“The men Alexei hired were ordered to target the girl specifically,” Dimitri said evenly.“I assumed you defended her.”
The reminder brought immediate heat into Maksim’s chest.He saw flashes of it again instantly.Lena dragged backward, the terror in her face.Blood soaking the floor while he tore through men to get back to her.
Maksim tightened his jaw.Dimitri probably noticed his reaction, but Dimitri only leaned back slightly in his chair.
“I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your edge yet,” Dimitri continued calmly.“You left none of those hired guns alive.”
Maksim’s expression remained cold.“They touched what was mine.”
The words landed heavily between them.Dimitri sharpened his eyes almost imperceptibly at the possessiveness in his tone.
“There’s the problem right there, she was supposed to die,” Dimitri said.
The bluntness of it slammed into the room hard.Maksim stared at his brother coldly.Dimitri met the look evenly.
“Maksim, I don’t know what kind of spell this woman put on you,” Dimitri continued calmly.“But you need to wake up.”
Maksim stepped closer to the desk.He knew it.They weren’t going to stop sending assassins after Lena.
“Call off whatever plans you or Alexei have next for Lena,” he said.
Dimitri’s expression remained unreadable.“And why exactly would I do that?”
Because I’ll burn half this city down before I let you touch her again.
The thought flashed viciously through Maksim’s mind, but he forced himself calm before speaking.
“Because I intend to take Lena as my wife,” Maksim declared.
Silence.For the first time since entering the office, Dimitri actually looked shocked.Dimitri lifted one eyebrow as he stared at Maksim like he no longer recognized the man standing in front of him.
“You’re serious,” Dimitri finally said.
“Of course I fucking am,” Maksim answered.
Dimitri leaned back slowly, studying him with unsettling intensity now.Of all the things he expected from Maksim, this clearly had not been one of them.
“You,” Dimitri said finally, “want to get married.”
“I’m not asking permission,” Maksim told his brother plainly.
“No,” Dimitri murmured thoughtfully.“You’re asking for recognition.”
That irritated him because it was accurate.Dimitri stood then, moving toward the window overlooking the rain-soaked grounds below.
“I never expected to hear those words from you,” he admitted quietly.
Neither had Maksim.Dimitri turned back toward him.
“Have you actually thought this through?”Dimitri asked.
“Yes,” Maksim immediately answered.
“I don’t think you have,” Dimitri threw back.“I think you’re desperate and you’re only doing this to ensure that woman’s survival.”
Maksim’s expression darkened slightly.
“You think this is temporary obsession.It’s not, and that woman has a name.It’s Lena and she means a lot to me,” Maksim said.
