I’d agreed to let her attend school in person. She’d worked for it, and as much as it burned me to admit it, she was right. If I kept her locked away, I’d be no better than her useless father. Still, the thought of another man’s hands on her, of him even thinking he could touch what’s mine, had me seeing red. A feeling that was new to me. I wanted to lock her away from every man in this world. From every man except me.
Fuck! I was losing it.
Maybe it was the sleepless nights spent tracking Jasper’s allies and coming up fucking empty-handed that had me on edge. I’d always been in control of my urges…until now.
I’d never felt this way about anyone before—possessive, territorial—and it was driving me insane. When I touched her face yesterday, all I could think about was how her lips would taste, and I would’ve found out if she hadn’t slapped my hand away.
I’d never had a girlfriend. Relationships were distractions, liabilities. Every woman I’d been with came through a contract—clean, discreet, and silent. There was always a penalty clause for anyone stupid enough to run their mouth about who they’d slept with.
My marriage to Sienna might’ve started as a contract, too, but she was different. The only woman—besides my sisters, and even that was rare—who’d ever dared to stand up to me. Any other Bratva man would’ve lost his shit over that kind of defiance. I didn’t. I respected it. She wasn’t a woman who played games or pretended to be something she wasn’t. Even knowing who I was, what I was, she still pushed back. Probably a survival instinct, born from having to raise herself when her mother got sick.
But I didn’t want to keep fighting with Sienna. She’d been fighting her own battles long before I ever showed up. It was time she had a home that didn’t feel like a damn battlefield. It was time she learned what it meant to enjoy the finer things in life…without having to fight for them.
Just then, Sienna’s bedroom door opened, and she stepped out, startled to see me. She was wearing a red hoodie and black sweats with sneakers on her feet. I’d bought her clothes—silks, cashmere, designer labels—but she still chose oversized hoodies and sneakers. Didn’t she like what I got her?
“Mr. Avit, what are you doing here?” she asked, her tone defensive. Her eyes skimmed over me slowly, and when a faintblush crept up her cheeks, she looked away, only to meet my gaze again a moment later.
I'd give anything to know what that cute blush was about. Did she…feel something for me?
I pushed the thought aside.
“Sienna, I don’t want to fight with you. And you don’t have to keep calling me Mr. Avit. Avit is fine.”
She inhaled deeply. “Avit, why are you here?”
“I’ll be accompanying you to class today.”
Her jaw tightened. “Why?”
Because I don’t believe you can find the man behind your father’s schemes, not when I, with all my resources, couldn’t uncover a damn thing.
“We’ve been married, what…two days?” I continued. “And we haven’t spent any time together. So that’s what we’ll be doing today.”
“So unlike most guys who plan dates, your idea of bonding is tagging along with me to class?”
A small smile tugged at my lips. “If I did ask you on a date, would you go with me?”
“Would I have a choice?”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head. “Do I have a choice today in whether or not you come with me?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Because I don’t trust your weasel of a father to stay away, or to not try manipulating you, when he realizes that I did take his deal and marry you.
“Because the deal was that I allow you to go to school in person. Nowhere did it say I couldn’t accompany you. Next time you make a deal, be precise and leave nothing out.”
“I’ll remember that next time.”
“Good. Now, let’s go down and have breakfast.”
“I’m not hung—” Sienna’s stomach growled, and her face flushed bright red.
“Sienna, look. Yes, we’re married, not in the traditional sense, but this is your home, too. You didn’t want to purchase anything, so I made the rest of the arrangements. More furniture will arrive today, and the kitchen is fully stocked. You’ve worked hard to get where you are; it would be a shame to fall sick while trying to prove a point.”
