Page 92 of Married with Blood
I didn’t react, though, staying seated and resting my elbow on the armrest, my chin in hand.
“I…” She lowered her gaze.
Was she going to lie and avoid admitting that she’d called Arturo, seemingly behind my back?
“I…” She heaved a heavy exhale then nodded. “You heard. You heard me call him.”
Still no reaction. I didn’t need to answer that. It was implied.
“I had to. I had to dosomething.”
Now, I leaned forward, resting both of my elbows on my knees as I regarded her. Seeing how stressed she was, witnessing the indecision and worry on her gorgeous face, was like having a knife twisted inside my gut. “You did not need to do anything.”
She shook her head, approaching me slowly. “I felt like I had to. But whatever you’re thinking, whatever you are assuming, you’re wrong.”
I straightened, frowning up at her as she stepped between my legs and faced me.
She wasn’t cowering or hiding. She wasn’t deflecting or lying.
“I didn’t call him to be a spy or anything like that.”
I shook my head slowly, reaching out to her until she took my hand. “I know.”
She came to me willingly, following my guidance until she sat on my lap, her legs draped over one of my thighs.
“I have never spied. Although he asked.” She furrowed her brow. “But I’ve realized that he only said that to distract me. He probably knew how much I’d protest being arranged in a marriage. He probably lied about wanting me to spy just so I could feel like I had a purpose, to cover up how he was pushing me away.”
I brushed her hair from her face. She’d already shared a little about this, but it wasn’t bad to hear it again.
“And he never did want anything from me. He didn’t expect any intel from me. Probably because he wouldn’t have gotten anything useful. In the beginning, I saw my marriage to you and my introduction to this family as what it should’ve been. As what an arrangement would’ve meant if our fathers were in power still—a symbol of good faith between the families. But he didn’t share that view anymore. He stopped seeing the Bratva as a partner of any kind. Even if I had tried to spy or had seen anything that might’ve interested him—which I didn’t—he never made any effort to stay in touch with me.”
I cupped her face, urging her to look at me instead of down at her towel tied around her body.
“I haven’t talked to him since the day he arranged for me to marry you.”
“I know,” I told her sincerely.
She smirked. “A firewall?” she guessed.
I nodded. “But I don’t need a technological layer of security to tell me that I can trust you.”
She leaned against me and sighed.
“I also don’t need you to be so stressed out that you try to take matters into your own hands and reach out to him.”
She sat up and frowned. Before she could speak, I pressed my finger to her lips.
“My job is to protect you. Both you and our child. Any problem that arises with him will be mine to solve, Carina.”
She dodged my finger and frowned again. “But?—”
I gripped her chin and pulled her close so I could kiss her quiet.
“But nothing. I am here to protect you, and I will. I respect that this situation can’t be easy. I understand that you feel bound to help the Cartel you came from. And I appreciate your loyalty to be honest with me. That is why I must be honest with you. I’m not worried that you’re spying, or that you intend any harm to the Bratva and this family.Yourfamily. I simply do not want your brother to have a direct means of messing with you like this. I abhor the idea of him causing you further strife and forcing you to feel at all stressed.”
She arched one brow. “Why, because I’m pregnant now? I can’t handle anything anymore?”
“No. Regardless of whether you are pregnant or not, I don’t want to see you torn up about this. About him.”
