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He just had to be nuts.
Zia was struggling to breathe. She was out of the stool, pacing the floor with a hand on her chest, going through a made-up list ofTwenty Ways To Not Die.A list she had made up herself after she realized that Lev Nikolai might, in fact, be crazy.
The only problem was that, from her list of twenty ways not to die, she’d defaulted all the twenty rules and had found herself in the one spot that needed intervention before she got saved. She had gotten charmed by the stranger’s heroic act, fallen for his charm, slept with him—Oh, God, she slept with him—and now she had to deal with the bitter reality that he wascuckoo.
Because what man, who’d only met a woman in less than twenty-four hours, proposed marriage to her?
“You have to stop doing that.”
The smooth timbre of his voice—the very same one she had fallen for—grabbed her attention, and she turned her head to see him pointing at her feet.
“The frequent back-and-forth motion might make me sick,” he added.
And she momentarily stopped, thoroughly shocked that he had managed to fool her with his acts and speeches of sanity.
She raised a brow and jerked back her head, searching around for possible hidden cameras. “Is this a TV show?”
His brows creased, and he wrinkled his nose. “What?”
“Is this a TV show?” she repeated, marching up to him. “Because if it is, I think it’s honestly the cruelest plot twist ever.”
To her amazement, he let out a chuckle. “Are you always this dramatic, or is this because I said we’re getting married?”
Zia forced herself to get past the beautiful sound of his laughter and focus on what was more important: her safety. She shook her head, baffled.
“How do you say it with so much confidence? You don’t even know me, and yet you’re proposing—”
“Ah, no, no, no,” he held up a finger and leaned back with a quirked brow. How could one man be so charming and yet so confusing?
“You’re getting it wrong. You see, I might not know you, but I know me, and I know some filthy scumbags want to get me however they can. The incident at the club last night was no mistake. It was planned. Whoever it was knew I was going to be there at that time, and so they came after me.”
“What does that have to do with me and my work?”
“Everything.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It has everything to do with you, your fucking job, and even the fucking air you are breathing right now, Zia. Did you see me take any other women out of the rubble last night? No. It was just you. Don’t be deceived; you were sighted with me, and that is what changes everything. They’ll think you mean something to me and will not hesitate to go after you, too.”
“God…”
She wanted to collapse to the ground, or better yet, crawl into a hole and hide for a few more years before emerging again. Where had she gotten it all wrong? And most importantly, why did she have the worst luck with men?
She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand before trying to speak again. “But… But what does that have to do with my job, huh? Why do I have to stop working?”
“Were you not listening to a word I said?” He seemed genuinely surprised. “Or did you just pretend not to hear me?”
“I heard you, okay? It just doesn’t make any sense. Yes, they spotted me with you—whoever these people are. Butyouknow the truth; I’m nothing more than a one-night stand…”
His jaw flexed, but she didn’t give him room to speak.
“…Why can’t you clear the air? Maybe just put it out there that I am not who they think I am, you know? Just get the target off my back so I can return to living my life normally.”
He shook his head, conveying an apology before he said anything.
“I’m sorry, Zia, but you should know that it doesn’t work that way. For now, I don’t know who the attacker is, but I am one hundred percent sure that a rival family caused it. If you’ve been seen with me, that automatically makes you an ally. They will believe that you know something, no matter how small and insignificant that piece of information might be. I can’t just ‘go out there and clear the air’, as you’ve put it. The only thing I can do is protect you.”
“And the only way to do that is by getting married to me?”
Before he responded, Zia held a hand up, brows wrinkled as she struggled to place a finger on something that repeatedly flashed through her mind.
“Wait, give me a second to process this.” She started with the pieces of the scattered puzzle, fixing each point and connecting the dots until it slowly began to make sense. She heldhis eyes, ignoring the curiosity in them as she listed out piece by piece.
