Chapter 13 Ella
ELLA
Five minutes after we step inside Asher’s penthouse, the front door opens and closes.
“Declan!” I say, excited to see him.
“What’s up, future-sister-in-law,” he says, giving me a squeeze. I bat at his shoulder playfully. Declan is always teasing me about how obsessed Asher is with me and how he knows we’ll end up married one day.
“Asher said you’d be here tonight. I told Pierre to make extra dinner if you’d like to stay.”
“Hell yeah. I have work to do in Asher’s office, but I’m also avoiding my mother’s guests for the night, if that’s okay with you.”
“Definitely.”
“Avoiding your mother’s guests?” Lucy asks from behind me.
Declan notices her and stiffens.
“I didn’t know the shrew would be here tonight,” he mutters in a low voice so only I can hear.
“Be nice,” I warn.
“Only if she is.”
Declan looks at Lucy and nods a hello to Zahra. “My mother is throwing a little dinner party this evening, and too many of her guests have ‘available’ daughters they’d love for me to meet. I’m not exactly interested, so when that happens, I usually take refuge at Asher’s.”
Lucy arches a brow. “Asher isn’t here.”
“It’s fine, Lucy. Declan is more than welcome.”
Declan drapes an arm over my shoulder. “Yeah. The office hasn’t been the same without you there. I’ve missed you.”
“Me too, Dec.”
“I didn’t realize the two of you were so close,” Lucy says, her narrowed eyes still assessing Declan and me.
“We are,” Declan says without hesitation. “Ella is practically family now.”
“Practically family?” Zahra gasps, half choking on the words.
“Yep.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s exaggerating.”
“Pshaw. Am not. I know my brother. You’re going to be my little sister soon enough. You should hear my mother prattle on about it. Though maybe you shouldn’t because the woman can’t wait to be a grandmother, so she also prattles on about that, too.”
“Holy shit,” Zahra mutters. “Catherine Rothschild Langford is prattling on about Ella marrying Asher and having his babies?”
“She sure does. So does my father. Our family adores Ella.”
“What happened to this being an arrangement?” Lucy snaps.
Declan shrugs. “It still is, technically. But we know Asher, and we know he’s done for. The man can barely function without Ella now. I told him it’s become unhealthy; he told me to fuck off.”
“You are too much,” I tell him.
“This is moving quite fast,” Lucy says. “You don’t want to get in over your head, Ella.”
“It’s fine. Declan is just joking.”
“I’m really not.”
I pinch his arm.
“Asher and I are taking this one day at a time.”
“To the altar.”
“Declan!”
“What, Mrs. Langford?”
I roll my eyes.
“This isn’t a joke, you oaf,” Lucy snaps at him. “This is Ella’s life. And getting tangled up with Asher has made it a chaotic mess.”
“That’s not true,” I say, unable to help myself when it comes to defending Asher.
Lucy arches her brow again.
“Okay, so it’s a little true. But it’s fine. I knew what I was getting into when I signed that contract.”
“This has blown up so much more than you expected. You’ve admitted that much.”
I let out a long breath. “It has. But there’s no going back now. It is what it is.”
“We’re protecting her,” Declan says to Lucy. “We know our lives are crazy, but we’re doing everything we can to keep Ella safe. We won’t let anyone hurt her.”
“Her ex already did.”
I wince. “Well . . . I kind of ran away from my security, and that’s how Kyle got to me.”
Now Lucy’s hot glare lands on me. “You did not.”
I nod, grimacing.
“Why the hell would you do that?”
“It’s a long story.”
“What are we going to do with you, Ella?” Zahra asks, exasperated.
I hold up my hands as if in surrender. “I learned my lesson. I’ll never do it again.”
“You’d better not,” Lucy and Declan say in unison.
“Hey, at least you two agree on one thing.”
They both shoot me unamused looks.
At that moment, Pierre announces dinner, and I let out a relieved sigh. Saved by the chef.
Two hours later, Zahra and Lucy make their goodbyes, and I head into the office to see if Declan needs anything.
Dinner was a stiff affair with Declan and Lucy shooting barbs at one another and Zahra and me trying to referee the two of them.
As soon as dessert was finished, Declan practically ran to Asher’s office, and I haven’t seen him since.
I knock on the office door and crack it open.
“Dec?” I ask, using his nickname, a habit I’ve fallen into recently.
“Yeah, come in.”
“The girls just left. I thought I’d see how you’re doing. Do you need anything?”
Declan sets down a paper and rubs his eyes. “I’m good. I was just finishing up, anyway.”
“Can I ask you something?”
His brows raise. “Of course, what’s up?”
“I’ve been hesitant to ask Asher since he’s been gone, but what is Asher’s plan to deal with the Antonovs? He keeps telling me I don’t need to worry about it, but how can I not?”
Declan frowns, looking like he’s debating his answer.
“It’s complicated. We know there must be traitors in our company, it’s the only logical reason the Antonovs have been able to hit us like they have, but finding them is taking time.
Right now, we don’t know who we can trust, and you can imagine how Asher is handling that, especially considering you’re now in the line of fire.
And in truth, the problems are coming from three sides.
The Antonovs with TDC, whoever the traitor or traitors are within the company, and the Volkovs.
I know you hate to hear this, but Asher is right to be careful.
There are too many threats coming from too many directions.
All it takes is one misstep, and the consequences could be catastrophic. ”
“Where exactly do the Volkovs fit in again?”
“They’re relatives of the Antonovs and their main supplier of oil out of Russia. The Antonovs need to keep up the appearance of being good, law-abiding citizens, so the Volkovs, being big players in the Russian Bratva, tend to do their dirty work for them. It’s how their families operate.”
“So, the Volkovs are the ones responsible for your grandfather’s death? And Asher’s . . . kidnapping and near death?”
Declan nods solemnly. “On behalf of the Antonovs, yes.”
“So, how do you take them down?”
“First, we need to find out who is betraying us, then we go after Sergei and Yegor.”
“When you say go after them . . .”
Declan holds my stare before letting out a long breath. “I mean eliminate them.”
My pulse jackhammers. Not from the clear promise of murder, ironically, but from the risk it poses.
“And just how dangerous is that?”
“I’m not going to lie; there’s a lot of risk involved.
But we have extensive resources at our disposal, and we’ll use them.
We’re more powerful than they are, but they’ve remained a threat because of their ability to operate in the shadows.
Once we bring them out into the light, it will be over for them. ”
“And Sterling is working on that?”
“Yes.”
“I know you and Asher want to keep me safe, but I want to help. What can I do?”
“Keep doing what you’re doing. We need distraction.”
I groan. “That’s what Asher said.”
“And he’s right. Think of it like a magician’s act. You can’t pull off the trick if people are watching you closely, you need their eyes turned in one direction, so you can work in a different direction without them noticing.”
“I doubt our publicity is distracting Sergei and Yegor.”
“It’s not distracting them, but it is distracting the public.
This war between our families cannot come to light.
If people knew the truth of our grandfather’s death, it would show a weakness that others might try to replicate.
And if people knew the lengths that we are willing to go to end this, they might not see us so favorably.
As a family and a business, we really do try to operate as ethically as possible, but when you have the money and fame we do, people come after you, and sometimes, you have to sink to their level to stay alive and ahead.
We don’t love it, but it’s necessary. And the public can never know about it.
They mostly turn a blind eye to our playboy, bachelor antics, but they won’t turn a blind eye to violence and murder—even if it’s justified.
So, as much as it may not seem like you’re helping, you really are.
Your shiny newness brings a lot of attention that feeds the public’s curiosity and keeps them looking in the direction we want them to be looking, so we can handle our enemies in the shadows. ”
I mull his words over, and turn giddy when not one, but two ideas spark to life. I hurry across the office and sit in the seat opposite Declan.
“I just had a thought. I mean, two thoughts.”
“Two whole thoughts?” Declan says with a smirk.
I shoot him a friendly glare. “Just hear me out. I think we apply your same logic in two additional ways.”
He arches a brow. “Meaning . . .”
“Publicity. We need it to work in our favor, as you just said. I’ll keep trying to make big headlines to keep everyone distracted, but in the meantime, we need to do the same for Greenspan.
You and Asher both said you’ve kept Greenspan quiet.
But you also said it’s on the brink of a major breakthrough.
That’s a story the public would be extremely interested in.
Not to mention, it would look good for your family if the public knew you are invested in using your own money to fund green-energy technology.
If Greenspan becomes a company the world knows about, it’s going to be much harder for the Antonovs to buy it and break it without the world finding out.
Not that that would deter them, per se, but it might make things more difficult for them. ”
Declan runs his hand over his jaw, considering. “What do you suggest?”
“I think we bring a major news outlet into Greenspan, and you show the world what you’re working on. Not the details exactly, to keep your proprietary technology safe, but you give them the gist. Putting Greenspan on the map just might help to protect it.”
“Well damn, Asher was right. You’re not just a pretty face.” He winks.
I roll my eyes at the joke, but secretly warm at the compliment.
“So, what was your second thought?”
“I think we need to use negative publicity to preemptively strike at the Antonovs. They’re not nearly as famous as your family, but they still hold a lot of notoriety.
What happens after you take them down? The media is bound to notice the fall of an oil empire, and they’ll be salivating over the story.
They’ll want to know who and what is responsible.
It seems like going after the Antonovs’ reputation now may prove to work in your favor later.
There needs to be a story, a narrative, to explain their downfall.
I think planting the seeds of that now will protect your family in the future. ”
“Hot damn, Ella, I think you’re onto something. With both ideas. Let’s have some directions to go in when Asher returns from Singapore.”
“I’ll start digging.”
“Good. But to be clear, Asher has too much on his plate to deal with this, so you’ll probably need to work with Sterling and me on it. He can get you the information you need, and you and I can strategize what to do with it. Does that work for you?”
I nod.
Declan shoots me a mischievous smile that reminds me of Asher and raises his tumbler of Asher’s expensive as hell whiskey. “I think you and I are going to have a lot of fun together, future-sister-in-law.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “I think we are, too.”