"You can't."
"I can. I will."
"He's marrying your sister."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." He lifted her wrist to his lips, pressing a kiss to the mark. "No one hurts you. No one touches you. No one makes you uncomfortable in your own home."
The gentleness of his touch contrasted sharply with the violence in his voice.
"Your mother thinks I'm causing drama."
"My mother doesn't see what I see."
"What do you see?"
He looked at her then, really looked at her. "I see a man who can't keep his hands to himself. Who makes you uncomfortable. Who sends you sick packages and follows you to bookstores."
Her eyes widened. "You know about the bookstore?"
"I know everything." His hand moved from her wrist to her face. "Your security reports to me. And they reported that Kabir has been following you. Watching you. Getting too close."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was gathering evidence. Building a case. Making sure I could destroy him completely before I struck."
The cold calculation in his voice should have scared her.
Instead, it made her feel safe.
"What happens now?" she asked.
"Now?" He leaned closer, his forehead resting against hers. "Now I make sure he never gets within ten feet of you again. And then I ruin him so thoroughly, he'll wish he'd never heard the name Ranawat."
"And Tanisha?"
"Will hate me. But she'll be safe." His eyes were hard. "I can live with her hatred. I can't live with the alternative."
"Which is?"
"Her married to a predator. Or you getting hurt." His hand slid into her hair. "Both are unacceptable."
She closed her eyes, breathing him in. "You're being protective."
"I'm being possessive," he corrected. "There's a difference."
"Is there?"
"Protective means I care about your safety. Possessive means I want to kill any man who looks at you wrong." His lips brushed her temple. "I'm definitely possessive."
"And protective?"
His silence was answer enough.
She pulled back slightly. "Why can't you just say it?"
"Say what?"
"That you care. That I matter. That this is more than just duty and possession."
