He picks up his phone again, thumb swiping across the screen. He stares at it for a long moment, and I watch something shift in his expression. Something that looks almost like a decision.
When he looks up at me again, his eyes are colder than before.
"Exactly what it sounded like," he says. "Congratulations, Florrie. You just became my wife."
Leon
She stares at me like I've lost my mind.
The words are still hanging in the air between us.
You just became my wife.
I'm already calculating the logistics. Marriage license. Documentation. Timeline. How long it might take to get her pregnant. How to keep her contained until she understands there's no way out of this.
It's a procurement problem. That's all. I've handled more complicated acquisitions.
"I'm not your wife," she says finally, her voice shaking but defiant. "You can't just... you can't justsaythat and make it true."
"I can." I set my phone down again, giving her my full attention. "I just did."
"That's insane."
"It's practical." I move around the desk, and she takes an instinctive step back. "You saw an arms deal. You can identify Valentin, his men, the merchandise, me. Any court in the country would consider you a material witness."
"I know how to keep my mouth shut," she growls from between gritted teeth.
"It doesn't matter what you say." I keep my voice level, reasonable. The same tone I use when explaining business terms to someone who doesn't understand the stakes. "Valentin will assume you're a threat. He'll send people to eliminate that threat. Maybe not tonight. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will happen."
She wraps her arms tighter around herself. The gesture makes her look smaller, younger. Vulnerable in a way that does something strange to my pulse.
I ignore it.
"The only thing protecting you right now is the claim I made downstairs," I continue. "As long as everyone believes you're my wife, you're untouchable. Killing a Dubovich wife would start a war. Valentin knows that. Everybody knows that. Plus, there are enough rumors going around about my uncle’s orders, so that will add to our cover."
I tell myself this is just strategy. Damage control. A clean solution to a messy variable. But my eyes keep drifting to the way her chest rises too fast beneath that black dress, to the tremor in her hands she’s trying and failing to hide, and something shifts low in my gut that has nothing to do with logistics.
She’s terrified, furious, stubbornly holding herself together, and I feel it like a pull under my skin. I’ve spent years selecting women to meet my needs. Sexy. Adventurous in bed. Temporary. None of them ever made my pulse change.
Florrie does. She looks at me like she hates me and needs me in equal measure, and the realization is hard and unwelcome: following my uncle’s orders might not be the burden I thought it would be.
If this is the woman fate drops into my lap, then fine. I’ll take her. I’ll protect her. I’ll make her mine in every way that matters, and God help anyone who tries to touch what I’ve already decided belongs to me.
"I understand you lied to save me—" Her voice is low, even, as her eyes search mine, "and thank you for that. But now that they're gone, you can just... let me go. I'll disappear. Leave the city. Change my name. Whatever you—"
"No."
The word comes out harder than I intend, and she flinches.
"What do you mean, no?" Her voice is high in pitch but seems quiet, like she is losing the grip on her calm and panic is about to take over.
"I mean, you're not leaving." I lean against the edge of the desk, crossing my arms. "Valentin's suspicious. He didn't believe the wife story, not completely. If you disappear now, he'll know it was a lie. He'll come after you anyway, and this time I won't be there to save you."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Her voice cracks slightly. "Just... stay here? Pretend to be married to you?"
"We’re not pretending anything. I’ve already got the paperwork being drawn up."
She laughs. It's a desperate, slightly hysterical sound. "You're out of your mind. I have a life. A job. An apartment. I can't just disappear because you decided—"
