Page 65 of Relentless Knight

I turn to look Killian in the eye. Then I shift my gaze to meet Tatiana’s fully. “I’ll do anything but that.”

A line of machine-gun bullets drum up the nose of our armored car, punching fresh spiderwebs in the windshield, and I know that means our time is up.

“We don’t have time for this,” Tatiana snaps. “If you want to keep my sister alive, just do as I said. It’ll be a last resort!” Then she throws her door open once more and slowly steps out of the car.

“Are you ready to negotiate yet?” Lucian asks, his lips curling into that arrogant smirk as I take my position, preparing to aim without drawing suspicion.

“Just get it over with and kill me already,” Natasha snaps from where she stands, firmly within his grasp. “I’m getting bored with your stupid mind games, and I won’t let my sister hand over the empire my family has worked so hard to build. Not to you. Not ever.”

“Natasha, shut up,” Tatiana says, her voice cold, calculating, detached. But I see the way her hands tremble before she clasps them behind her back.

That draws a laugh from Lucian, and he cocks his head to the side—as if entertaining a notion he only just considered. “You know, I’ve been thinking during that nice little respite. And I suppose I could be willing to compromise…for the right price. After all, the Sokolov empire won’t do me much good if you and all your men are dead, now would it, Miss Sokolov?”

“I suppose not,” she says dryly.

“Well then, I’ll make you a deal—the same one I made your father, actually, before this wholefeudstarted.”

Tatiana tenses visibly, and Natasha jerks against Lucian’s hold—as if his mention of her father personally offends her. Considering Lucian is the one responsible for his death, it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s exactly what her reaction means.

Pulling Natasha’s head slowly, almost gently, back until his lips are near her ear, Lucian says just loud enough for us to hear, “Keep that up, and your husband’s not going to have anything to hold onto tonight when you’re in bed.”

Killian growls, stepping away from the car, as if ready to come at Lucian and turn this into a proper bar brawl. But he freezes when the don’s eyes catch his movement.

“Ah-ah-ah,” the Italian don chides, cocking the gun against Natasha’s temple. “Alright. No more interruptions, lovebirds,”he taunts. “It’s time to let the grown-ups talk. So, Tatiana—you don’t mind if I call you Tatiana do you?”

“You can call me whatever the hell you want so long as youget that gun out of my sister’s face,” she grits through her teeth, her body vibrating visibly with fury.

“Hmm,” Lucian hums playfully. “Funny you should say it like that, because what I would love most to call you right about now iswife.”

Tatiana gasps, as if struck by a physical blow.

Natasha pales, her eyes growing wide, and for the first time, she completely stops fighting.

My blood runs cold as the air in the courtyard turns deathly still and silent. It’s so quiet, I could hear a pin drop, and I shift my grip on my gun as I sense our last resort looming on the horizon. There’s no way she’ll agree to marry the sick bastard. Not after everything he’s done to their family.

“So, what do you say, Tatiana?” Lucian prods. “Marry me. Today. And before you say a hasty no, just think of it. We could form a lasting alliance between our two great families. Any sons you bear me will rule overbothour territories when they come of age. Hell, I’ll even agree to leave you in charge of the Sokolov men for as long as you desire. The rest of our lives if that’s what you want.”

“You…don’t want to rule my territory yourself?” she asks, her voice halting with the pain of even considering his offer.

“Well, of course I do. But that’s why it’s called acompromise. Now, that’s a pretty generous offer—if I do say so myself. But know,” he adds, cutting off Tatiana’s words before she can make her choice. “This marriagewillbe a contractual alliance, one you will be agreeing to in front of all your men and mine—and the Kings, for that matter. So, I would recommend you take a moment to seriously consider it before you give your answer.”

Another pregnant pause settles over the battlefield. My finger itches toward the trigger as I search for any opening to kill Lucian before Tatiana speaks. But I can’t find one. Natasha’s too exposed, too vulnerable. And I worry that even if I do manage to clip Lucian, he could accidentally pull the trigger on his gun and kill her.

I can’t risk it.

“If you won’t accept my conditions,” Don Lucian continues when Tatiana’s prolonged silence seems to wear on his patience, “just remember, I do fully intend to hand thelovelyMrs. King here over to the families she’s wronged over the years. Who knows, maybe I’ll set up an auction and give her to the highest bidder. I bet she’d go for an impressive price. And then I’ll let you watch as they tear her apart. And you and I will both know that you could have done something to stop it—if only you could have set aside your pride and looked at what’s best for your people.”

“I’ll do it,” Tatiana states, the answer jumping from her lips almost before he’s finished speaking. “I’ll marry you.”

Vocal objections rise from the Sokolov men around us, and I glance back to find a good number of them frowning in disapproval. They shift uneasily, uncertain of what to make out of theirpakhansha’s sudden shift in tactics.

But from the looks of it, no one is more upset by this turn of events than Natasha.

“Today?” Lucian presses.

“Today,” Tatiana agrees.

“Ti, no,” Natasha pleads tearfully, trying to take a step forward.

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