Page 41 of The Pakhan's Sold Bride

My eyes are still closed, but I slowly start to trace my hand up and down her back again, over her body. It’s soothing.

I only open my eyes again when I hear the familiar sound of the gravel of my driveway.

“Roan asked if you would like us to increase home security for the evening, sir.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Did you send someone to clear away the wreckage?”

“Yes, sir. The team is there now with a truck.”

Satisfied, I nod. “Thank you again for fetching us so quickly. Have a good evening,” I say, pushing the door open as he comes to a stop.

I lean in and offer my hand to Lara, who takes it and lets me help her out of the car.

“Let’s get you inside, we can run a hot bath, it’ll help with the soreness and muscle tension,” I say, sliding my arm around her waist as we walk towards the front door.

“What just happened, Nestor?” she asks, stepping into the house ahead of me.

“We were in a car accident,” I say, sensing her tension. I push the front door closed behind us. It clicks quietly, and my shoulders stiffen as she huffs.

“No, that wasn’tjusta car accident. Tell me what happened, please.” She pulls away from me, turning to face me with her hands folded over her chest. She’s still badly shaken. It’s written all over her body. Her eyes are flaring, and her jaw is set tightly, her lips pressed together.

Shit.

The look on her face tells me she is not letting this go until I tell her everything.

And I’m not ready to tell her everything.

But what choice do you have? She should know what’s going on.

My jaw clenches tightly, aching the muscles over my face and down the back of my neck. I reach my hand up and rub the back of my neck, tilting my head first to the left, then to the right.

Everything hurts.

I guess that’s to be expected when you’re inside a car that gets smashed intotwiceand rolls.

“Nestor, I need to know. I can’t handle this anymore. I feel like I’m in a sinking ship, and I don’t even understand why.” Her eyes are beautiful, rich with emotion, swirling bluelike ocean waters and shining as she glares at me, waiting for an explanation.

Chapter 12 - Lara

I stare at him, waiting for an answer.

He looks nervous, or maybe I’m misreading it and he’s just stressed from what happened.

But that wasn’t an accident. Two cars don’t smash into you by accident. And he was very quick in his reaction to get us as far away from the attack as possible.Because that’s what it was—an attack.

My entire body is rigid with tension. I’m shaking, overwhelmed, confused, and now, because I don’t understand anything that’s going on, I’m starting to get angry as well.

I think the anger is a defense mechanism for the fact that I feel like I’m being pushed into a corner in a dark room.

I’m done with these secrets.

He never gave me a clear explanation for why the debt collector backed off so quickly, as though he recognized him. Since when does Charlieevercall anyonesirexcept for his boss when I overheard him on the phone—that creepy asshole I only met once.

Yet he was quick to call Nestor ‘sir.’

It’s been bothering me, but I tried to ignore it.

But he can’t ask me to ignore this, too.