Page 34 of Dragon Billionaire

They hadn’t gotten even a moment to talk since getting in the car at the Kuznetsovs’ house, driving through the city to its outskirts and the Aslanov mansion. There was greenery all around here, and the park surrounding the large house was beginning to sport the colors of spring. In the car, he’d mused on this fact, his thoughts drifting to hopes for the future, the reality crashing in on him from all sides as he reminded himself the future was unstable and unpredictable at best.

He'd taken Anna’s hand in his, but Nikolai had shaken his head once and Zeke had reluctantly let go.

Nikolai was enjoying the power he wielded a little too much for Zeke’s liking. Actually, a whole lot too much. Zeke wanted nothing more than to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off the other’s face. Zeke was sure Nikolai had played a big part in getting them to this point. He wondered how much of a blunder his attitude earlier in the evening had been, where he couldn’t simply step down and pretend they were still as friendly as ever. He hadn’t been able to stand the thought of what Nikolai represented to Anna. He’d had to step between them, keep Nikolai from even attempting to touch her. Then again, that might have instigated suspicion, but what really had brought them to this point was their sneaking up to the third floor.

On their fathers’ orders.

Their fathers playing fast and loose with their lives, as always.

Zeke clenched his jaws, keeping his anger somewhat in check as Anna led the way through the hall, down a few corridors, toward the back of the house and her father’s study.

She seemed on edge again. He supposed it was to be expected, but there was a sharpness to her edginess. Like she was readying herself. He’d never felt this type of energy come off her before. It was as though she was looking for a fight, hoping for a confrontation. The agitation was so new, it stood out starkly against all her other attitudes over the past few days. It excited him and unnerved him. He didn’t know what her aim was, what she hoped to accomplish, or exactly who it was she was going to confront.

Pietr Aslanov’s study had a low ceiling, wood details made from light grey pine, a patterned carpet, and a sixties style desk. He appeared to enjoy function and comfort over flash. Zeke thought there was a surprising homeliness to the man’s surroundings. Surprising because Pietr Aslanov’s demeanor was anything but homely.

He wasn’t seated behind his desk but was standing by one of the high windows, looking out at the darkened garden beyond.

Strange that only last night the grounds had been lit up with lanterns, celebrating the newly bonded, lighting their way through the dark.

It wasn’t until he and Anna, Nikolai still on their heels, stopped before the desk that Zeke noticed his father was seated in one of the deep armchairs flanking a humble fireplace. Semyon Kumarin rose to his feet, mostly at the sight of Nikolai.

Zeke knew his father’s alarm bells were going off.

He just needed him not to make any sudden movements. For all they knew, it would take a second for Nikolai to signal Vasili, let him know the jig was up, and that Anna had to perish to pay for her father’s sins. To start a war.

Zeke’s hands clenched into fists at the mere thought.

There were too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. They were going to have to play this very delicately.

“Why is he here?” Pietr inquired of Nikolai, standing back but not shrinking in any way.

“He’s here to listen in. Vasili wanted ears in the room,” Anna replied.

“You met?”

She nodded. There was a gleam of expectancy in Pietr’s gaze, but even he could tell that something had gone wrong, some unchartered path had been forged, and he waited for her to elaborate rather than give too many details away of what he hoped the meeting had generated.

“He gave us this,” Anna said, reaching out a hand to Zeke for the fake ledger. He handed it to her, and she handed it over to her father, a soft furrow on his brow at the sight of it. “He called it insurance,” she said. “For you, not him. Nikolai is his insurance. He wants an invitation to the delivery of the Incendiary.”

Nikolai made the smallest movement in protest of her being so forthright with that information, but then he seemed to realize that few people knew the workings of Pietr Aslanov’s mind better than his daughter. And so Nikolai stood down, Zeke glancing at him that he’d better. Nikolai ignored him. Zeke wished he could throttle him, close both hands around the other dragon’s throat and squeeze.

“He wants to be invited?” Pietr asked, flipping through the ledger aimlessly.

Semyon had moved around the desk to join at his side, eyes scanning the pages as well.

They weren’t buying it. Just as Anna had predicted, her father was seeing the cracks in the firmament, light shining through. The illusion wasn’t strong enough to buy him over; whatever the stars were meant to be, they weren’t nearly bright enough to distract him from the truth. They were being had.

Was that the plan all along? For Pietr and Semyon to immediately see through the rouse. For them to do something that would give Nikolai all the reason to give the signal. Was this all about the war? The first shot fired?

Fuck.

“And he gave you this?” Pietr asked, indicating the ledger.

“As an incentive,” Anna said. “If nothing else. To show you that he means to play ball. Or whatever.”

Nikolai huffed a soft laugh.

Anna raised one shoulder in a shrug. What else was she supposed to call it?

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