“Give me a minute,” I grunt out, needing to calm myself, so I don’t project my anger onto her.
“Too bad. I’m not a dog, don’t fucking order me with your hand,” she says as she swats my hand out of the air. “I don’t need you to pick fights on my behalf. I’m a big girl. I can handle it on my own.”
My body tenses, my fury now justifiably aimed at this beautiful fool.
“Are you insane? He was going to hit you!” She doesn’t get it.
“I know. And I can handle it!” She continues to push into me.
“FUCK THAT! YOU’RE MY WIFE! NO ONE HITS MY WIFE! I WILL ALWAYS DEAL WITH ANY MAN THAT TRIES!”
She scooches out of her seat and thrusts a finger in my face.
“In name only. I am your wife, in name only. I can fight my own battles, so stay in your lane.” She then straightens the finger with the rest of her hand and lightly pats my cheek. It’s the most condescending thing anyone has ever done to me.
It’s unacceptable.
I crawl across the bench seat until she’s pressed against the window, and I’m caging her in.
“Don’t ever fucking slap me again. I will always protect my wife. Deal with it,” I seethe in her face, speaking in a low, threatening tone. This tone has had grown men cower.
But she just laughs bitterly.
“Oh, big boy can’t control his emotions.” She makes a pouting face, thenflicks my forehead.
How dare she?
I’m about to… I don’t know what I’m about to do. But I’m cut off by the car stopping abruptly, then the door opening.
She almost falls out of the car since she was trapped against the door, but I grip her waist, holding her to me.
I won’t let her fall.
No matter how infuriating this woman is, I’ll never let her get hurt.
Chapter 17
Katerina
“Take your hands off of me,” I demand as I roll my eyes.
I’d rather fall on my ass than have him catch me.
This man, my husband, is infuriating. He swore he’d let me live my life separately. I have the letter that proves it. And in the limo earlier he even repeated it.
But in the past few hours, all he’s been is extremely annoying. It took everything I had to keep my composure at the reception, and it was only possible because Viktor was there. I won’t risk his wrath just to bite back at my husband.
Dominic is not at all the man I thought he was. He’s maddening. I don’t know how long I can last before I do something I regret, well more than hitting him. Actually, I don’t regret hitting him, even if he hits me back harder.
But he hasn’t yet. I wonder if he’s just waiting until we’re in the privacy of his home before he punishes me. But I won’t let him beat me into submission.
“I just stopped you from falling!” He scoffs as though he was doing me a favor by gripping my waist.
I roll my eyes because, technically, he might have been.
I push him off of me and step out of the car, taking in the castle he lives in.
I wasn’t paying attention when we entered the gate, but now I am. It’s breathtaking in a gothic sort of way. It feels just like Dominic, dark and brooding, but still expensive. I just stand there and stare.
