Page 69 of His Forced Bride
Dominic's mistakes continue to multiply, even in death.
Arms deals with psychotic brokers, promises he couldn't keep, contracts that should never have been signed.
Each revelation peels back another layer of his reckless stupidity.
But it's the threat against Inessa that burns in my chest.
The casual way Kozlov described attacking her warehouses, hurting her employees, destroying everything she built.
As if she were nothing more than a pressure point to be exploited.
My phone buzzes with a call from an unknown number, and while I'd rather not deal with any more bullshit, I answer it.
I need to get my mind off that fucker before I go after him and make this worse.
"Yuri Gravitch?"
The voice is honey-sweet, cultured, familiar.
"This is Viktoria Mirova."
Inessa's mother.
The woman who abandoned her daughter and betrayed her husband, now crawling back from whatever rock she's hidden under.
"What do you want?"
"To discuss my daughter's future. And her inheritance."
"She has no inheritance from you."
This woman is playing games I don’t wish to play, but I stay on the line just to find out if she's up to something.
"Actually, I believe she does. I've been reviewing dear Semyon's business documents, and I've discovered some… irregularities."
Yes, she's definitely up to something.
I set down the vodka glass and give Viktoria my full attention.
"What irregularities?"
"Oh, the usual oversights. Forged signatures, falsified dates, documents that strip a legal wife of her rightful claims."
Her laugh is soft and poisonous.
"Semyon was thorough, I'll give him that. But not thorough enough."
My jaw tightens.
"What are you after?"
"A meeting. A civilized conversation between family members about rectifying past mistakes."
"You're not family, woman," I growl, rubbing my forehead.
"I'm Inessa's mother. That makes me your mother-in-law. How delightfully modern we've become."
"The documents you're referring to are legal and binding."
