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He’s scared. She’s his daughter. His world.

But she’s mine now, too.

And I will protect her with everything I have.

From her stalker. From the press. Even from him.

I take another step closer, my voice lowering to something dark and intimate.

“If you think for one second that packing her up, carting her off, locking her up in some foreign country is protecting her—you don’t know her at all. But it doesn’t matter. You’ll never get the chance to do any of that.”

Behind me, Lucy makes a soft sound—shock, maybe. Or relief.

“Your daughter’s not a thing to be hidden. She’s a fucking force. And I’m not just going to protect her,” I add, eyes hard. “I’m going to stand beside her. I;m going to support her no matter what. I’ll hold the match while she burns down the world if she has to.”

A heavy silence stretches between us.

One heartbeat. Two.

Then Marat exhales slowly.

And for the first time since he barged in, I see it, the flicker of something almost like respect in his eyes.

The room goes still.

Lucy’s breath hitches behind me.

Marat’s glare falters, just for a second.

But I’m not done.

“She’s not a child. And she’s not a toy. But yes, I’ll protect her with everything I have, because that’s what she deserves.”

“And you’ll marry her? This week,” he says, dipping his chin.

I nod.

Because yes, I’m going to marry her. The very idea of it has my blood pumping and my pulse racing.

Everything I tell him is the truth.

Raw. Ugly. Honest.

And no, I might not be good enough for her.

But I’m all in.

And I’m not ever letting her go.

Chapter Fourteen-Lucy

I’m sitting in my childhood bedroom at my parents’ place on the Long Island Sound.

The waves are breaking against the rocky shoreline just a few dozen yards from my window, but I’m not really seeing them.

My palms are pressed together in my lap, the bouquet long since forgotten on the vanity. My reflection in the mirror looks like someone else.

Like a bride in a dream.