Page 87 of The High Priestess

“That changes things,” he murmurs. “Okay. I like the deal, but maybe we can sweeten it.”

“What do you want?”

“You’re alone. You need a man–”

“No!” I snap. “I’m not alone. I have Santiago Castro, Dominik Varga, Enzo Oliveira, and Leo Toscana.” I take a breath, then continue, “And I’m engaged to be married.”

“To one of the remaining three?” he asks.

“No. Who I marry is none of your business.”

Knight stands up, his expression dark as he starts to stalk up and down.

“Women are so emotional. One little question, and you’re upset,” he says while chuckling. “I prefer to work with a man.”

“My right-hand man will deal with you in the future, but you’re making this deal with me. It’s only on the table for the next five minutes.”

“Who’s your second-in-charge?”

“Lincoln Knight.”

Nikitin is quiet for a moment, then he asks, “Castro’s sicario?”

“He doesn’t work for Santiago,” I inform the Russian. “He has aligned himself with me.”

There’s another pause before he says, “Let me talk to him.”

Jesus.

It pisses me off that the men are all so fucking close-minded, but I need this deal to go through.

Standing up, I walk the short distance to Knight. I put the phone on speaker so I can hear what they say.

“Nikitin wants to talk with you,” I inform him

“I’m listening,” Knight mutters. “Talk.”

“Are you going to run the business?” The Russian asks.

“No. I’m going to assist Cassia,” he corrects him. “She’s in charge.”

Nikitin chuckles again. “Interesting. My men told me you were the one who stopped them from killing her.”

“And?”

“It was quite impressive. One man against an army of my best.”

“Get back to business,” Knight growls. “You have thirty seconds to accept the offer.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then it’s war,” Cassia says. “You against the entire force of the alliance.”

I start counting down thirty seconds, and when I hit the single digits, Nikitin mutters, “I’ll accept the deal as long as Knight handles everything. I don’t want my men thinking I grew soft by working with a woman.”

Through clenched teeth, I growl, “Fine.”

“Good. I trust you’ll be in touch so we can discuss the trade routes, Knight.”

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