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I take her chin between my thumb and finger, turning her to face me. Everyone living in this house knows about my situation, so they make sure they look at me when they speak. I’m not sure why I haven’t told Sienna about my hearing loss yet, but she’ll find out soon enough.
“Making friends already?” I ask.
“It looks that way.” Her lips widen into a smile. “Do you have something against it?”
She has an amazingly sinful mouth, and the way it curves as she speaks makes me want to take her lower lip between my teeth and bite it. “No. I don’t have anything against it.”
People start leaving the table, each taking their plate and carrying it to the kitchen. Sienna watches them with amazement in her eyes, then looks down at her own empty plate and reaches for it. I take her hand, moving it away from the plate and back to the table, but I don’t release my hold.
“I think you need to explain to me the rules you have around here.” She smirks, pretending she doesn’t notice I’m still holding her hand.
“What rules?”
“People clearing their own plates. Don’t staff do that? And why was everyone armed at dinner?” She drops a quick look at our joined hands, then snaps her eyes back to meet mine.
“There are seven women and two men in charge of tending to various things around the house like cleaning, preparing food, and keeping up with grounds. But they aren’t staff. It’s just what they do around here.” I reach out and move a strand of her hair over her shoulder. “And when we finish with our meal, we all take our plates to the kitchen to lighten their workload.”
“They are not paid to do that?”
“They get paid. But we still take our plates to show our respect and appreciation. As for your second question—we like to be prepared.”
“For what?”
“Anything and everything.”
“Don’t you have security?”
“Every man in this household is an excellent shot. All of us are part of security.” I lean forward and place my hand on the back of her neck. “You have nothing to fear while you’re in my home,mila.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “My name is Sienna. Not Mila.”
“I know.” I pull her closer until our lips almost touch. “I also know you didn’t agree to marry me because I’m ‘hot and rich.’”
Sienna’s eyes flare at my words, and I expect her to try to pull away, but she just grins. “You don’t think it’s a good enough reason to marry someone?”
“No. You see, I had a very specific reason for saying yes to this marriage. But I have a very hard time decipheringyourmotive for agreeing.”
The phone in my pocket vibrates with an incoming message. I fish it out with my free hand and look at the screen.
16:22 Filip:Our truck crossed the border early and arrived at the warehouse ten minutes ago. Someone talked. Romanians just got here. Bogdan is demanding your presence and explanation.
“I have to go.” I release Sienna’s hand reluctantly and stand up. “We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow.”
I head across the dining room, and I’m almost at the door when a hand grabs my forearm. When I look down, my wife is standing next to me, a questioning look in her eyes.
“What is it?”
“I asked if I could come with you?”
“I’m going to a business meeting, Sienna. One that may very well end up with blood being spilled. Of course you can’t come with me.”
“Oh, this is an old blouse. I’ll just throw it away if I get blood on it.” She waves her hand through the air.
I lower my gaze, taking in her shirt. It’s white with an image of a yellow, cross-eyed rabbit holding a carrot. Both the carrot and rabbit’s ears are covered in tiny orange sequins. Why am I not surprised she got married in that? When I look back up, I find her still smiling at me. Is she fucking with me or is she just plain nuts?
“Go find Keva. Your things were probably taken to the bedroom already. She’ll show you where it is.” I nod toward the kitchen door and head out.
* * *
