Page 72 of Fractured Empire

“Yeah, they went down easily.” He doesn’t make a move to head back to the table for his food, coming closer to me instead. “We need to talk.”

My heart drops into the pit of my stomach.

No good conversation starts that way.

“Leon, I apologized about last night⁠—”

“And I told you not to be sorry,” he cuts in sharply. “You kissed me, Katya, you didn’t stab me. I kissed you too.”

Gaping at his blunt reply, I try to form a response to no avail.

“That isn’t what I wanted to talk about, though. It’s the only fucking thing I could think about today, but it’s not why we need to talk.”

My eyes bulge. “You’ve been thinking about it all day?”

“You don’t want to know, baby.”

Oh. My. God.

My thighs press closer together and I gulp.

Baby.

He called me baby.

Wait…is he mad about being consumed by thoughts of last night?

“I watched you today.”

Blinking, I frown at him, instantly confused.

“What?”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and feeling bad about leaving the kids so soon that I watched you on the cameras all morning. Well, not all morning. But I’d rather overplay it than lie about how long I checked in on you for. I opened them on my phone just to make sure things were going well and then I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I…we need to talk because you watched the cameras?”

Now it’s his turn to blink. “I’m telling you that I effectively stalked you for several hours today, watching and listening to you while you were unaware.”

Why does it sound like he’s confessing an egregious sin?

“Are you…are you expecting me to be upset?”

“Are you not?” He draws his eyebrows in, appearing dumbfounded.

“Leon, we married each other less than a week ago and we hardly know one another. You’re trusting me alone with your children and I know you have cameras. I would be surprised if you didn’t watch them.” I step forward, tilting my head slightly to one side. “You’re a protective father trying to take care of his kids. I couldn’t possibly fault you for that.”

“I wasn’t just watching them,” he emphasizes, shaking his head. “I was watching you, Katya.”

“Well, I was in every frame with them, I’d imagine so⁠—”

“Katya,” Leon says, stopping me. He lifts a hand and captures my chin before forcing our faces closer together. “I was watching you. I was leering after you like a fucking creep, and I’m trying to tell you this because I need you to know that it’s going to happen again. I apparently have very little self-control where you’re concerned and it’s only right that you’re aware of what kind of man I am.”

“What kind of man is that?” I challenge, savoring the way his large, firm hand feels against the soft skin of my face. “The kind who confesses to watching his wife and children while he works to provide for them and keep them safe? The kind who finds himself drawn to the woman he married? If you’re trying to frighten me, Leon, you’re doing a poor job of it.”

His fingers twitch, like a heartbeat pulsing around my jaw. “I brought you into this marriage with different expectations. You’re meant to be…” He trails off, looking reluctant to say the words.

“A mother,” I finish for him. His throat visibly bobs and I move, lifting my hands to wrap around his wrist softly. I don’t use the new connection to remove his hold on my face, but to bring us closer. “I know what we talked about when we discussed this match, Leon. I remember every word we exchanged when I agreed to this relationship—to this arrangement of ours.”