Page 47 of Scarred Redemption

“At your funeral, Isabel.”

I used to love hearing the accent and how he enunciated every syllable of my name. As if by doing so, I was very important to him. I knew he was still in a fog from realizing that his world was the reason for Mina and me being abducted. The harsh reality of being able to feel alive again then being faced with the horrors of another death had changed him, adding an edge that would forever terrify me.

Now the way he said my name was as if whispering to a ghost. And that scared me more than anything else.

He had no idea how hearing about my own death pushed another wave of nausea into my stomach. “I wasn’t breaking it off. She got the wrong impression. I just needed some time to think things through. You’re very overbearing, Maxsim. All powerful and all controlling. Much like you’re being now.”

“I want you protected always.”

“Getting married is supposed to be about love. Not about protection. How do you think that makes me feel?”

His answer when conversations became difficult was to shut down. Just like I sensed he was ready to do. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“Yes, you’re trying to protect me. What makes you think us getting married will change anything?”

“Because it will.”

“Said like a petulant child. Let me guess. You’re going to add that things are different in your world and your power as Pakhan will add yet another layer of protection.”

There was a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Yes, there will be.”

“You are without a doubt the most infuriating man I’ve ever known.”

“Yes, but a man who you hunger for. Isn’t that right?”

“You’re still the arrogant asshole like you were in the beginning.”

He was even more amused, which irritated the hell out of me. Maybe I was stressed or at my wits’ end. Maybe I was completely exhausted and incapable of thinking clearly. Maybe the man simply drove me to being childish in certain behavioral acts, but my reaction was the only one I could make at that moment.

I tossed my drink into his face.

He was a man who reacted instantly either by instinct or training, yet he barely closed his eyes and remained exactly where he was. His chest rose and fell.

So did mine.

Being exasperated around him had become an artform. The silence was interminable. “You are the most insufferable man I’ve ever met in my life. You cannot order someone you claim to care about to marry you. That’s not how it works. Even you should know that.”

“Even me?”

There was no anger in his voice and I could barely detect any amusement. Just the deep, velvety tone that had awakened my senses from day one. “Yes. Even a brooding Russian with a God complex. I am not your possession or your property. I refuse to be treated as some puppet you can pull the strings on when you want then place me on a shelf like some doll. I’d not going to dote over you or have dinner prepared every afternoon when you come home. My guess is you’d expect me to wear sexy lingerie. See-through of course. I can see it now. I’d be required to have a drink in my hand, a saucy smile on my face, and I couldn’t say no to whatever you wanted. No, not wanted. Demanded.”

You bet I was hot and somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was mostly talking to the son of a bitch who’d dared kidnap me. And beat me. However, Maxsim was perhaps the most annoying human being I’d ever met.

He was very dramatic about wiping liquid from his face and even took the time to pull the rim of his glass to his lips. He knew I’d watch every action he took. He was well aware I had the kind of personality where I wouldn’t let go.

Damn the man.

“You are infuriating!” I added the exclamation because I had no intention of arguing with him any longer. As if by repeating the words he’d come to comprehend my frustration. After slamming the heavy glass onto an end table, I took purposeful steps away, half expecting him to follow.

He didn’t.

But he presented an aura of power that transcended everything else. Being here with him, I felt safer than I had in my life. But the safety wasn’t about living, but about surviving.

That wasn’t how I wanted to live my life.

Even as much as I… loved him.

“Are you finished?”