Page 71 of Arranged with Twins
Neither answers. They don’t have to. I step closer to Vincent until he backs against the staircase. “Your intelligence led to the attack at the Ritz. Your security details enabled today’s kidnapping. How many more people have to die for your financial salvation?”
“I was trying to stall him.” His words come out in a rush. “I thought if I gave him enough small pieces, he’d be satisfied. I never imagined he’d go rogue and take Sienna directly.”
“When did he first mention using her as leverage?”
Vincent’s silence stretches too long. Katherine notices it too, her face growing paler. “Last week,” she whispers.
Vincent shoots her a look. “That’s about when he said my payments weren’t sufficient anymore. He wanted direct action against Leo’s operations, or he’d find other ways to collect what I owed.”
“Other ways.” I repeat the phrase slowly. “Like kidnapping my fiancée.”
“I told him no. I said Sienna was off-limits, that I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.”
Katherine looks like she might faint, which tells me she didn’t agree. She clearly let Adrian have anything he needed or askedfor as long as it meant she could maintain her lifestyle and social standing.
“Yet you didn’t warn me.” I speak quietly, trying to control the surge of rage filling me. “You didn’t tell Sienna she was in danger. You let her walk around Manhattan unprotected while Adrian planned to use her against me.”
“She wasn’t unprotected. You had security on her?—”
“Security you compromised by feeding Adrian their protocols.” I grab Vincent by his shirt and slam him against the staircase hard enough to rattle the paintings. “You gave him everything he needed to plan this.”
“I didn’t tell him that.”
I shake him while glaring at Katherine. “Either you or your wife did. It doesn’t matter who. You’re both equally to blame.”
Vincent sags as Katherine lets out a sharp cry of protest. “Leo, please, you can’t punish is. You don’t understand the pressures?—”
“She’s pregnant.” As I meet Katherine’s gaze, the words explode from me with enough force to make both parents flinch. “Sienna is carrying twins. Your grandchildren, and you handed her to a man who views human life as disposable currency.”
Vincent’s face drains of all color. Katherine makes a sound like a wounded animal, her hand flying to her mouth. “Twins?” Katherine’s voice comes out strangled. “She’s having twins?”
“Two children who will never know their grandparents because you sold their mother to save your precious reputation.” I release Vincent with enough force to send him stumbling. “How does it feel, knowing you traded your daughter’s life for money?”
“I never meant—” Vincent starts.
“You never meant to get caught.” I cut him off. “You were perfectly happy to let Adrian eliminate me as long as you could inherit my territories through Sienna’s marriage claim.”
“That’s not true.” He looks wounded, but it’s all bullshit.
“Isn’t it?” I pull out the intercepted communications and throw them at his feet. “These transcripts show you discussing succession plans with Adrian’s people, including how my shipping routes would be redistributed after my death, and how the Denisov territories would fold into Cooper holdings.”
Vincent stares at the papers like they’re poison. “I was buying time.” His protest sounds hollow. Even Katherine looks skeptical. “I thought if I played along with Adrian’s fantasies, I could protect Leo while managing our debt.”
“By planning his funeral?” Ilya sniffs. “You were discussing how to divide his empire.”
“They were plans I never intended to execute.”
Katherine’s composure finally cracks completely. “My god, everything is ruined. The scandal alone will destroy us if something happens to Sienna.”
Her priorities become clear. She’s choosing her reputation over her daughter’s life and appearances over substance. It’s the same reasons she’s controlled Sienna her entire life.
“Where would Adrian take her?” I step closer to Vincent again. “You’ve been working with him for months. You know his methods and his safe houses.”
“I don’t know.” He backs away from me, trembling. “Our contact was always through intermediaries. I never met with Adrian directly after the initial arrangement.”
“Then who were your contacts?”
“A man named Kozlov handled logistics like financial transfers and information exchange.” Vincent’s voice shakes. “Wait. There was a man I met with once recently. Esai Janitz said he was the enforcer and mentioned taking me to a property in Queens for torture if I didn’t find a way to settle my account, but he didn’t tell me an address.”
