He smiles faintly, but his eyes are dark. “I decide everything that has to do with you, princess.”
I flinch when his hand rises to brush a strand of hair from my face. His touch is soft, but the tension beneath it isn’t.
“I’m not stupid.” He lowers his voice. “You come here to hide, think, and remember what normal feels like. You forget that normal no longer exists for you.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t stand here and act like you own me.”
His eyes flicker with amusement. “I don’t have to act.”
Before I can say another word, he wraps his fingers around my throat and pins me between his fingertips, just enough that I can feel the heat radiating from him. His hand slides to my waist, anchoring me in place.
“You can hate me all you want,” he says above my lips. “But you don’t get to erase me. Not from your life, not from your family, and not from your story.”
I tremble, furious at myself for how much of that hits somewhere deep. “You have no right?—”
“I haveeveryright,” he interrupts quietly. “Because whether you admit it or not, you’re mine.”
My pulse hammers against his fingers, and for a second, I can’t tell if it’s fear or anger that’s making it race.
“Let go,” I whisper.
His thumb traces the edge of my jaw. “You keep asking for things you don’t really want.”
“I mean it, Ben.”
“Then tell me like you mean it, princess.” The pad of his thumb touches my lower lip, and he drags it down. “You’re beautiful when you’re like this, but you’re unbearable when you fight me. I want nothing more than to see how long you can keep it up when I’m deep inside you.”
He finally drops his hand, but the ghost of his touch lingers.
I lean back in my seat, needing the space even though it barely helps. “You can’t keep showing up and deciding what’s best for me.”
“I just did.”
“God, do you even hear yourself?” My voice rises. “You humiliated me in front of my grandmother. She thinks we’re in love.”
His eyes narrow slightly. “What’s so bad about that?”
“It’s a lie.”
“It’s protection.”
I bark out a laugh. “You think pretending we’re engaged protects me?”
“I think keeping her from the truth does,” he says simply. “You want her safe, don’t you? She’s the only person you’ve got left. If Nikolai knew about her, she’d be leverage. I won’t let that happen.”
His words sink in, cold and real. “You don’t even know her. But you invited yourself into her life when you could’ve just watched from afar. You’re just trying to have more control. Over me, over everything.”
His jaw flexes. “That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“Then whatareyou doing?” I demand. “From where I’m standing, all you’ve done is corner me, make decisions for me, and drag me into a world I never asked to be in.”
He’s quiet for a long second, then says, “Maybe I’m trying to keep you alive, princess.”
That stops me cold.
