ANTON
“Everything good?” Yulian asks.
I slam the front door hard, rattling the windows on either side.
“I guess not,” Lev mumbles as I storm past him and my brother into the house.
They both fall into step behind me. I enter the foyer and make a left.
“Anton?”
“What?” I snap, glaring back at Lev.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“My office, obv—”
I realize I’m instinctively heading towards the kitchen.
Fuck.
I change direction and stride to my office. The door is locked. In my anger, it takes a minute to get it open. Which doesn’t exactly improve my mood.
“Is anyone gonna tell me what happened?” Yulian stage-whispers to Lev.
Wisely, Lev doesn’t answer. The three of us walk in and Lev closes the door behind us.
I ignore my desk and go straight for the armchair by the fire. It’s the only piece of furniture of my father’s that I kept. It reminds me of him—in that it’s a massive fucking pain in my ass. I sit down in it and raise my eyes to face Yulian and Lev.
I growl my explanation in one word. “Rodion.”
“Fuck. What did he do now?” Lev asks.
“He’s being passive aggressive as fuck, that’s what he’s doing,” I snap. “He’s pulling his capital on The Black Cat.”
Yulian frowns. “So we’re losing a ten million dollar investment?”
“That’s not my concern,” I say. “I can find the money elsewhere. My issue is the way this looks. Pulling his cash is another way of slowly peeling away his support. He’s feeding into the rumors that I murdered his daughter.”
“He gave you his support when he showed up at the dinner,” Yulian says.
“Late,” I point out. “He showed up late. If he had continued on like that, it might have been business as usual. But the more he withdraws from business with me, the more his allies will do the same.”
“I thought you said you don’t need his allies?” Yulian asks—rather smugly, in my opinion.
“I don’t. But I need to know if he’s going to retract his claws or if this is going to be an ongoing deal.”
“And if it is?” Yulian asks.
“Then it’s time to cut the Ivanovs loose.”
Yulian goes rigid with shock. “Are you serious?”
“I can’t have my businesses affected by his need for revenge. It doesn’t look good, and I don’t have the patience for it.”
“I thought he was going to be playing it safe?” Yulian asks. “That’s what you said.”
“He still is,” Lev points out. “Let me guess: his stated reason for pulling the investment was diplomatic?”