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He buries his head in his hands and scrubs his face. “You don’t understand my life. This is how I was raised. This is all I know. But I’m trying, Grace. For you and this baby that I want so badly. Since I lost Lara and our child, there’s been a hole in my heart, and these last few months, it’s been filled by you. I can’t do as you ask and just walk away.”
My heart squeezes a little. The more he talks, the more hope I feel, and that’s too dangerous. “I’m never going to be with you.” I keep my voice even and look him in the eye, seeing each word puncture his heart. “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll have no choice but to go to the police and report everything.”
His eyes darken. “Don’t make threats like that, Grace.”
“It’s not an empty threat. I want you to leave tonight.”
I feel him pulling away. His eyes become distant, and his body language changes as he stares straight ahead, squaring his shoulders. “What if I offered a life without me? One where you and our child would be safe but you wouldn’t have to see me?”
“I don’t need anything from you.”
He sighs impatiently. “You’re really leaving me no other option, Grace. I’m trying to be reasonable, to be the man you’d like, but if you’re not going to come home willingly . . .”
And there he is, the man he’s been hiding behind the fakeness of the last few weeks. “You’ll never get me out of here without alerting the authorities,” I snap.
“Don’t be so fucking naïve, Grace,” he growls, and I jump at his tone. “Pack your bags, we’re leaving early tomorrow, and if you dare to run, I’ll be less reasonable when we next meet.”
I push to stand, fear gripping me as I realise Ivan will never change. He will always be the man who resorts to force when he doesn’t get his own way. The Mr. Nice Guy act these last couple months was just that . . . an act. The real Ivan is the man who took me from the streets. He’s the man who killed two of my friends in cold blood, leaving me alone in this world. He’s the man who was willing to ship me to a foreign place and sell me for sex. The man who unintentionally got his wife and child killed.
He stands too. “I’ll escort you to your room,” he mutters, taking my upper arm roughly and marching me from the bar. As we wait for the elevator, he keeps hold of my arm, and I blink away the tears that are threatening to fall. I’ve cried way too much for this piece of shit.
We get to my room, and he grabs the flowers I dumped across the hall. He waits while I unlock my room door before following me inside and throwing the flowers on the bed. He takes my keycard and stuffs it in his pocket before releasing me and storming through the room to the balcony.
I watch as he braces his hand on the wall and presses his mobile to his ear. “Alek, I’ll be staying with Grace this evening. We’re checking out first thing. Pack my things and have them sent to Grace’s room.”
I angrily swipe a tear. I should never have gone to meet him. I’m a fool. I lock myself in the bathroom and break down, sobbing quietly into my hands, hoping he can’t hear.
After ten minutes, I shake out my shoulders and splash my face with cold water. I have to find the strength to get through this. My plan isn’t fool proof, but it’s the only one I have, so I dry my face and take a few deep breaths before pulling open the door and going back into my room.
Ivan is staring out over Paris. I join him on the balcony, and he glances at me. “Better?” he asks.
I bite back my bitchy retort and force a smile. “Yes.”
“I hate that you’ve forced me into this,” he adds, gazing out. “I wanted us to be grown up about it and choose something suitable for us both.”
“But instead, you chose something to suit yourself . . . again.”
He turns to me, gently placing his large hand against my cheek and smiling sadly. “Grace, I love you. I have to be with you and our child. I know somewhere deep down, you feel our connection, but for whatever reason, you’re choosing to ignore it.”
“Did you do this to Lara?” I ask, and his hand drops back to his side.
“Why are you so obsessed with Lara?” he snaps. “This is about us now. Me, you, and our child.”
I roll my eyes and go back into the room. He’s one to talk about obsession. I begin to strip down to my T-shirt, and I feel him watching from the doorway. “I’m tired,” I mutter.
“It’s been a long afternoon,” he admits. “Sleep.”
I climb into bed, pulling the sheets over me and squeezing my eyes closed.
IVAN
I watch her sleep. It took her all of two minutes and she was out like a light. She’s so beautiful, I can’t take my eyes from her as I undress down to my shorts and slide into bed beside her. I know she’s trying hard to fight her feelings, but they’re in there. Her eyes show it every time she sees me.
My plan is to get her home and show her how it could be. I’ll give her the space she needs the second we’re home. I’ll set her up with a bank account, so she’ll never want for anything, and I’ll treat her like the queen she deserves to be. She won’t be a captive like she thinks. She’ll be my wife. My queen.
I gently tuck her against me, making sure to slide her leg over mine, and wrap her in my arms. She stirs slightly before settling against me, burying her head into my chest. I close my eyes and smile.
She’s going to be the change I need so badly. She’s going to be the light I need to stop the darkness that swallows me.
