“I married you to protect you. To keep you alive.” Then, quieter, “And because I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else touching you.”
My breath catches.
He shifts his hand, sliding down my shoulder and arm to my wrist, fingers circling the fragile bones there. Not tight. Not claiming. Just connecting. Nothing like the grip of the man from last night. “I will not hurt you,” Danyl murmurs. “Ever.”
I believe him. I shouldn’t. But I do.
After another moment of aching, electric quiet, he steps back. “I’m assigning you a guard,” he says.
I blink, confused by the abrupt change of topic and missing the warmth of his touch. “A guard?”
“Yes. He’ll keep you safe.”
“I don’t need a guard,” I say, panic rising. Is this the first step of him controlling me? “I’m not some prisoner.”
He leans down, mouth close to my ear. I’m not locking you in,” he says, hot breath caressing my skin. “I’m keeping you alive.”
I breathe out slowly, shakily. “It doesn’t feel like protection. It feels like control.”
He studies me for a moment. “Yes, I can see how that’s what it’s like. At first.”
“But it’ll feel different later?”
He picks up our plates, heading for the sink. “Yes,” he says. “It will.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Okay.”
His shoulders relax, marginally as he turns on the water. He washes dishes like he does everything else, controlled and efficiently.
I look around the expensive kitchen and think about the opulence I saw in the rest of the huge apartment. I don’t belong here, but something inside me aches with a question I shouldn’t ask. “Danyl?” I say softly. He pauses, but doesn’t turn my way. Not facing him gives me the courage to continue. “Have you ever…” Crap, this is stupid. I swallow hard and force myself to continue. “Have you ever wanted something you know youshouldn’t?”The way I want to fit into this world?Even though I know it’s violent and illegal, I feel protected here. I want to be in this world because he is here. And he makes me feel safer.
He turns his head slowly, his hot blue gaze burning into mine. “Yes,” he says. “I married her last night.” And then he shuts off the water and walks out of the kitchen.
When I hear him open and close a door somewhere further in the apartment, I still haven’t caught my breath.
5
DANYL
Throughout my meeting with Rik, I listen for sounds from the rest of the penthouse.
Listening forher. My wife.
It still feels unreal. But also right.
“You’re distracted,” Rik says after he’s had to repeat himself, again.
“I’m sorry,Pakhan.” And I am. For more than not focusing. For not asking his permission to marry, like I should have. He has the right to punish me.
He studies me for a moment, his face still and with features similar to my own. Many mistake us for brothers rather than cousins. “I can relate,” he says, a small smile on his lips. “You know what I was like when I first met Perla.”
I do. He’d shout at his men, at me, and punch walls for no reason. The complete opposite of the cold control with which ourPakhanusually conducted business. Rik paced his house like acaged animal before he managed to convince his fiancée that she belongs with him.
Paced like desperation and desire ruled him. Which is exactly how I feel now.
“How did you get yourself back under control?” I ask. We can’t afford distractions right now. Not when we’re so close to gain control over this city.
Rik’s smile stretches into a full grin. “I didn’t. I stopped trying to control everything. Instead, I started to trust Perla.” I frown and Rik laughs at my confusion. “You’ll learn.” He stands and pats me on the shoulder as he walks out. “We have a plan in place. Let’s continue this when you’ve had at least a day of married life. Maybe then you’ll be less distracted.”
