Page 8 of Protective Phlox

“Yes, you will resume life as his mother. Nothing will change there.” Her body shook as she looked at Cutter, fear evident in her eyes. “I give you my word on that, Savannah, and it is as good as blood signed on a contract.”

She closed her eyes, and I could see her mentally taking a leap of faith. “Okay.”

“Mommy, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Bud, but I do need to speak to Nathaniel alone. So, you’re going to go with Goran here, and he might even find you some paper and pens to color with.” It was as if she was cutting off her own limb as she handed Cutter over to Goran. He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “Please keep him safe.”

“With my life,” Goran answered, and she nodded.

As soon as Cutter was out of the room, Savannah rolled out her shoulders and squared off with me. “What do you want from me?”

“It should be pretty evident.” Blatant lust dripped from my words as I pointedly looked her up and down. I smirked as she swallowed hard. She might not remember our time together, but I’d relived every single moment so many times that they were tattooed on the furthest reaches of my brain. “Not only that but….” I flicked my gaze over to the priest.

“No…you don’t mean…Nathan, have you lost your mind? I can’t marry you, and I’ll never be your mistress.”

I snatched her by the throat and pushed her up against the wall, my body pressing into hers. “You stole my son from me. I didn’t get to be there for any part of the most momentous moment of my life. Not the appointments, getting to hear his heartbeat for the first time, his first kicks, laugh, words, steps. It was all stolen from me. He is my son, my flesh and blood, my heir. You had no right, so we’re going to fix the problem. I will not miss any more of my son’s life. Do I make myself clear?”

“I…can’t….” She wheezed, and my body trembled with rage, my fingers tightening a little more on her delicate neck. Savannah smacked my arm. “Breathe.” I loosened my hold, and she sucked in a gasp of air and coughed, but I didn’t let her go. How could I still desire someone so much and want to snap their neck at the same time?

“What about your father and my work?”

“I’ll deal with my father, and I don’t give a fuck about your work. As of today, you’re no longer an FBI agent. Before we leave this room, you will be Mrs. Nathaniel Mikhailov, and you’re going to fly back to California with me, where I can protect you and stop the hit that’s out on you.” Her eyes widened, confusion filling her pretty blue depths. “Oh, you didn’t know about that? Yes, Aldo Mancini has placed a very large bounty on you and our son. It is the reason I found out about him at all.” I leaned in close to her ear and whispered. “And you better be fucking grateful you did this to me and not my brother Ronan or my father. They would’ve shot you on sight, left your body for the Mancinis, and took Cutter without losing a single night’s sleep.”

Being pressed up against Savannah like this was dangerous. My rage was fueling the desire that had never left, and once more, my body craved to be buried deep inside of her. My cock brushed against her, and Savannah shivered in my hold. Fuck. I hated that I wanted her like this, and I pushed her away. Cracking my neck, I undid my suit jacket and tossed it on one of the chairs as I nodded to the priest.

“Nathan, I….” I turned my head and glared at Savannah. She sucked in a deep breath as she played with the wedding ring on her finger.

“Where the fuck is your husband? I’ll have him brought here and killed in front of you first.” Savannah’s mouth fell open. “No one touches you but me from now on.”

She rolled her eyes at me and pulled the ring off. “Jesus, Nathan, get a grip. He’s not my husband or lover or anything else. We were undercover together, and no, he never touched me. Here.” She smacked the ring down on the desk with a bang. “Do what you want with it.”

“No one else has either?” She glared up at me, her jaw twitching, and I thought she was going to take a swing.

“Oh yes, I’m sure you have been the paragon of chastity since I last saw you. How many women have you been with, Nathan? Ten, twenty, a few hundred? Don’t ask me such stupid questions again. You don’t own me. Not even in marriage will I be your possession. You can keep all your mafia princesses for that.”

I had no idea what she meant by mafia princesses, but Savannah had a point. There was no reason to hold her to an unreasonable standard when we weren’t together, no matter how much I wanted to know all their names and kill them with my bare hands.

“Then what were you going to say,” I asked as I picked up the cheap, fake ring. Could the FBI not splurge for something that at least looked authentic? I tossed it in the trash and rolled up the sleeves of my dress shirt.

Savannah crossed her arms. “Never mind, let’s get this over with.” She stepped up beside me at the desk. Get this over with? She had to be kidding. Anyone else in her position would be groveling at my feet with thanks, but instead, she stood there looking like I was sentencing her to death.

She thought marrying me was so horrible? Fine. I’d show her just how horrible I could be.

Chapter

Four

SAVANNAH

Of all the things I thought Nathan would say or do when he found me, this didn’t even make it on the list. Marrying me? I didn’t know who was more insane, him for forcing me to do this or me for going along with it. Part of me wanted this. Part of me longed for it, but in reality…I didn’t want to end up some pretend wife that he kept hidden in one of his many homes just so that he could claim legitimacy over Cutter.

I wanted more out of life than to sit around a fancy mansion while Nathan pulled me out like a doll when he needed me to show off for people or worse because he was bored with whatever girl he was fucking. Maybe one of his mafia princesses of the month and I would have that in common. How sweet and romantic would that be? How was this even possible? Would his father allow it? Was he going to call off his other engagement? Could he marry two women? Was she going to become the other woman? Would I? Or…was he only going to stay married to me until he could find a way to steal Cutter or kill me?

It didn’t matter. This was for Cutter and his safety. I sucked in a deep breath and looked down as Nathan held out his hand for me. As I slipped mine into his warm one, my heart jumped with his touch. I forced myself to think about when we’d walked just like this across the parking lot of his resort and tried to hold onto that feeling, but the tears still welled in my eyes.

The priest began to speak in Italian, and even though I had no idea what he was saying, it didn’t matter. I’d been to enough weddings to know what was going on. Could I watch Nathan with someone else on his arm while I sat in some house like a pet? No. No, I couldn’t. Even though I’d never said I loved him, that didn’t mean I hadn’t fallen hopelessly down a hole that I’d never been able to claw my way out of.

A tear spilled free, and I quickly wiped it away. I was a freaking FBI agent, for God’s sake. If I could go through interrogation training, then I could spend the rest of my life in a gilded cage for my son’s sake.