“Oh my God.” She stumbles backward until she hits the wall. “Oh my God, Ledger, what are you? Who are you?”
“I’m the same man you married in Vegas?—”
“No.” She’s shaking her head frantically. “The same man wouldn’t—you can’t just—people don’t just burn bodies. That’s not normal. That’s not?—”
“Savannah—”
“What else? What else haven’t you told me? What other people have you killed? How many?” She’s crying now, tears streaming down her face. “I thought you were a businessman. Hotels and real estate. You said?—”
“I am a businessman. The hotels are real. The properties are real. Everything I told you is true.”
“Except the part about being a murderer!”
“I’m not a murderer. I’m a man who protects his family.” I take a step toward her, and she flinches. The movement stops me cold. “Alexi was seventeen. They held him for three days. Tortured him. When I found him, he was barely alive.”
Her breathing is ragged, but she’s listening.
“So yes, I killed Viktor. And I made sure there was nothing left of him. Because men like that don’t deserve graves, they don’t deserve to be remembered.” I keep my voice steady, even. “But that doesn’t change who I am to you. I’m still the man who searched for you. Who wants to build a life with you. I am going to protect you and our baby no matter what it takes.”
“By killing people.”
“If that’s what it takes, yes.”
She slides down the wall until she’s sitting on the floor, knees pulled to her chest. “I can’t—I need to think. This is too much. You’re asking me to just accept that you?—”
“I’m not asking you to accept anything. I’m telling you the truth. This is who I am. This is the world I live in. And now it’s the world you live in too, whether you like it or not.” I crouch down in front of her. “But I’m also the man you married. The man you laughed with that night in Vegas.”
“I don’t know you at all.”
“And that’s fine. We’ll take it one day at a time, princess.” I reach for her hand, and this time she doesn’t pull away. “I love you, Savannah. And I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Even if that means doing things that scare you.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, staring at our joined hands. “What if I can’t live like this? What if I can’t be married to someone who—who does what you do?”
“Then I’ll let you go. I’ll make sure you and the baby are protected, financially secure, and completely safe. But I won’t force you to stay in a world you can’t handle.”
“You’d really let me go?”
“If that’s what you need, yes. But I’m asking you—begging you—to give me a chance. To let me show you that I can be both the man you fell for and the man who keeps you safe.”
She looks up at me, eyes red and swollen. “I’m scared.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. I never wanted you to be scared of me.”
“I’m not scared of you. I’m scared of this. Of what it means. Of what could happen to our baby.”
I stand to my feet. “Now, pack your things. We’re leaving.”
17
SAVANNAH
My head is foggy,thoughts moving through molasses. The last thing I remember is Ledger telling me about Viktor Kozlov. About burning a body. About people who want to hurt me and our baby.
Then nothing.
I sit up too fast, and the room spins. I’m in Ledger’s penthouse. In his bedroom. The city sprawls outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and sunlight streams in, too bright.
How did I get here?
