I enter with a calm mind and maintain my stance with dignity.
“This isn't about selling anyone,” I say. “It's about strengthening an alliance.”
Dima laughs, but I hear the rage lacing that sound. “An alliance? You strong-armed us into an alliance after everything that happened. And now you want our sister?”
“You needed me.” I shrug. “I didn’t strong-arm you into anything.”
I turn my focus to Mark Zolotov, watching to see if he realizes he’s the reason for this mess. He exchanges a glance with his brother, Denis—the same Denis who also happens to be married to an Orlov, Natalia.
With such marriages, we all watch the families unite into a stronger front, become powerful beyond belief.
“The world fears the Zolotov-Orlov alliance,” I say, meeting each man’s gaze across the room. “Your families have grown stronger through your unions. I simply want the same for the Letvins.”
Mark's jaw tightens. He doesn't like being reminded of how he killed my uncle. Doesn't like that I managed to get the Letvins to side with him after that insult, either.
It means that now, his family and alliance owe me.
“There are other ways to strengthen ties between families,” Mark says carefully. “Other arrangements that could be made.”
“I'm not interested in other arrangements.”
Dima steps forward. He's the quietest of the Orlovs, which makes me wary of him because I can never tell what he’s thinking. “Why Lilibeth specifically?”
I keep my face blank, though inside my mind, there’s a gush of memories. In that moment, I could tell them the truth, that their precious little sister needs to pay for what she did. But that would end this meeting before I get what I want.
“She's unmarried, at the right age, and has a connection to all of you,” I gesture around the room. “Unless you have any other sisters we could consider?”
I know I’ve hit the mark. Every single Zolotov and Orlov woman is married.
“Bullshit,” Denis spits. “You don't even know her.”
“Don’t pretend you haven’t had arranged marriages in your family,” I say with ice in my tone, reminding all present that there was no room for hypocrisy in this conversation.
As expected, they all falter in their tracks.
If only they knew. The memory tries to surface—Nikandr's broken face, the hospital lights harsh above us, his words slurred from the drugs in his system. I push it away. Not now.
“My reasons are my own,” I say. “But my request stands. After everything with Charlie, after how my family has cleaned up the messes left by yours—” I look directly at Mark Zolotov, “—you can't deny that you owe me. All of you.”
The tension in the room spikes. Charlie Letvin, my cousin, ended up dead because of the Orlovs and Zolotovs. My family wanted retaliation, but I knew my uncle was a crook in many ways, and we made a deal. I would head the Letvin organization, and in exchange, ensure no trouble came their way for their role in dismantling the previous structure by murdering its head.
I picked up the pieces. I salvaged what was left of the Letvin name and business. They know this. They know I've kept my mouth shut when I could have brought them down by inciting anger.
“Lili is not part of this world.” Nikolai tries to make me see reason now. “She's innocent. She's—”
“I'll do it,” a female voice interrupts.Hervoice interrupts. I’d recognize that voice anywhere, though I pretend to look like I’m laying eyes on her for the first time when I turn.
The others are all staring right at her, gaping in shock.
Lilibeth Orlov stands in the doorway, her head held high, but I notice the little tremble in her hand as she holds on to the frame of the door. She's nothing like I remember, and yet... exactly the same.
Her dark blonde hair falls in waves to her shoulders, and her blue-green eyes—those eyes that can make a man falter with a single glance—shift directly to mine. Recognition flickers there, but she looks away.
She’s keeping our past a secret. That’s a wise move, since I am too.
She's shorter than her brothers and curvier. The last time I saw her was a little over two years ago, when she was just twenty-one, on the brink of turning a year older.
She had just graduated then, unsure of herself and the world, but I can see she’s grown into herself since then. It’s in the way she stands, with a confidence that can’t be shaken.
