Page 75 of His to Own

“I just need to rest. I’m so tired.”

“Then rest. I can take the other bed. I’m glad you’re here, Elena. I want to help you.”

“I know.” But Alexei can’t help me. I’m a mafia daughter who’s married to a mafia man. I am bound to the Bratva for the rest of my life. No one escapes it.

I lay down on the bed and shut my eyes. Safe. This is the only place I have felt safe since Maxim and I married.

As soon as I think that, sleep takes over me.

I’m jerked awake by the sound of the door bursting open. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust before I realize that it’s Maxim. Standing in the doorway. Looking furious.

“Maxim?” I gasp. A glance at the clock on the wall tells me it’s early morning. I was here all night.

Without a word, Maxim stalks into the room and grabs Alexei’s shirt and yanks him from the other bed. Alexei shouts right before Maxim punches him in the face.

I gasp and jump from the bed. “What are you doing? Don’t do that!”

“You would prefer his company over mine?” Maxim asks, shoving Alexei to the floor. Alexei groans and holds his cheek. It’s already turning red from where Maxim hit it.

“I just needed…”

“What? What did you need?”

“I just needed to feel safe!” I shout.

Maxim’s eyes widen. There’s hurt in them, I realize. “You are safe with me. Haven’t I made that obvious by now?”

“I saw what you did,” I whisper.

“And I would never do that to you. Never.” The passion in his voice is obvious. Maxim believes what he’s saying. “I don’t beat women.”

But he has spanked me. And I liked it more than I should have.

“You came here,” Maxim continues “To be with him?” He kicks Alexei in the stomach. The groan of pain from Alexei’s mouth hurts me to my core.

“Stop it!” I scream again. “Just stop it! He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He’s trying to take you away from me.”

“He was trying to offer me a safe place to sleep for the night. I was too scared to go back home to you. I just needed a place for the night. Nothing happened. He didn’t touch me.”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“Because I am your wife. I wouldn’t cheat.”

Maxim goes still. “I haven’t cheated either.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

He inhales quickly and lets it out slowly as he looks between me and Alexei. “Never go near her again,” he threatens.

Alexei only groans.

“Let’s go home,” Maxim says to me, holding out his hand.

“You can’t force me.”

“You would prefer to stay here with him? Or do you want to return home to your parents? You are safe with me, Elena. Just let me explain. Let me tell you why I was doing what I was doing.”