Page 49 of Dancing With Desire

Victoria grabs my hand and tugs me closer. “What are you doing?” she hisses.

“I told you, I have to speak with them.”

“Can’t I come?”

“No. You’re safe here. Marshall is outside on the door, and the women will bore you with tales of schools and fashion.”

She reluctantly releases my hand, and I follow the men through to the room, closing the doors behind me.

“So,” Aleksandr begins, taking a seat. The waiter stands patiently beside the drinks cabinet, and I give him the nod to hand out drinks.

“So,” I repeat, also sitting.

“If she is important enough to bring her here, she is special, no?” asks Mikhail.

“Very,” I say with a nod.

“And Vladimir chose not to make it because?” asks Aleksandr.

“He doesn’t approve.” The room falls completely silent. “And I didn’t invite him.”

“Then we shouldn’t be having this conversation,” mutters Arkadi.

“He’s plotting against you,” I announce. “I’m here for your agreement on his demise.”

Aleksandr gives an empty laugh. “Just like that?” He shakes his head. “This is not how we do things, Dmitry.”

“We have no choice,” I snap. “He’s taken on business with Vivian Fraser and not told you. He killed her father,” I add, snatching a drink from the tray offered to me. “He plans on taking London and cutting you all out, maybe even me.”

“There is no proof of this,” says Arkadi, clearly nervous about going behind my father’s back.

I take a deep breath, ready to back up my lie. “He’s in a relationship with Vivian. You know as well as I do, her father had a lot of contacts. He killed her father the second he had their information.”

“If I remember correctly, it was your job to break new deals in London, to get the details of Ronnie’s contacts, and you failed. It seems maybe Vladimir was stepping up.”

I scoff. “Without telling you all? Besides, it doesn’t matter. I have the contacts, and they are only willing to deal with me.” They exchange a worried look. “It’s the only reason he’s had to bring me on board with his recent dealings. My father and Vivian plan to take everything from us,” I add. “They’ve beendoing a lot of conspiring lately. It seems they’re on some kind of Bonnie and Clyde adventure.”

“How so?” demands Akim.

“They took Victoria against her will. Tortured her, almost killed her.”

“Why?” asks Mikhail.

“They didn’t want me messing up their plans to take over. And when my father realised he’d underestimated how deep my reach was in London, he had no choice but to keep me around. He has done everything to make me and Vivian closer in the hope she’ll gain the respect of my contacts. They needed to get Victoria out the way so I’d fall for their plan.”

“This all sounds a little far-fetched,” snaps Arkadi. “And who cares about your little whore?”

I push to my feet, and he shrinks back slightly. “She is carrying my child,” I hiss. “You will respect her.”

“Arkadi is right,” says Andrei, also standing. “She means nothing to us. If your father and Vivian are a match, it makes no difference to us.”

“My father is old school. The contacts in London will not deal with him, but they will deal with me. I have the run on all the business, and I plan to hand half of what they own to you six.”

“It’s mere pounds,” says Matvey, shrugging.

“It can be a lot more if I run things my way. I can make those bars and clubs amazing. They’ll rival Kat’s ten-fold. My father is cutting you all out. I won’t do that. This family means everything to me, and my father seems to have lost his love and respect for it, for what we stand for. What I’m offering you, my father cannot and will not.”

“What exactly are you offering?” asks Aleksandr.

---