Page 21 of His Forced Bride

He'll never inspect my latest sketches with that critical eye, never argue with me about profit margins while secretly proud of what I've built.

The grief sits in my chest like a boulder, but I force myself to nod and murmur appropriate responses.

"Thank you. We need to keep working. Batya would want us to keep working," I tell her, but even as I say the words, I can see the doubt in their faces.

They've heard whispers about the Gravitch family, about what happens to businesses that get tangled up with men who solve problems with violence.

They're wondering if their paychecks will clear, if their jobs will survive whatever storm is coming.

I walk to my office, a glass-walled space that overlooks the main work floor.

My drafting table is covered with sketches.

I gather them up and shove them into a drawer, but not before one catches my eye.

A wedding dress, one of the alternate designs I drew up for my dress when the idea of marrying Dominic felt more forced.

I hate it.

The memory of drawing it brings back the taste of defeat, the moment I realized Yuri Gravitch has me trapped.

"Inessa?" Alina hovers in the doorway.

Her young face is pale, and she clutches a tablet against her chest. "I need to speak with you about the orders."

I sink into my desk chair and gesture for her to continue.

But her expression already tells me everything I need to know.

"Bergdorf Goodman called this morning. They're pulling their spring order." Alina's voice quavers.

"They cited security concerns about working with us during this… transition period."

The words hit me in the stomach.

Bergdorf Goodman represents thirty percent of our American sales, a relationship I spent two years building through late-night phone calls and countless revisions to meet their exacting standards.

"What about Harrods?"

"They called twenty minutes later. Same reason."

"And Galeries Lafayette?" My heart is sinking further with every pronouncement, unraveling one thread at a time.

Alina nods miserably.

"All three major buyers. They're not canceling permanently, they say. Just postponing until things stabilize."

I close my eyes and try to calculate what this means.

Three major buyers pulling orders represents more than half our projected revenue for next year.

Without that income, I can't pay suppliers, can't meet payroll, can't keep the lights on.

The dominos are already falling, exactly as Yuri predicted.

"There's more," Alina continues.

"I tried to call our lawyer this morning about the estate issues, but his office said he's no longer representing us. Something about conflicts of interest."