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“You didn’t need to know. As a matter of fact, you still don’t need to know. You should be at home. Resting.”
“Tell me, did you leave diamond earrings on her bed, too?” I scoff, feeling my anger get away from me and spiral into something pettier and uglier. “To keep her compliant?”
His eyebrows rise. His silver eyes sharpen like daggers.
Don’t back down now,says the fighting spirit in my head.You’ve survived two deadbeat parents, a deadbeat husband, a dead best friend.
You can survive him, too.
44
MISHA
“If you don’t like diamonds, then say so,” I tell her. “You’d be the first woman I’ve ever met who doesn’t, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Her face flushes with anger. “It’s not the gift! It’s the—You can’t buy me off, Misha. You can’t just shut me up with gifts, no matter how expensive.”
I sigh in frustration. “The diamonds weren’t to appease you. They were a ‘thank you.’ For appeasing me.”
She frowns, confused. Then understanding strikes, and her eyes flare. “I’m not some hole you can stick your dick in whenever the mood suits you.”
“You were the one in the mood last night.”
She flushes again, but I can see the root of her anger now. She wanted me to stay the night. I didn’t. Apparently, my departure combined with the gift I left for her is an insult.
Goddammit.This is coming out all wrong.
“I was honest with you from the beginning about what this marriage will be, Paige.”
“No. Because I never would have agreed to be your whore,” she spits. “Everyone in this building is going to think you’re giving me some cushy job just because I slept with you!”
I dismiss her with a wave. “Fuck what everyone else thinks.”
“I can’t do that! You can, though. Including whatIthink. Because I would argue that listening to my opinions and running certain decisions by me first would qualify as a marriage of equals. Not some surface-deep promotion everyone will see through the moment they learn we’re married.”
I exhale. “You’re asking for too much.”
“I want hergone,Misha.”
My eyes snap to her face. Her cheeks are blush pink, her eyes are bright with determination—and my cock is hard as fucking stone.
“Althea is well qualified for the position. She’s a hard worker and—”
“I don’t care what Althea is,” she snaps. “I want her gone. Move her to another department like you moved me. Transfer her, fire her, make her the fucking CEO; I don’t care! I don’t want her to be your secretary.”
I examine her indignation. Realization settles low in my gut. “You’re jealous.”
“Don’t,” she snarls. “Don’t you dare fucking smile at—”
Before she can finish the sentence, I grab her by the waist and pull her flush against me. “How can you be jealous of that girl out there?” I press. “She’s a woman I hired to do a job. She gets nothing from me but a paycheck. She doesn’t get diamonds or attention or sex. She doesn’t get to storm into my office and talk to me the way you are right now.”
Truth be told, no one has ever stormed into my office and spoken to me like this. Or, if they have, they didn’t survive the encounter.
“Only you have that right, Paige Orlov,” I finish quietly. “Only you. Only my wife.” I can see the anger drain out of her. I tighten my hold, pinning her against me until she squirms. “But your fight and your fire? I will tolerate it behind closed doors—but not in public. Never in front of my men or my employees. Is that understood?”
The conflict is transparent on her face. She strains against rules and orders like a pet on a leash, always wanting another inch, another foot. It’s in her nature to want to break free.
But after a moment, she nods. “Fine. I’ll take your damn promotion. On one—no, two conditions.”
