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“Perhaps.”
“Well they’re my family’s biggest competitor and word on the street is that they’re planning to launch that same product about a week before we do.”
“So? May the best man win,” she says on a shrug.
I roll my eyes. “Yeah that would work. Except they stole the plans for the project and are going to mooch off our hard work and marketing it as their own. We can’t let them do that.”
“Aren’t you guys a tech company? How do you get your plans stolen from right under your nose?” she asks frowning.
“Excellent question, princess. The simple answer is that the Colton’s are rats. They have something I own and I want it back.”
She stares at me for a second. “And what does all that have to do with me?”
“Your family’s one of the biggest investors in Colton’s industries. Your father owns about twenty percent of the shares.”
“Yes, and?”
“And seeing as you’re so chummy with those assholes, I need you to get me in so I can destroy their plans to launch the project,” I say, laying it all out plainly.
She doesn’t even look fazed.
“No,” she says evenly. “No to stopping my plans with politicians. No to helping you betray one of my family’s allies. No to all of it. If that’s all, I’ll be going now.”
“Stay seated, Katerina,” I say lightly.
Her eyes narrow into a glare. “You do not tell me what to do.”
“No, I don’t. But you’re going to sit down and listen to me because you owe me this much. After everything you’ve done to me, you fucking owe me.”
“So what? You’re going to guilt me into agreeing to your stupid suggestions?”
“I would, if I even thought you were capable of guilt. You aren’t capable of basic human emotion, Katerina. I would know.”
A shadow passes over her eyes at that, but I don’t even try to decode it. Instead I’m grabbing my phone and opening a file to show her.
“Your family has about 3 million dollars in an offshore account under your father’s name. There’s a paper company in your name used for laundering money as well, right?”
Katerina stiffens.
“I got all that within the five minutes I sat here waiting for you, princess. Imagine what I could get if I actually worked on digging up your family’s dirty secrets.”
“You’re blackmailing me,” she says tone hard.
“I prefer the term, ‘incentivizing’,” I correct.
“Whatever bullshit name you call it doesn’t matter. It’s not going to work. I can’t be blackmailed, do you have any idea who I am?”
“No,” I answer honestly. “I dated you for months and I have no clue who you are. But who you are doesn’t matter to me. It’s what I want that matters, and you’re going to give me what I want.”
I place my phone in my jacket pocket and look at her.
“I came to New York, intent on finishing my tasks so I can get the hell out. There’s no part of me that wants to inhabit the same city as you. So give me what I want and then I’ll leave. It’s as simple as that.”
“Nothing is ever so simple,” she says vehemently.
I shrug before getting to my feet.
“You like diplomatic negotiation right, Katerina? You’re great at making plans that end up being beneficial for you. I’m going to give you twenty four hours to come up with one and then tomorrow you can plead your case and then I’ll see what I can do. Last I heard, you did pass the bar exams, right? Although I’m not sure what use someone like you has for a law degree.”
