Page 101 of The Enemy Protector

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The car door opens, and Sergei slides in beside me. He's back to his usual stoic self. Whatever moment of levity I witnessed is gone.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

"Fine." He signals the driver to go.

We ride in silence. I stare out the window at the city lights.

"Your brothers are nice," I say.

"They liked you."

I shouldn't care what his brothers think of me. This is a business arrangement. But I do care. I want them to see me as worthy.

I wantSergeito see me as worthy.

The thought catches me off guard. When did I start caring what he thinks?

We pull up to the brownstone. Sergei gets out first and offers me his hand. I take it and allow him to lead me inside.

I should go upstairs to my room.

But I’m not ready to be alone. Not yet.

I want my husband.

He pulls off his tie and walks to the foot of the stairs and pauses. He looks back at me. “Sofia?”

My heart is pounding. My belly feels funny—in a good way. I don’t know how to do this.

What if he rejects me?

"I want to ask you something," I say.

"Alright."

"I need you not to make it complicated."

“What is it Sofia?”

I clasp my hands together. I’m rarely nervous, but I am right now. "The memories I have from that night,” I pause. This is ridiculous. “Never mind.”

He steps toward me. “Tell me, my littlebuntarka.”

I almost smile. Rebel. Why does that make my ask so much easier?

“The memories still haunt me. The, uh, our wedding night.” I lick my lips and take a deep breath. "The first time was good. It was better than I thought it could be. But there's still a lot of old noise and I want—" I meet his eyes. "I want to make new ones. Louder ones. I want to drown out the bad memories."

He stares at me. I swallow and wait.

"Come here," he says in that velvety voice that gives me chills.

He's different this time.

The first time he was careful in the way of someone handling something fragile.

I understand his command.

My choice.

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