untouched in front of him, while Ivan displayed the records from both attacks.
“The equipment used in Palermo and the vehicles used in New York were bought through different companies,” Ivan said. “On paper, they have nothing in common, but the same Veles fingerprint appears beneath both authorizations.”
“Viktor Sokolov is behind this then,” I said.
“Or someone using Sokolov’s access,” Kit corrected. “But yes. The same Veles access financed both attacks.”
“So, whoever is behind it financed Levon in Palermo and Dmitry in New York,” Riley clarified.
“Exactly.”
Levon’s men had burned Bellandi property, and Dmitry’s people had struck the Morozovs at the same time, forcing each family to turn toward its own crises—two separate emergencies designed to keep us from working together.
Maxim looked toward Raffaele’s image. “They want us divided.”
“They will not succeed,” Raffaele said.
Giulia adjusted the red-framed glasses resting low on her nose. “The coordinated attacks have created another problem.”
She opened one of the trust documents on the screen.
“I will explain only what has changed since our previous call. The Caruso Atlantic Trust includes an emergency coercion shield. Once activated, it freezes changes to trustees, directors, port authority, and voting control if there is reason to believe you are missing, injured, or acting under duress.”
“That sounds useful. Activate it.”
“The ordinary process requires an independent trustee review and a series of notifications. It can be done, but not immediately.”
“How long would it take?”
“Several days if no one challenges it.”
I folded my arms. “I take it there’s a faster way?”
Giulia hesitated, which wasn’t encouraging. “The trust allows an independent trustee and a spouse personally designated by you to become mandatory notice parties.”
I stared at her and Matteo looked down. Across the table, Nikolai suddenly became extremely interested in his coffee.
“What does that actually mean?” I asked.
“Your spouse would gain no ownership,” Giulia said quickly. “No shares, no voting authority, and no right to Bellandi funds. His role would be narrow. If you disappeared, were injured, or appeared to approve a governance change under pressure, he could notify the trustee and trigger an immediate freeze on Bellandi assets until your wishes were independently verified.”
“A husband as an alarm system basically,” I ventured.
“In the least romantic terms possible, yes.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at Sergei.
Raffaele cleared his throat. “A marriage between the Bellandis and the Morozovs would accomplish more than activating the trust,” he said. “An attack against Alessia would become a declared attack against both organizations.”
“It already is,” Sergei replied.
“Emotionally, perhaps, but territory does not operate on emotion.”
“No,” Maxim said. “It operates on what men believe the consequences will be. A marriage would make the consequences impossible to misunderstand.”
The logic was sound. Everyone at the table could see it. The coercion shield would become stronger, and Levon’s attempt to use me against the trust would become more difficult. Dmitry’s attack against the Morozovs would no longer be separate from the Petrosyan war. The two families would stop looking like allies of convenience and become something enemies understood far more clearly.
