Page 33 of The Enemy Protector
“This isn’t about fear. It’s about survival.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me. I’ve spent my entire life around men who think they do. So thank you for the warning, but I’ve got it handled.”
I walk away without looking back, and that only happens through sheer force of will because I really want to see if he’s watching me walk away.
His proposal is insane. Rude. And the worst part is, he is not entirely wrong.
It wouldn’t be the first marriage like that. It’s how my mother ended up with my father. Marriage to Sergei Sokolov would make me untouchable.
I hate that I can see it.
I hate even more that part of me wanted to stay and hear what else he had to say.
Gregor sighs when I slide into the backseat. “That was fast.”
“Yep.” I lean forward. “My lunch date, please.”
Gregor groans. “Can you just eat at home?”
“No. I’m not going to hide. I’m having lunch with Tori. Period.”
More cursing.
I slide into the booth across from Tori in a crowded restaurant. I’m not hiding, but I’m not making it easy either.
“Sorry I’m late,” I say.
She’s already ordered for both of us—some kind of grain bowl situation that’s supposed to make us live forever.
“You look stressed,” she says immediately.
“Hectic morning.”
“What happened?”
I take a breath. I’m not sure how to even start this conversation. “I got a marriage proposal.”
Tori’s eyebrows shoot up. “What? From who? Wait—is this arranged? Did your father set something up?”
“No. Nothing like that.” I pause, trying to find the right words. “It was from—” I hesitate. I always have to run things I tell her through a filter. “Sergei Sokolov.”
For a second, she just stares at me. Then she starts laughing, and then it dies. “Seriously? He made front page news a few years ago. Bought off half the police force, they say.”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
“You two are like enemies, right? Why the hell would he want to marry you? Is this sort of thing like a business merger for your two families?”
I pick at my grain bowl, moving quinoa around with my fork. “Something like that. He says it’s strategic.”
I’m not telling her about my cousin trying to kill me. She’d never want to have lunch with me again.
“So romantic.”
“Right?” I smile.
I can’t help but turn my hand and look at the torn skin on the heel it. He could protect me from more of that.
“Are you okay?” Tori asks.
