Dimitri’s shoulders relax. “Add the addendum,” he says to my lawyer.
“I’m not quite certain how to quantify happiness,” the lawyer grumbles.
“We’ll do bi-monthly check-ins that can include a therapist,” Dimitri fires back.
The lawyer gives a terse nod and then sits in the nearby recliner, opening up his laptop.
I let out a long, slow breath.
Because my job just got way harder. I not only have to keep Sasha safe, I’ve got to keep her happy.
The woman who has looked like she’s been at a funeral all day.
How do I turn her frown upside down?
There is only one obvious way I can think of…and it happens to be the one way I’m quite skilled with women.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sasha
The entire reception is surreal,but as the afternoon wears into evening, Ryker leans down and whispers in my ear, “It’s time to go.”
I instantly tense. More. I was already wound tight as a clock, but now… “We don’t have to. We can stay.”
He lifts a single brow, and I have to be honest, it’s just comical enough that I exhale, releasing some of the tension. “You must be tired, it’s been an exhausting day.”
It has. And I’d very much like to take this dress off. Maybe when I do, I’ll feel more like myself.
Though, I doubt it. I woke up this morning, thinking I was attending my sister’s wedding, and planning my own escape. Instead, I’m more trapped than ever.
I’m married to a man who is on my top five worst men list. Of course, the other names on the list are my brother and my father, so I guess it makes some kind of sick sense.
The only other man I’m more afraid of is my father’s hitman, Sver. A cold-blooded killer, he’d cut me down without thoughtif my father ordered him to do so. Naturally, I grew up under Sver’s watchful shadow. Because why would I be able to trust a single man in my life?
Saying our goodbyes, I start for the car, Dimitri’s eyes boring into my back.
I don’t look back at my brother. For one second when I was signing contracts, I thought he’d actually taken my side. Cared about me.
Then…he’d tossed in that bit about him determining my happiness in the marriage and I just knew… This was about some deal he was trying to make happen.
I’d seen our father make moves like this a thousand times.
Dimitri isn’t saving me. He’s got a new angle he’s playing. I give my new husband a sidelong glance. A day of standing next to him and he feels less like a coiled snake.
But I know the truth.
He’s waiting to strike.
He helps me down the stairs and into the passenger side of a waiting car.
I’m relieved to know there’s no driver.
Though it means we’ll have to be alone, at least he’ll be driving. I look at him through my lashes so he doesn’t know I’m looking. His profile is raw and dangerous, his cheekbones and slashing brows make my breath catch.
I’m married to this man. He’s free to…
I swallow down a lump, my stomach fluttering with nerves. But for the first time, I realize there is a hint of something else. Excitement? Interest? I can’t name the feeling, the fear still beating too strong.
