Page 22 of Beneath Scarred Vows

"You will care," he says. "If I have to make you."

The alley goes silent except for our breathing. His chest rises and falls against mine, our bodies pressed together in this strange, tense moment. It's cold, and he feels warm.

"Why do you care? Huh? I'm just a transaction. A way to secure whatever it is you wanted."

He doesn't move.

"You're my wife."

"In name only," I counter.

"For now," he says, not breaking his eye contact with me, and the promise in those words hangs between us like smoke.

I feel his warm breath on my face. His thumb traces the line of my jaw as his hard body pins me to the wall.

"Did you think of running?" he asks, his voice dropping lower.

"No," I say truthfully. "I just wanted to breathe."

Something in his expression changes. His grip loosens, but he doesn't step away. If anything, he presses closer, one hand braced on the wall beside my head.

"You could have asked," he says.

I scoff. "Would you have let me go?"

"No." At least he's honest. "Not alone."

"Then I didn't need to ask."

His eyes narrow, studying me with that penetrating gaze that makes me feel like he's trying to pry me open and see inside.

"You're reckless," he says finally.

"Reckless to want to live my life?"

Again, that flicker in his eyes.

"You're no longer just living your life. Have you thought about how getting yourself put in danger puts our whole family in danger? Don't you care about anyone besides yourself?"

I hear his words, and they have a stronger effect on me than I thought. I've been trying to survive for so long that maybe I have been a little selfish.

But I have every right to be.

"Now I'm back in my cage."

His jaw tightens. "It's not a cage, Katerina. It's protection."

"A big house with fancy things is still a cage, Ares."

"Better caged and alive than free and dead," he says sharply.

I laugh. "Is it? I'm not so sure."

"My father was murdered," he says. "Someone walked right up and put a bullet in his head. You think they won't do the same to you? To hurt me?"

"Why would hurting me hurt you?" I ask.

His eyes darken. "Because this is the world we live in."