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She still had to have a serious chat with her father.
***
Zeke’s hand was in hers as they sat in a chair each in front of Pietr Aslanov’s desk. It seemed they had spent an inordinate amount of time in front of desks during their first two days of matehood. Anna hoped that was about to change.
“You knew,” she said, not one for beating around the bush about most things with anyone and, at last, that included her father as well.
Semyon was leaned against the windowsill of one of the tall windows behind the desk. Both he and Pietr observed their offspring without moving a muscle, but then Semyon unwound his crossed arms and Pietr gave a soft huff of a breath. There was no denying it.
“Yes, we knew,” Pietr admonished.
“Everything.”
“Everything,” Pietr confirmed. “We knew that this was the only way to get the ledger. The real ledger.”
“So, the bonding ceremony, sending us to the party, all of it, was only a diversion. You made them look left while you snuck in, stole the ledger and slipped out to the right.”
“Yes,” Semyon admitted, eyes on Zeke’s.
Anna didn’t even want to think about what Zeke must be feeling in that moment. She had an inkling though, as she’d told him what she’d figured out from what went down during the so-called delivery. It had been an ambush, one that had been staged by their fathers and one that had been coming for quite some time. To sell the Incendiary as real—which clearly it wasn’t—they had pushed for the rushed bonding ceremony. They had planted their own children at that party. They had expected Vasili to go to extreme lengths. And all the way, they had been two steps ahead, predicting his moves after years of quiet study. They had planned the entire line of events, all the way down to her and Zeke failing at their task.
Because this was never about the made-up Incendiary.
It was about the receptor that had been planted in Anna’s head.
Technology so new it could prove the death blow to half of their fathers’ business ventures. Now that they had gotten their hands on it, their market value had instead tripled. Anna wished she could’ve felt surprised when she was told the stats, but she was very far from it.
“How did you know?” she couldn’t help but ask. “That we wouldn’t manage to get the ledger?”
Semyon and Pietr shared a look, then a smile. She didn’t like it.
“Honestly, we assumed you’d end up in bed. But that was all your mothers’ doing. Your mother’s, and his as well,” Pietr said. “They knew very early on that you two were more than friends. We were all rather shocked when nothing came of it. So we thought, if we gave you the perfect excuse, then before too long, you would be—”
“Okay, enough,” Anna held up a hand, wishing she could be angry at the presumption, but feeling nothing but the truth of what he was saying.
Now all she needed was to find a way to properly thank her mother.
“We were never in danger?” she asked.
“Of course you were in danger,” Semyon said.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Zeke demanded.
“Because you’re a terrible actor,” Semyon replied without missing a beat. “We couldn’t chance you getting stage fright, now could we?”
Zeke opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it.
Anna suppressed a smile, squeezing his hand a little. Zeke gathered himself, but she could tell he was amused too.
“Under the circumstances,” Pietr said, “I’m certain I can speak to the elders. If you wish your mating bond to be unraveled, then they should be able to see reason.”
Anna didn’t even blink, a genuine smile spreading on her mouth instead. She turned her head to Zeke, who was already smiling as broadly as she was.
No unraveling would be necessary.
“What if we want a different life than this one?” Zeke asked.
“You’re free to do as you please,” Semyon shrugged. “Alina is vying to take over the business. You’ve always seen her as a fragile thing, but she’s steel when it comes to negotiating. It was her idea to tell you she should be the one who would have to shoulder your responsibility if you refused the mating bond.”
