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“What about Petre? He’s just going to all the sudden be a law-abiding citizen?”
“Don’t worry about Petre. With my father behind me, he will fall in line, or we will take care of making sure he does.”
“I don’t know, Vasile.” I glared at him, unsure, but in my core I believed what he was saying so I said the words, unsure if I was trying to convince him, or myself. “Okay, I trust you.”
I watched him exhale a sigh of relief.
“Promise me. Because, honest to fuck, Valeria, I love this side of you but I can’t be worried about losing you all the motherfucking time. It’ll make me insane.”
That, at least, made sense to me. Every time I ran, I was making him question how I felt about him, which wasn’t what I wanted. Not at all. And so I looked him in the eye and nodded.
“I’ll stop running. I promise. But I can’t guarantee I’ll ever stop fighting.”
His growl of approval came from deep in his chest.
“Good,” he said sharply. “But just in case you change your damned mind, we’ll do this.” He grabbed both my wrists in one hand and held the length of rope in the other.
When I realized he was about to bind me, I gasped. “Really?”
“Yep. Really.” With quick, deft gestures, he wound the rope around my wrists as I rolled my eyes. Yanking the ends of the cord tight, he then grabbed me by the hips and hoisted me up onto his horse. I felt slightly off balance there in the saddle, but by pinching my legs a bit, I found my center of balance again.
“This is excessive.”
“It’s necessary. And, maybe,” His dark eyes flickered with heat. “I just like you tied up.”
“That makes more sense.” I feigned annoyance but the flutter in my heart and between my legs told me I may just like it as well.
Vasile looked up at me, narrowing his eyes, before reaching into his saddle bag once more. From there, he produced a small jewelry box, which he held out toward me. I blinked hard, trying to piece together if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing.
With a flick of his finger, he popped the box open. And there, nestled in dark red velvet, sat the biggest diamond ring I had ever seen in all my life. In the center sat a massive diamond, as big as an acorn, flanked by equally massive diamond baguettes.
“It was my mom’s,” he said, pulling it out from its soft cradle with his big rough fingers. “But now it’s yours.”
“Is that how you propose?” I replied, the sound of my pulse racing in my ears.
“Yep.” He returned then he slipped that big, beautiful, breathtaking diamond on my ring finger even as my hands were tied together. And smiled at me a bit, while at the same time shaking his head in simmering frustration.
I opened my mouth but no words would come. Vasile looked up, his eyes gleaming.
“Trust me, my love. Remember, you agreed to trust me.”Chapter 20VasileWe rode hard through the forest, with me riding behind her in the saddle. Though Valeria wasn’t aware of it, I had Daniel following behind us at a distance of about a quarter mile or so, just in case we needed backup.
He was no soldier, but he knew how to stay unseen and he was quick with a blade, among other talents and more to the point I trusted him with my life. And hers. I had plans to bring him on board with the business once I took over.
Once we were married, and I was the head of the family, it would take a man braver than my brother to come for us. But until then, we were in danger.
The snow had drifted since last I rode this stretch, blocking certain parts of the bridle paths. Keeping Valeria safe in my arms, I maneuvered around the drifts and into the windswept forest itself. The winter-black poplar trunks streaked past, as their branches creaked and groaned above.
Near the river, Vela drew up short, annoyed by our breakneck speed, thirsty and frothy in spite of the cold. Rather than push her through it, I let her slow to drink and eat some of the sparse grasses that poked out from the snow at the river’s edge. She’d need all her strength to get us all the way to my father’s house as fast as I needed her to go.
Once we were there, I knew Valeria would be safe. My father, his power, respect and guards would assure it. And then we’d be married and there wouldn’t be a single goddamned thing Petre could do to get between us.
A far away whinny made my mare prick her ears. Valeria turned to face me, looking worried.
With a glance, I warned her not to say a fucking word, just in case it wasn’t Daniel.
