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“Something happened?” Viktor asks, his tone quieter now, more precise.
I hesitate.
I could lie. Say I’m tired. Say Thiago talked too much. But they’d see through it, and I respect them too much for bullshit.
“His daughter Xiomara cornered me before I walked in.”
Lev raises both brows. Viktor stills.
“What do you mean, cornered?” Viktor asks slowly.
“In the corridor. She knew you were sending me. She was waiting.”
“What for?” Lev asks. “Some daddy-daughter intel swap?”
“She asked me to marry her.”
Silence. Thick and complete.
Viktor blinks once. Lev chokes on nothing.
“She what?” Lev asks. “Is she blind or what?
I ignore Lev. “She said she wants a one-year marriage. No strings. No mess. Just long enough to give Thiago the alliance he’s always wanted.”
Lev whistles. “Damn.”
Viktor leans forward. “She said that?”
I nod.
“Why?”
“Because she wants freedom,” I say. “She knows her father’s looking for someone to marry her off to. She wants to beat him to the punch. Her logic is solid—he gets what he wants, we get a foothold, and she gets to walk away after twelve months.”
Viktor runs a hand down his jaw, contemplative.
“And you?” Lev asks, eyes narrowing. “Do you want this?”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“But you didn’t say no,” Viktor adds.
I lean back, scrubbing a hand over my face. “It’s a bad idea marrying Thiago’s daughter and divorcing her.”
“Maybe,” Viktor says. “But bad ideas have built empires.”
Lev chuckles.
I glance at Viktor. “I think he’ll come to us if I don’t go to him. Mara looks like she is stubborn, and she’ll find a way to pitch it without me involved.”
“And if she does, it’s still not a bad deal,” Viktor says. “She’s right about her father. We’ve tried twice. If we make the proposal this time, we’ll control the terms.”
Lev nods slowly. “And Zee—if it’s really just a year, what’s the worst that could happen?”
I say nothing. Because I’ve already thought about that. I’ve already imagined a year of being near her, having her scent and softness surround my space, and knowing it’s temporary. Knowing she’s not mine to keep.
And that?