Page 70 of His Forced Bride
My chest is tight as I think five steps ahead, to how I'm going to authenticate those documents and how I can fix any mistakes Semyon may have made.
"Are they? I have handwriting experts who disagree. Forensic analysts who can prove the signatures were forged. Lawyers who specialize in exposing fraud."
Her voice turns cold.
"Would you like to test those documents in court?"
The threat is clear.
If Viktoria can prove Semyon forged the papers that stripped her of her claims to his business, she can challenge Inessa's inheritance.
Tie up the company in legal battles that could last years and destroy the empire Inessa built from nothing.
"What do you want?"
"A meeting. Tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure we can reach an understanding that benefits everyone."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you'll discover how expensive litigation can become. How thoroughly the courts can dissect a dead man's business practices. How long it takes to resolve inheritance disputes when the documentation is… questionable."
She ends the call before I can respond, and I stare at the phone, feeling the walls closing in from multiple directions.
Kozlov threatening to burn down Inessa's remaining businesses. Viktoria preparing to challenge her legal right to inherit what she's spent her life building.
Two fronts in a war I didn't start but will have to finish.
I call Oleg on the radio and start speaking before he's fully responded.
"Double security around the compound. Full perimeter sweeps every hour. No one approaches the house without clearance."
"Copy that. Threat level?"
"Maximum."
I pour another vodka and walk to the window overlooking the garden.
Inessa's light is on in her room, and I can see her silhouette moving behind the curtains.
She's probably sketching, losing herself in designs for collections that may never exist if I can't neutralize the threats circling us.
Kozlov will escalate.
Men who make their living through violence don't accept refusal gracefully.
He'll target her businesses again, probably more violently than before.
And Viktoria will use the courts to attack from a different angle, questioning the very foundation of Inessa's inheritance.
Both of them see her as a weakness to exploit, a pressure point that will make me compliant.
They don't understand that threatening her doesn't make me more reasonable.
It makes me lethal.
But control is an illusion when enemies gather at your gates.
And I have enemies now who think my wife's pain will purchase my cooperation.
