AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t need to work. You’re my wife and I’ll provide for you. Anything you want or need, all you have to do is ask.” His heated gaze slides over my features.
He might as well pound his chest and say, ‘I am man, I take care of woman’.
I narrow my eyes, tempted to find a way to stab him again, for all the good that would do. He hasn’t even addressed the wound I gave him earlier, and I’m beginning to wonder if he’s human at all. Surely it must hurt. Not to mention that the blood has ruined that shirt.
“You don’t understand,” I tell him, trying to explain this in simple enough terms for him to grasp. “I want to work. I need to have a job. If I sit around here all day, I’ll go crazy.”
The warmth fades from his eyes. “It’s you who doesn’t understand. You’re mine. We will go out, together, when I say. Otherwise you’ll stay here where you’re safe.”
“Where I’m safe?” I try to cross my arms, only remembering my wrist is restrained when I tug on it. “From where I’m sitting, you’re the only person I need protection from.”
CHAPTER 9
Dimitri
My wife is the most frustrating woman I’ve ever met. I gaze across the table at her pretty face, her disdain visible. Hell, it’s nearly tangible how much she hates me. I thought offering her the world on a silver platter would make her happy. She doesn’t have to work. I have enough money to give her anything she desires. But she doesn’t want what I’m willing to give her for some reason.
Why does she want a job when she can have a life of leisure? Isn’t that what most women want? To be doted on, cared for, the freedom to do whatever they want with their time? I don’t understand why she’s arguing with me about this.
Tonight I’ve presented her with her favorite food, the wine she loves, and the promise that she’ll be taken care of, yet she glares at me. Sure, I wish she’d been good so I didn’t have to handcuff her to the table. But what else was I supposed to do?
How do I make her cooperate? How do I make her see that I’ll give her everything?
Maybe my expectations were too high going into this. Yes, I figured she’d be pissed off about how we married, but I hoped she’d get over it. I guess she just needs more time. It’s only been twenty-four hours after all.
Impatience blazes through me. My entire body aches from fighting Boris last night, and now my side stings where she stabbed me with my own fucking kitchen knife—I’m going to have to talk to Maks about that.
I knew my kotenok had claws, but damn, everything I say and do with her seems to be the wrong thing. Even now, she watches me eat with disdain, like I’m not doing it right.
How can I catch a break?
I mull over my next words before speaking. “How about if you’re good for the rest of this weekend, I’ll give your phone back?”
“How about you give me my phone back and I won’t suffocate you to death in your sleep?” she snaps.
I barely manage to suppress a grin. For months I’ve observed her out in the world. Her polite smiles, the way she keeps her back ramrod straight, and how capable she is at the events she organizes. I’ve known how driven she is to succeed, though I don’t know what drives her to work when she doesn’t have to, her family has plenty of money.
But experiencing Arianna up close and personal is more intriguing than I hoped. I’m learning that she has a temper, and she’s not afraid to lash out. She seems unafraid, which is a first. Most people are terrified of me as soon as I walk into the room. My height intimidates them. The tattoos peeking out from my collar and my scarred knuckles tell the rest of my story.
But my kisa… she’s not afraid, is she?
Shifting my expression, I scowl at her, showing my disapproval of her threat. “If you try to kill me again, I will have to punish you.”
That statement gives her pause. Her gaze drops to her meal and she pushes the food around on her plate, sulking. She’s stopped eating when moments ago she was devouring it.
My chest tightens with guilt. I want her happy, not looking like a whipped puppy.
“Please just let me go,” she whispers. Some of the fight has gone out of her.
My gut twists this time, and my heart beats faster in panic. I can’t let her go, I only just got her. After all this time… she’s finally mine, and I’m keeping her forever. Not a soul can steal her away from me.
“I can’t,” my tone is tinged with regret. Because it’s the truth, even if I wanted to let her go, to make her happy, I can’t. Every fiber of my being recoils at the idea of being without her.
“Why?” Her searing hazel eyes are more blue than green right now. She’s fucking gorgeous.
I should give her an explanation centered on my family’s agreement with hers, which she already knows about. I should tell her all the business reasons why I have to keep her. How I need her to regain my standing in this city and show my enemies that I’m not weak.
But none of those reasons are the ones I want to give her. They feel shallow, lacking sincerity. On the other hand, I can’t voice the truth either. She’ll think I’m completely fucking insane—which I might be.
