Chapter 4 Tatyana #2
“I know, but this was a last-minute change, and I think it’s an important one.” Tatyana respected Sándor, and he had earned her trust. “Kezia pointed out that if I do not attend this year, it could be seen as a weakness.”
“Immortal courts need to see your face,” Diana said.
“You’ve cultivated a mysterious persona as the woman behind the Poshani economic renaissance—which I love so much—but even the most private leader must reveal themselves a little.
It only adds to their mystique when they disappear from the public again. ”
Diana was really selling this, but Sándor was not buying.
Rumi, as always, stepped in. “She needs to go, Sándor. If she doesn’t, people will think she’s afraid, or that she doesn’t trust her security to keep her safe, which is ridiculous, of course.”
A muscle in Sándor’s face twitched, but Rumi’s words had the intended effect. “You will be safe. I will make sure of it.”
“Thank you, Sándor. If I had any doubts at all, I would never have agreed. I know how capable you and your team are.”
Somewhat mollified, Sándor quickly left the room after casting Rumi a look that Tatyana tried not to notice.
The Hazar were the security arm of the Poshani people, consisting of highly trained vampires and humans. Each had their own territories and—much like the terrin—they coordinated while operating in semi-independence.
Sándor was originally assigned to the Southern Poshani people under Radu’s aegis, but after Vano’s betrayal, when the rest of the clan realized how many of the Eastern Poshani Hazar had been compromised, much of the Eastern ranks had been dissolved or reassigned.
It was Sándor’s job to put them back together.
A relatively young Hazar at only two hundred years, Sándor’s father had been of the Eastern Poshani and his mother of the South. Therefore, he had family ties in both places and was widely respected.
He was curt, blunt, and didn’t speak unless it was necessary. Tatyana had liked him immediately.
Diana watched Sándor leave. “Do you think I’ll be able to get him to wear a suit?”
Rumi snorted, and she didn’t try to hide it.
“I think the Hazar have traditional dress uniforms that they wear at occasions like this,” Tatyana offered. “I’ve seen Kezia’s security in theirs for events. I’m sure that will do.”
Diana sighed. “I suppose so, but he would look so wonderful in a Brioni suit.”
Tatyana had a hard time imagining Sándor in anything but his black tactical uniform, but she had no doubt he would be highly impressive in one of the high-collared, midnight-blue uniforms with embroidered gold details that she’d seen on Kezia’s guard.
She wasn’t sure if they still wore the black cape trimmed in grey wolf fur she’d seen in old pictures, but it did look striking.
Sándor himself had an entirely average appearance, which was by design and part of the reason he had been turned as a human.
He was of average height for a Poshani man, with an athletic but not bulky build.
His hair was brown. His eyes were brown.
If there was a crowd of people and Sándor was walking in the middle of them, the human eye would never land on him.
And that was exactly what the Hazar wanted.
The most dangerous, vicious warriors in their ranks were completely average-looking.
It was far from the ostentatious displays of Arosh’s court, but Tatyana had a feeling that Oleg took much the same attitude with his warriors.
It was all so much more complicated than she wanted to think about.
“Diana is right.” Rumi saw the slight hint of panic that was starting to show through. “It’s good that you’re going to Budapest. You’ll be great, and you know she’s going to make sure you look amazing.”
Diana was nearly jumping out of her skin. “Can I have an increase in the budget for—”
“I’ll transfer some funds from my personal accounts.” Tatyana didn’t even ask how much. “If you need more, just let Rumi know.”
“Don’t forget,” Rumi added as Diana headed toward the door, “designer clothes are fine for the weekly events, but for the ball on the final night, she must look like a Poshani terrin. I would recommend talking to Kezia’s people for traditional design ideas and to find out which seamstresses would be the best to work with. ”
“Of course, of course.” Diana raised a hand and fluttered away, leaving Rumi and Tatyana alone.
She sat behind her desk, and Rumi closed the door so they had a bit of privacy before the human sat across from her vampire boss.
Rumi had originally been her house manager, running her home, overseeing household staff, and taking care of Anna before Tatyana realized that the woman was smart as hell and she didn’t trust anyone as much as she did Rumi.
So the human was no longer running her house—she was managing her life.
Tatyana pressed her fingers to her temple. “How much do you think this is going to cost me?”
“One hundred thousand euros at least,” Rumi said. “Do you want to give her a budget?”
“We’ll wait and see what she does.” She felt her fangs aching, so she opened a bottle of blood-wine she kept on her desk and poured herself a glass.
“If you’re drinking, I’m drinking,” Rumi said.
“Didn’t you just get to work?”
Rumi flipped her off, and Tatyana laughed, but the woman still walked to the side table in the office and opened a bottle of red wine.
They were around the same age, though Rumi was a mother—divorced now—of two delightful children who called Tatyana “Bibi Tanya.”
Rumi shared custody with her ex, who had not taken kindly to Rumi gaining status in the clan that he didn’t share.
It had been nearly four years since they split, and Rumi wasn’t bitter about it anymore. Her ex-husband had stayed working for the kamvasa, and the children spent all summer with him. During the school year, they were with Rumi and their grandparents in Warsaw.
“So Budapest.” Rumi sat down with her glass of wine. “I’m assuming he’s going to be there.”
“You should have seen Kezia in the meeting.” Tatyana closed her eyes as the blood-wine hit her throat, soothing the low burn that had been gathering. “So offended on my behalf.”
“That’s okay. Your mate is pretty offensive at times.”
“Ha!” Tatyana smiled. Other than her mother, Rumi was the only person who knew the truth about her and Oleg. “If she ever finds out the truth about us…”
“She will have to deal with it.” Rumi sipped her wine. “Are you going to tell him you’re going?”
Tatyana froze, her blood-wine dangling from her fingertips. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know.” Rumi smiled. “He surprises you all the time, showing up unannounced. It might be fun to surprise him for once.”
“He might find out anyway,” Tatyana said.
Rumi shrugged. “And he might not. He’s probably been to a hundred of these summits. Maybe a thousand.”
“I don’t think the Báthory Summit has been around for two thousand years, Rumi.”
“All I’m saying is, if he doesn’t bring it up, maybe you shouldn’t either.”
“Why not?” She smiled. “That might be fun.”
“I don’t want to hear about business.” Oleg leaned toward the screen. “Tell me what you’re doing for you.”
“For me?” Tatyana was so bad at this. She was talking to Oleg on a screen, and she wanted to be seeing him in person. “I’m… reading.”
“Good. What are you reading?”
She took a deep breath. “Eh… it’s not that interesting.”
“Then why are you reading it?”
“Because it’s useful. It’s a book about how interest rates shape economic results, and it’s written by—”
“Tatyana.” He looked disappointed.
“It’s very relevant to international—”
“Don’t make me invade Poland to take care of you.” He leaned toward the screen. “You need to spend more time at the country house with your mother. Let her cook for you. Take Rumi and her children and spend some time away from work. Swim in the lakes.”
“It’s freezing outside, Oleg.”
“You’re a vampire, do you really care?”
She only liked making herself really cold if she could go inside and have her husband wrap his burning arms around her. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. It was hard enough already.
“I’ll go to Wilga this weekend,” she said. “Will that satisfy you?”
“No,” he muttered. “But until I make you my queen, it will have to do.”
Tatyana said nothing. It was a sore subject, but one that they both recognized was not something they could fix at the present moment. “Are you at the castle?”
“Yes. Omar asked after you. I told him you said hello and asked for the staff to have an extra holiday this month as a favor to you.”
“They deserve a full month off of work for putting up with you.”
Oleg smiled, and she saw the glint of his fangs.
It was enough to bring the heat to her body.
Budapest could not come soon enough.
“How was your meeting with Ivan?”
“Delightfully deceptive.” He plucked at a thread on his cuff. “I left Ludmila and Oksana in Moscow to babysit him.”
“He should love that.”
“That is the hope. Ivan is going to be at this conference in Budapest next month.” He sat up straighter. “I don’t suppose you—”
“I’m so busy right now.” She pointed to a stack of files on her desk. “Trying to move product east without using Ivan’s people is proving to be problematic, but I’ll figure it out. I know it’ll be better in the long run anyway.”
“Ah.” Oleg nodded. “Of course.”
A tiny, devious part of her thrilled at the idea of surprising her mate for once. Rumi was right—he was usually the one catching her off guard.
“So while Ivan is in Budapest, Ludmila and Oksana will be spying on his people?”
Oleg nodded. “Exactly.”
“Good plan.” Tatyana wondered whether she should do something similar. Who could she trust enough? “I am wondering whether I need to have my own spy. A Mika of my own, or someone like that.”
Oleg frowned. “Are you worried about sabotage?”
Tatyana shrugged. “We worked very hard to root out anyone who was part of Vano and Ivan’s little scheme, but there is always a chance that we missed someone.”
“It’s not a terrible idea to have an insider watching your organization, but the Poshani are a very closed society. You would have to choose carefully.”
Tatyana nodded. “I’ll think about it.”
“Ask Rumi. She will be your greatest resource in that regard.”
“Agreed.” She propped her chin on her hands and stared at the screen. “It’s not enough.”
“What?”
“Talking to you like this. Through a screen.”
“Volchitsa, I told you” —Oleg’s voice was a low growl— “don’t make me invade Poland.”