Page 141 of Konstantin

His eyes flicker with hesitation. “I’d rather you stay inside. There’s a lot going on right now, and I don’t want you wandering around.”

“But I’ll have my big, strong bodyguards with me...” My attention drifts to Maksim and Dmitri, their eyes widening for a moment.

Konstantin’s jaw tightens and he steps closer, tugging gently on my chin. His lips brush mine, a warning wrapped in tenderness.

“Don’t try to make me jealous, wife. That never ends well. And it would be a pity if I had to kill my own cousins.”

“Hey, we did nothing!” Dmitri protests, but I can barely hold back a laugh.

“Irrelevant,” Konstantin growls, his teeth catching my bottom lip in a teasing tug.

“I like it when you get jealous.” My hands wrap around his neck, pulling him down into a soft kiss. The rich scent of his masculine, seductive cologne drives me wild. “You’re not allowed to smell this good while I’m not here to fully enjoy it.”

He smiles against my lips, a hint of mischief in his voice. “You’remaking it very hard to leave you as it is, katyonak. Don’t tempt me.” He nuzzles my neck, and I groan. “I should blow this billion-dollar deal and take you upstairs instead.” He palms my ass possessively.

A laugh escapes me. “You could. But you’d probably regret it.”

He eyes me with maddening intensity. “I would never regret you, moya lyubimoya.”

“Have you ever been told you’re a romantic?”

He shrugs, a half-grin playing on his lips. “A time or two. Some have even called me a matchmaker.”

I raise an eyebrow, my smile widening. “I can see that. You’re such a softie.”

Maksim snickers from the side, and Konstantin shoots him a sharp look.

“Shto?” Maksim raises his hands in mock surrender. “Am I lying?”

Konstantin turns back to me, amusement flickering in his eyes as his hands tighten around my hips. “I’ll miss you. Text me when you’re done with your run.”

“I will.”

His lips fall to mine again, the pull of his touch almost too much to resist.

With a sigh, he turns to his cousins. “You’ll go where she goes.”

He holds me closer like he refuses to let me go, his lips pressing softly to my temple. The kiss is full of unspoken words, a promise to protect me even as he has to let me go.

“Be careful.” His voice grows thick with concern. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”

A wave of emotion rises in my chest, and I fight to keep it down. Never before have I felt this much, not until Konstantin. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

For a moment, as his eyes align with mine, it’s as though the world stops spinning and everything else quiets in its wake. I can sense his worry, his affection for me, in the way he holds me, the way he’salways there.

When he starts toward the door, I call for him.

“Konstantin.”

He freezes and turns toward me.

“When you get back from your meeting, maybe we can talk about us.”

His brows furrow for a moment, but then the corners of his mouth twitch. “Of course, my love. We can talk about anything you want.”

My love.

I think that’s the first time he’s said it in English, and it hits me harder than I expected.