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My voice was barely above a whisper since I didn’t want anyone to overhear. “You can’t still think I’d tell anyone…about what I…what I saw?”

His gaze was almost tender as he playfully pulled on one of my curls as if I’d said something cute instead of alluded to murder. “No. I don’t.”

I frowned. “Then why?—"

"Because as my wife you would be untouchable. As my prisoner you are not only a liability, but you’re also a target for my enemies."He opened the car door for me."And that’s unacceptable."

CHAPTER 24

PAVEL

Istood over the bed staring down at her sleeping form.

My knuckles brushed over her sleep-warmed cheek, pushing back a wayward curl to expose her neck.

So small. So innocent. So…vulnerable.

So…mine.

Or at least she would be, very soon.

Wife.

Over these last few weeks, the word had grown on me.

Returning home each night to her sweet body had become as necessary to me as air.

It wasn't love.

Love was not an emotion I was capable of.

But it was damn close.

Close enough to build a life.

My gaze ran over her body as the silk sheets hugged each delicate curve, lingering over her stomach.

What if she were already pregnant?

The idea of a beautiful baby with her eyes and smile filled me with a strange warmth. Again.

Not love…but close.

Last night had been different.

I’d come home after a particularly brutal day.

All I wanted to do was shower the blood off me and fuck her into submission. Fuck her until I forgot about anything else but the feel of her body accepting mine.

And yet…

She'd surprised me.

"Could we... could we watch a movie tonight?" she'd asked hesitantly after changing back into her sheer slip. "Something normal?"

Normal. Such a foreign concept in my world.

"What did you have in mind?"