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Blood tied to blood.
“No,” I said.
Raffaele’s expression tightened. “Alessia—”
“I’m not marrying anyone because two warehouses burned and a room full of powerful people found a convenient clause.”
“This isn’t only convenience,” Giulia said gently. “The protection is real.”
“So is my answer.”
Raffaele leaned closer to his camera. “No one is attempting to force your hand.”
“Then no one should have a problem hearing no,” I scoffed.
Matteo rubbed one hand along his jaw. Maxim watched me without visible reaction. The lawyers seemed uncomfortable in the specific way people become uncomfortable when a woman disrupts a strategy by remembering she is a person rather than just a signature on a page.
Sergei had remained still, but I knew he wanted it from the tension in his body, from the way his eyes darkened when Giulia said spouse, and from the slightest tightening of his hand when Maxim described the alliance.
“She gave her answer,” Sergei finally declared.
Every face turned toward him.
Raffaele’s shrewd gaze landed on Sergei. “You understand the security advantage.”
“I do understand.”
“The trust—”
“That trust does not override her answer,” he replied.
“There are lives at risk,” Raffaele tried.
“There will always be lives at risk.” Sergei looked toward my father. “If Alessia marries, it will not be because frightened men decided her body solved an operational problem.”
My throat tightened, and Raffaele sat back.
For a long moment, the room was silent.
Maxim was the first to nod. “Then we proceed without the marriage.”
The statement ended the discussion because Maxim understood authority well enough to know when not to use it.
Giulia outlined the slower option. She would appoint an independent trustee that morning, issue an emergency notice to every American board, and place a temporary hold on any governance change bearing my name. It would not be as fast as the marital provision, but it would buy us time.
The meeting continued for another hour. Morozov security and Bellandi intelligence combined their active lists. By the end, the two fires had accomplished the opposite of what Dmitry intended. Instead of distracting us, he had united the two families as one.
When the others finally left, I stayed behind to collect my phone and the pages Giulia had sent for my review. Sergei stayed near the bar with Maxim, their voices low enough that I shouldn’t have heard them, but I did anyway.
“You wanted her to say yes,” Maxim said.
Sergei didn’t answer immediately. Instead, several heartbeats passed before I caught his next words.
“Yes. I did.”
My hand stilled over the papers.
“Then why stop it?”
