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“We had a tip, not a picture of you,” he corrects. “I did not cheat.”

“If you weren’t already on the lookout, I would have been leading you around by your nose this whole time.”

“Don’t think it was his nose you were leading him by,” Ash deadpans.

“I didn’t expect it to be my mate sent to spy on me,” Orien rumbles in agreement. “It certainly made things more interesting.”

I reach up to smack him. “You were such an asshole!”

He catches my hand and brings it to his lips. “It was fun seeing how long you’d hold out.”

Rowan clears his throat, drawing our attention back to him. “So, how do you two expect the mating bond to fix this situation?”

The teasing warmth drains out of the room.

Orien’s thumb brushes over my knuckles, trying to ground me as dread twists tighter. “Honestly, I don’t think it fixes anything.”

Sympathy flickers in Ash’s eyes.

Rowan studies me for a long moment. “Good. Because if you walked in here expecting the bond to magically stop your family from reacting, I’d be questioning Orien’s decision.”

I drag a hand across my face. “The council won’t care about our bond. They’ll care that I compromised myself during the mission.”

“Your brother, too?” Ash asks.

The question lands harder than I expect, and I hesitate long enough for Rowan to pick up on it.

“My brother…” I swallow hard. “Alexei won’t like this, but there’s a chance he can use this to back down without appearing weak in front of the family.”

Rowan leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers. “Go on.”

“Bonding with Orien wasn’t supposed to fix things,” I say carefully. “But it changes the situation.”

Ash’s brow furrows. “How?”

I glance toward Orien before forcing myself to turn back to Rowan. “Because this isn’t some random affair anymore. I bear Orien’s permanent Mark. The distinction matters.”

Ash leans forward. “You think your family will respect the bond?”

“Not all of them,” I admit. “But Alexei will. Our father held such things sacred.”

The room goes quiet enough for the muted bass from the lounge to reach me.

“My brother needs stability,” I continue. “If I can speak to him alone and explain how this wasn’t coercion and show him the evidence that someone has been playing both sides…” I gesture toward the folders in Ghost’s hands. “He’ll listen.”

Ghost doesn’t appear convinced. “And the rest of your family?”

Cold dread slides beneath my ribs. “My Uncle Mikhail is the problem. The more I think about these reports, the more convinced I am that he wanted this situation to spiral.”

His attention sharpens. “Why?”

“Because every outcome benefits him.” I gesture toward the documents. “If Blue Note retaliates, Alexei appears weak for failing to control the territory conflict. If the family escalates into open war, Mikhail gets to position himself as the better leader.”

“Mikhail pushed hard for me to take this assignment. At the time, I thought…”

My throat closes around the words. I had long accepted never being good enough for a place at the family table, but this time I’ve spent with Orien and the Blue Note Crew has shown me how undervalued I truly was within the organization.

I try to pull my hand free from Orien’s grip, but he refuses to let me go. “What did you think, trouble?”