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“Yes. Not only with the conversation, but with you as well.” I spun on my heel, ready to walk from the room. Did I honestly believe he’d allow me to leave his house? No. Did I want to? I wasn’t certain. But I had laid down the law.

“What do you think I feel about you, prekrasnyy angel?”

I knew enough Russian to know he’d called me his beautiful angel. “I don’t have any idea. That’s the problem.”

“When I thought I lost you, nothing else mattered. You and my daughter are my entire world. Fuck the money. To hell with the power. I didn’t give a shit about anything. All I could think about was how I failed you both. When I wasn’t wallowing in the horror of who I was and the job I was born into, I was eager to put a bullet into my brain. There were two reasons I didn’t. One was because of Shadow, the only lifeline I felt to either one of you. The other was I knew if I killed myself, I wouldn’t go to heaven along with my angels. My punishment would be served in hell. You mean everything to me, which is why I’ll stop at nothing to keep you safe.”

The deep tremor of his voice stilled me. However, that couldn’t change the way I felt. “Where did you go, Maxsim?”

“What do you mean?”

My heart ached just needing to say this to him. “In less than four weeks, you’ve changed significantly. You’re not the man I left.”

“You didn’t leave me. Remember? You were taken from me.”

“I can’t imagine how you felt in thinking that Mina and I were dead and I’m not going to try and pretend like I do. For days I didn’t know if you were alive. Or if…” I caught myself before admitting something that seemed impossible.

“Finish what you were going to say, Isabel. A small part of you blamed me for what happened?”

“No. No! I just didn’t believe it possible you would find me.” I took a step backward and he took one closer. “You’re so much darker, more like the man I first met and the one I didn’t like very much. Controlling, never being able to take a deep breath. When you let your guard down, that’s when I fell in love with you. And trust me, I never intended on doing so. But now… You’re even more intensely dark than before, so angry that I fear you’ll never be able to escape.”

“Escape what?”

“The true chains keeping you locked away from life.”

This time when he chuckled, the bitter sound made me wince. “Letting my guard down was the problem. That’s how you were taken from me.”

“So you intend on wrapping those same chains around me and your own daughter?” He didn’t answer. Of course he didn’t. “I’m not your prisoner. I won’t be. Even though I love you, I can’t do pretend that I’ll accept being nothing more than an object.”

“No, you are not my prisoner, and I never want you to feel that way. Being my wife would never make you my captive, but I will insist that you are protected using any method I deem appropriate.”

I turned so I could look him in the eyes one more time. Seconds ticked by. Ugly, frustrating, painful seconds. “I can’t, Maxsim. I just can’t.”

“I won’t accept that.”

“Well, I guess you’re going to need to learn to live with disappointment. Aren’t you?” Another act of stalemate and even as my mind wavered about what I should do and my body craving being pressed against him, I found my resolve once again.

And I took steps away to leave him all alone.

CHAPTER 10

Isabel

I’d seen something in Maxsim I hadn’t expected and that’s what had truly shocked me. I hadn’t concentrated on why I’d been so bothered by his reactions from the minute he walked into my sister’s house until now.

There had been a gleam in his eyes when I’d told him I’d killed a man so we could escape. Of course, I understood that he’d been in shock, seeing us both alive. He was a father after all and he’d been led to believe through acts of sheer malevolence that I had undergone torture before dying. The thought alone made me want to hunt the bastard down who’d forced me to record my own voice to use to torment Maxsim.

And yes, I wished the fucker dead by my hands.

That was perfectly acceptable after the ordeal I’d been put through. I was certain any doctor would say so.

With Maxsim, his expression, the glint in his eyes and the way he’d told me I’d done the right thing had screamed of him being proud of me. Proud. That I’d killed a man.

I was furious with him, with myself. With life.

There was no sound, no anger. The man was a true predator and within two seconds, I was in his arms, pressed against his chest and he was dragging me further into the room.

He even closed and locked his office door.