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Her expression hardened immediately. “No.”

I remained calm. “I wasn’t asking, Sofia. Sokolov has already come after you once. He knows you’re important to me, and now you’re carrying my child. You’re more exposed than you’ve ever been.”

She looked at me with disbelief. “I don’t care. Read my lips, Ronan. I don’t care. You honestly think me marrying you is going to solve this?”

“It will give you protection that I can control.”

“It will give you control over me. That isn’t what I want.”

Marriage would give me a degree of control over her life that she had every reason to resent, but I also knew what would happen if she remained outside my protection.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” I said. “I’m not asking you to forget what I did to your father or pretend the past doesn’t exist. I know exactly what I took from you. But I won’t stand by and watch someone take you and our child from me because you refuse the protection I can give you.”

Her eyes hardened. “You don’t get to decide what happens to me because I’m pregnant.”

“I know what you’re going to say. You’ll tell me you can protect yourself. You’ll tell me you’ll leave Boston. That’s nonsense. Even if you go to Mount Everest, these men will find you.”

“But I can protect myself. And I will leave Boston, if that’s what you want. And don’t worry, no one will find me.”

“And you’ll continue Buried Saints and expose everything you’ve learned if you have to.”

She stared at me. “I’ll tell the world everything if that’s what it takes to stop you from controlling me.”

I felt my patience beginning to disappear. I looked at her for several seconds. Persuasion wasn’t going to work. I’d tried reasoning with her, but Sofia had never been intimidated by me, and she wasn’t going to start now. She would walk straight into danger simply to prove that nobody could decide her life for her.

That was one of the things I loved about her. It was also one of the things that frightened me most. I took a slow breath.

“You’re not going to do any of that,” I warned, taking a step closer to her. For the first time since we met, a flash of fear and uncertainty crossed her eyes. I didn’t want her to be scared of me, but she had every reason to be. As far as she knew, I’d killed her father and ruined her family. She’d also found out that I wasn’t exactly the financial consultant I’d claimed I was. “You’re only going to do one thing—marry me.”

I watched the anger return to her face. She knew what I was saying. The anger on her face couldn’t change my decision. I’d spent too much of my life making difficult choices to pretend that this one could be solved with patience and polite conversation. I had no intention of waiting for another attack before taking drastic measures.

“Fuck you.”

“You’re not leaving this penthouse,” I said, ignoring her words.

Sofia stared at me like she was looking at a different person. “You can’t keep me here. You don’t own me, Ronan. Stop acting like you do.”

I stepped closer to the bed, keeping my voice controlled. “You’re under my protection until the people hunting you are dealt with. You will not leave this building alone, you will not disappear from Boston, and you will not put yourself in danger because you’re angry with me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to make those decisions for me.”

“I do when you’re not thinking straight and your decisions can put you and my child in the path of people who want to hurt you. I’m keeping you here, where I know I can protect you.”

She shook her head, and the disappointment in her expression hit harder than her anger.

“This isn’t protection. You’re imprisoning me. You’re exactly the man I thought you were.” She turned away.

Something inside me hardened. Perhaps that was the part of myself I’d been trying to keep away from her. Sofia had known Ronnie, the man who cooked terrible breakfast and listened when she talked. She’d seen the part of me I rarely allowed anyone to see.

Now she was seeing Ronan, the man who survived by making decisions other people didn’t have the courage to make.

“I would rather have you hate me than have to bury you,” I said.

She was still looking away, so I walked toward the door.

“Ronan.” I stopped, but didn’t turn around. “If you lock that door, I’ll never forgive you.”

I closed my eyes for a moment. “I know.” I stepped outside and locked the door behind me. I stood in the hallway for several seconds, listening to the silence on the other side. I knew exactly what I’d done. I also knew Sofia would see it as another betrayal. But if keeping her alive required her to hate me, I would accept that.