Page 48 of Claimed in Sin
Roman and I lock eyes across the desk. That sentence has never been followed by good news.
"You're on speaker," I tell him. "Ro, Yegor, and Radimir are here with me. We got trouble."
"Good, then you all need to hear this." I hear Timur sigh hard and clear his throat. "Sergei Belova sent a threat through the underground channels about three minutes ago. He said if Stepan doesn't send the girl home, whatever that means…" I glance at Roman, and he scowls at me. "That the full weight of the Orlov-Belova alliance will come down on us. What the hell is going on?"
My blood runs so hot in my veins, it's making me sweat. This fucker has the nerve to threaten us after he tried to kill me and threatened to kill his own daughter? Roman pushes off his desk and rubs his forehead before speaking.
"He's saying we took her?"
"That's how he's spinning it," Timur confirms. "And I get the feeling he's not bluffing."
I crack my knuckles and shake my head. "This fucker's ridiculous. Orlov can't back him. He's fucking dead... He thinks we don't know that."
"Probably a good thing for your sake, Stepan." Ro walks around his desk and pulls his chair out, sitting down.
"What?" Timur asks, and I watch Radimir stiffen. I guess not everyone in this family's gotten the news yet.
"I killed the bastard myself. He threatened to kill her and... It's this whole thing. Look, all you need to know is Marina is here, and she's pregnant with my child." My hands shake from the surge of adrenaline. Knowing Belova is ready to make a move only heightens this pressure I’m under. When he reaches out to Orlov for help and finds out he’s dead, this'll be a war.
"How long before they move?" Roman asks.
"Hard to say. The threat gives us the twenty-four hours, but that's theater. Could be sooner. Could be they're already in position."
My mind reels at the idea that no matter how hard we try to avoid fighting, it seems to come down on us. If we were as bold and dastardly as the men who rise against us, we'd crush them. We do crush them. We're always victorious, but we sit backon our hands and wait. It's not right. I'm ready to be on the offensive for once and not wait around. Roman has to see that waiting for them to attack is a bad move.
"Has anyone from the Orlov side made a move?" Roman asks him and presses his eyes closed before he pinches the bridge of his nose. I know as well as he does that if Orlov's right-hand man thinks there's anything left in it for him with Maksim out of the way, they may still strike an alliance. Especially if they think I was involved in his death.
I look at Radimir and he shakes his head at Ro’s question, but we listen as Timur responds.
"No one... They're quiet. If Orlov is dead, as you say, no one knows it yet." Of course no one knows it yet. It happened less than twenty-four hours ago and if they've even found the body yet, I'd be shocked.
"He's gone, Tim." Radimir's grunt raises Roman's eyes. "We made it look like his buyer, and there's no trace of connection to us at all." I don't like the way Roman looks at his soldiers, but I'm glad there's at least one person in this room who's on my side.
Then an idea occurs to me. The way we can defeat Belova isn't through muscle, it's through knowledge. And we hold the key to that. We can manipulate things and make them spin our way, and it will leave Sergei scrambling for a way out.
"Timur," I say. "I need you to do me a favor."
"What?"
"Put the word out publicly on every channel we've got, every ear that'll listen. Marina Belova is pregnant, and the child is mine."
Roman's eyes snap to mine and his hand freezes around his glass. Radimir's head lifts from looking at the floor to meet my gaze, and Timur is silent for a second.
"Repeat that," Timur says.
"You heard me. I want every connected family between here and Moscow to hear it by morning. Marina is carrying a Kuzin child. It'll force his hand, right?" My heart starts hammering as my mind races through the possibilities. If we make this announcement, Sergei won't come after us. If he does, he's openly declaring war, and every one of our allies will side with us without hesitation. It's not defaming her or shaming her if she's openly admitted to it.
Then all we have to do is convince her to marry me, and her father will be forced to either bow to us or be consumed.
Roman sets his glass down, but his eyes stay fixed on mine. He's tracking where I'm headed before I get there.
"If the Orlov organization finds out Marina voided the marriage contract," I continue, "they've got no reason to back Sergei. The whole alliance was built on that marriage. Without it, Sergei's standing alone with a broken deal. The Orlov side walks. They don't know he's dead. They're not gonna back a contract that's been broken."
Timur goes quiet. I hear the faint tap of his fingers on a keyboard as he's already pulling up his means of communication.
"And Sergei?" he finally asks.
"Without Orlov's backing, Belova doesn't have the manpower to come at us," Ro says, finally relaxing into my idea. "He's got hisown soldiers, but it'll never be enough. Not against what we can field."
