I shrugged. I wasn’t worried about that. She didn’t hate me, and in due time, she would be my wife in every sense of the word.
“Who do you want me to bring in from your family? We can do something big later.”
Her eyelids drifted downward as she shook her head.
“Nobody. I don’t want any of my people here for a fucking farce,” she hissed, ice dripping from each word.
Now, that shit hurt, but my baby was gon’ learn the meaning of cold if she kept fucking with me. Silently, I grabbed her hand and slid the ring back on.
“Let this be the last time I say this; it doesn’t come off. Ever.”
She looked down at it. A tense quiet stretched between us. Only when I saw a drop of liquid splash against the diamond did I realize she was crying.
(Midnight,Friday, June 13)
She cried. As we got out of the car she tried to make her escape in. As we rode in the car Juvie was driving. As we walked back into Maxim’s house. As I closed the door behind us in the bedroom suite. She just… cried. I could’ve dealt with her sobbing and screaming in anger, fighting me, something. But that quiet crying? Like her heart was completely broken again?Jesus. I couldn’t stand that, not when I couldn’t hold her, touch her, reassure her. She hadn’t told me not to, but I just knew instinctively that if I had tried to pull her into my arms, she would’ve completely fallen apart on me. So, all I did was mutter, “I’ll be back.”
She hadn’t even looked up from where she’d curled in on herself on the bed.
Theory didn’t give a fuck about my coming or going anymore, and I couldn’t blame her. I was definitely the villain in her story right now. If I were a better man, I’d sit with that guilt, let myself carry the weight of it. But as much as I hated her crying, as badly as I didn’t want her to hurt, there was a part of me… a dark, selfish part of me that couldn’t be upset about it and wasn’t backing down from the fact that we would be married Saturday. So, the fucked-up feelings I was having about her tears? They had to manifest in some other way. They made me angry. Restless. Murderous.
So, I planned to go to the warehouse, but I didn’t go straight there. I went looking for Maxim. His house was lit up like some kind of fortress, all cream stone and sparkling glass. Of course, his ass had a big fountain. Of course, the lawn was perfect, all lush and green. My brother would accept nothing less. The heat slapped me in the face as soon as I stepped out of the back of the house. Texas at midnight was hot as fuck.
He was outside when I found him, standing near the edge of the circular drive, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone. Lev was a few feet away. Two more men hovered near the walkway. They saw my face and shifted immediately.
Maxim didn’t.
“Stand down,” he ordered, before any of them could move fully.
Lev frowned. “Sir?—”
“Now.”
The men backed off. I crossed the lawn, rolling my shoulders and cracking my knuckles before shaking out my hands. I was ready to hit something. Well, somebody. Yeah, Igor was at the warehouse, but Igor hadn’t sent me to Siberia. Igor hadn’t separated me from my woman. My brother had.
Maxim slid his phone into his pocket and finally looked up, his silvery eyes moving over me.
“So, tonight, then?” he asked calmly.
“Yeah,” I said. “Tonight.”
He nodded once. Then he took off his jacket and handed it to Lev. I hated how calm he was.
In the background, I heard Juvie mutter, “This family crazy as shit. Let me call the big dawg.”
I shook my head. I never could tell if his timing was off or perfect. I suspected the latter.
“I wondered how long you would pretend to respect my order,” my brother said.
“I respect it.”
“No… you put up with it. There’s a difference.”
I smiled, but nothing in me was amused. “You sent me to Siberia,” I said.
He shrugged. “You survived.”
“You called Theory my weakness.”
