Page 5 of Triplet Babies
Katya places her hand on my arm, her fingers warm against my skin. “Perhaps we could compromise? Three men instead of six?”
I move my arm away from her touch, making the rejection clear without being overtly rude. “The number isn’t the issue. The principle is.”
Leonid’s eyebrows rise slightly. “The principle of trust? How interesting, coming from a man who’s asking us to trust him with our family’s reputation.”
The implied threat hangs in the air between us. The Nikitins have a long reach and influential connections throughout Eastern Europe. They could make business difficult for the Barinovs if they chose to, but they’d also lose access to the American markets I control.
I meet his gaze steadily. “Trust is earned, not negotiated.”
Leonid begins gathering his documents, signaling this meeting is over. “Indeed. Perhaps we should table this discussion until we’ve both had time to reconsider our positions.”
I stand, making it clear I won’t be reconsidering anything. “Perhaps we should.”
Katya rises as well, running her hands over her dress to smooth it down. “I hope this disagreement won’t affect our personal relationship, Yarik.”
The question comes out sharper than I intended, but I don’t regret it. “What personal relationship?”
Her smile falters for just a moment before snapping back into place. “Our engagement, of course. The plans we’ve been making for our future together.”
“Those plans were made by our fathers. Not by us.” It irks me that my father floated the idea of a marriage merger between the families when I was just twelve, and she was eight. They nevergot around to formalizing anything before my father was killed when I was thirteen, but Leonid had fixated on the idea all these years and now, so has Katya. Not because she wants me but what I represent and offer to their family.
Her voice takes on a wounded quality that might be convincing if I didn’t know better. “Surely you want to honor your father’s memory? He...both our fathers...believed our marriage would bring our families together in peace.”
I curl my lip slightly. “I believe in honoring my father. I don’t believe peace built on surveillance and mutual suspicion is worth having or honors anyone though.”
Leonid clears his throat, drawing our attention back to him. “Young people often need time to appreciate the wisdom of their elders. I’m confident you’ll both come to see the value in the arrangements we’ve proposed.”
He heads toward the door, clearly expecting Katya to follow. She hesitates for a moment, looking at me with something that might be genuine disappointment. “I thought you were different, Yarik, and more sophisticated than the old men with their endless suspicions and power games.”
“Disappointment is part of growing up, Katya.”
She flinches at the dismissal, and for a split second, I see real anger flash across her features before she regains control. “This isn’t over.”
I nod. “No, it probably isn’t.” How can it be when I’ve already agreed to the engagement, though we haven’t signed anything formal yet, just like with this contract? It’s the price of the merger with Leonid, and it will bolster our coffers and positions in Europe. My father once thought it was a good idea, which isthe only reason I even considered it when Leonid came to me. It makes business sense, but there’s no connection between Katya and me.
Good. The last thing I want is to be shackled with emotional ties to someone. I have a tiny circle of people who matter to me enough that losing them would be devastating. I don’t intend to expand that circle.
I walk them to the front entrance, maintaining the pretense of courtesy even though the meeting accomplished nothing. Leonid has already moved ahead to their waiting car, but Katya lingers under the stone awning, clearly hoping for a private word.
She steps closer, dropping her voice to what she probably thinks is a seductive whisper. “Yarik, I understand you’re frustrated with the business arrangements, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find common ground personally. We could make this work if you’d just give us a chance.”
I move past her toward the car, making it clear the conversation is over. “There is no ‘us,’ Katya. There’s a business arrangement that may or may not prove beneficial to both our families, contingent on our engagement, which is contingent on agreeing to terms. See the issue?”
“I do, but you’ve already agreed to the engagement.” She follows, her heels clicking against the stone. “If you back out now, you’re making a mistake. This alliance could give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“I doubt that.”
She makes it sound like a promise and a threat. “We’ll speak again soon.”
I watch her walk toward the car, but instead of getting in immediately, she takes a detour past the pool area. Movement near the irrigation system catches my attention. The new gardener is there, still working on the valve assembly, her work clothes already showing the effects of a long day dealing with corroded pipes and muddy water.
Katya pauses near the pool’s edge, close enough to the kneeling woman that conversation would be natural. The gardener looks up and speaks to her, though I can’t hear what she says from this distance. Katya turns slightly, glances at the woman with a calculating look she gets when she’s assessing something beneath her notice, then simply looks away without responding.
She continues walking as if the woman never spoke, disappearing around the corner of the pool house with the same unhurried grace she arrived with.
The dismissal is so pointed and deliberate that it makes my jaw tighten. I’m not sure why I follow at a distance, perhaps planning to chastise Katya for rudeness, but my attention is focused on the gardener who’s now turned back to her work with obvious irritation.
She’s muttering something under her breath as she gives the valve an aggressive twist. The water flow adjusts, but she’s overcorrected. Instead of a gentle stream feeding the irrigation system, she’s created a miniature flood that’s spreading across the pool deck.
