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Now, Katerina will take her place at the altar with me. Whether she wants to or not.
“Foryou,” Mikhail corrects, shifting around so his smug face is between his father’s and sister’s. “It ruins everything foryou, Francia. But you were always just a means to an end. Now, we have a new means. We have a new end. We don’t need you.”
“What do you want?” I grit the words out between clenched teeth.
Katerina won’t even look at the screen. Her eyes are locked on the table in front of her. Every time her father or brother get close, she flinches.
What did they do to you, Kat?
I gave her money and sent her away. She’s supposed to be off in her new life, away from all of this shit.
“I want what was promised to me,” Konstantin says sharply. “I want you to marry my daughter.”
“That’s not what we agreed to!” Francia shrieks.
I ignore her and shake my head. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Then she dies.”
Konstantin shrugs like it doesn’t matter either way to him. Like it’s not hisown fucking daughter’s lifethat he’s tossing in the middle of the table like a poker chip.
“You wouldn’t fucking dare,” I snarl.
“I’m a businessman first and foremost, Ivan. If an asset isn’t serving me—if it’s dragging me down—I cut it loose.” He reaches over and tucks a lock of Katerina’s blonde hair behind her shoulder. “Not only did Katerina not marry you and bring an influx of cash and connections into our family, she fled. She disappeared and embarrassed us all. So either you make good on your deal and she becomes a benefit to me—or I kill her just to rid myself of the shame.”
“It would be easy,” Mikhail adds. “Everyone already thinks she is missing. No one knows she’s back. We could slit her throat and no one would know a thing.”
Francia waves her hand in the air. “I’d know. I’d tell everyone what you did.”
“You’d die, too,” Konstantin says. “No one would miss you.”
Francia tries to come up with a response, but there isn’t one. He’s right. She handed over all of her cards and now they don’t need her. Not when they have Katerina.
“You’re a sick fucking monster,” I rumble.
“I am a man making thingsright!”he roars, suddenly enraged. The blood in his cheeks turns him a sickly purple. “You think the world is yours. That you can give and take as you fucking please. But you will take whatIgive you. And my son will take back the woman you stole from him.”
I stiffen. “Cora does not belong to him.”
“She did!” Mikhail seethes. “Cora was promised to me the same way Katerina was promised to you.”
Konstantin nods. “As it stands now, you’re robbing me of two good matches for my children. I can’t take that kind of loss on the chin, Ivan. It has to be dealt with.”
I can’t give into this shit. Can’t show weakness. If the Sokolovs smell blood in the water, they’ll come for my throat. The Bratva is already in a tenuous position with the transfer of power from my father to me. There’s no telling what might happen if this shit breaks loose.
I lift my chin. “I refuse to be extorted by amudaklike you, Konstantin. So there—it’s dealt with. Why should I care if you kill your own daughter?”
At that, Katerina finally glances up. It’s only for a second, but her eyes flash towards the camera.
And there’sso much fearin them.
I hope to God she knows I’m bluffing.
“Maybe you don’t care,” Konstantin ponders. “Then again, if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have made sure Katerina stayed hidden for so long. You wouldn’t have kept sending her money after she vanished. That’s how we tracked her, you know? We followed the money overseas. Breadcrumbs from you to her, laid out so neatly. Nice place you put her up in, but the doorman couldn’t keep my soldiers from breaking down her door and dragging her out by her hair.”
If I didn’t have decades of training, they’d see the emotion on my face. The fury. The guilt.
“You marry Katerina and Cora comes with me,” Mikhail chimes in. “All will move forward as it’s supposed to.”
