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“That’s sweet, but?—”
“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence.”
“Mari,” I sighed.
“We don’t have to talk, and you don’t have to touch me. Hell, I won’t even look at you. You don’t have to tell me anything that happened. Not today, not tomorrow, not next year. Your story is yours, Nate. I just can’t in good conscience let you be alone. If you want to get rid of me, you’ll have to go to a different room. And I’ll be honest, I’ll probably follow you there too. It’ll be much easier if you just accept that I’m not leaving.”
She didn’t even look at me when she said it, didn’t mention the recording or the interrogation at all, and I couldn’t help the feeling that bubbled up in my chest.
This woman. This amazing, powerful, kind woman who fought for her people with everything she had was mine. How did I get so lucky?
True to her word, Mari kept her eyes averted when I unfroze myself and climbed in next to her. She stayed in place as I settled, only moving when I snatched her waist and dragged her over to me. “Hey! I’m trying to give you space.”
“Well, don’t. If you’re in my bed, you’ll be wrapped around me. Understand?”
Her grin seared my chest where her head rested. “Yes.”
“Good, because I don’t plan on going anywhere.” My voice was grumpier than usual, and she laughed under her breath but didn’t say anything else. Just held me tighter as she started whatever movie she’d picked out.
As I watched every expression on her face, as the press of her body against mine grounded me, I knew without a shadow of a doubt what I thought I’d always known.
I was in love with her. Wholly, completely, unchangingly.
Hell, I think I loved her the very first time I saw her, and that was a problem. As much as I rejoiced at the idea of having her, it was unlikely I’d survive the coming months.
When this war with Cash was over, I’d be another name on the list of men who’d gutted Mari. Even as I hated it, I knew it was true.
I spent most of the movie trying—and failing—to figure a way out of it, but there was none. I knew better than most that even silent battles had casualties.
Mari’s eyes crinkled with laughter at something on-screen, and the lightness in them shifted something in my chest. I knew what I had to do.
Whatever it takes.
I might not survive, but Mari would. This time, I was going down with the ship.
Whatever it takes for her to survive.
Chapter Nineteen
Mari
Iwas putting the final touches on my outfit when Greyson came into the room. He took in the royal-blue slip dress and comfortable heels, raising an eyebrow when I hiked up the hem just enough to adjust the knife strapped to my leg. Party or not, I wasn’t going anywhere unarmed until Cash was taken care of.
“You look beautiful, reina,” he said from his place against the wall.
“Good enough for wherever we’re going?”
Shara had given me explicit instructions to dress nice, but that was it. No other clues about what we were doing for Aislynn’s bachelorette party. She’d also been clear that the only men at the party would be the strippers she’d absolutely hired and whoever was on bodyguard duty. My men were not invited, and neither was the groom.
But I knew Greyson. There wasn’t a chance in hell he hadn’t gotten the details from her by now.
“The outfit is almost perfect,” he promised, pushing off the wall.
“Almost?” I turned back to the mirror, trying to figure out what I was missing. “What does it need?”
He came up behind me and pressed a kiss to my neck. “I’ll show you.”
That low voice sent shivers down my spine, and heat pooled between my legs at the filthy way he watched me like I was his own personal fantasy.
