I point a finger at him. “I’ll get a rematch and beat you.”

“Wait. What?” Yan shakes his head, eyes half-drooping. The two of us drank the most tonight. “It’s over? I was just getting started on kicking Kolya’s grumpy ass.”

“Get up.” Kolya grabs him by his good arm and he sways. “And it’ll be a lifetime before you kick my ass.”

Yan punches him in the chest, and though it doesn’t seem hard, Kolya staggers a little. “I’ll break through that ice one day, you have my fucking word.”

Kolya pushes him in front of himself, nods at us, then singlehandedly hauls Yan out, refusing Boris’s aid.

“They left.” I motion at the door after it closes behind them. “But I’m not done playing.”

“I am more than done.” Adrian lifts my chin, his long fingers creating delicious friction against my skin. “No one gets to see you drunk but me.”

“I’m not drunk.” I hiccup and giggle, hiding the sound with the back of my hand. “Oops. Maybe a little.”

“A little?”

“Okay, a looot.” I nuzzle my cheek against his hand and sigh. “You’re so warm.”

“I am?”

“Yes, even when you’re cold. Even when you give me the silent treatment, you’re so caring and warm. That’s one thing I don’t want you to change.”

“What else do you not want me to change?”

“Hmm. The way you look at me.”

“And how do I look at you?”

“Like you want to tie me down and fuck me.”

“I do want to tie you down and fuck you.”

I giggle as arousal tingles between my legs. “All the time?”

“If I can help it.” His voice drops to a seductive range.

“What if you can’t? What if I become old and wrinkly and sex isn’t the same anymore?”

“I’ll find a way.”

“What if something happens and I can’t have sex altogether?” I don’t know why I’m asking these questions, but for some reason, I feel vulnerable and the only way to fight it is to poke at the weight perching on my chest.

Adrian’s fingers glide over the ridge of my nose, then trace a path to my cheek as if he’s engraving me into some corner of his head. “If something happens to you, it won’t push me away. If anything, it’ll bring me closer, Lenochka. Sex plays a part of who we are, and I love how you submit to my dominance, but it’s not the reason why I’ve been married to you for six years.”

“What is then?”

“You.”

“Just me?”

“Just you.”

I gulp, feeling moisture glistening in my eyes. A strange rush of emotions overwhelm me until it’s hard to breathe, let alone think. It’s two words. Just you. But it’s like he reached inside himself, ripped a part out, and offered it to me in the palm of his hand.

“Don’t ever change, okay?” I whisper.

“Lia, what did I say about that word?”

“Oops. Does that mean you’ll punish me now?”

“Oh, I’ll do more than punish you.”

My heart skips a beat when I glance at him. “What?” I ask, my voice breathy and sultry.

“I’d rather show you.”

I squeal as he sweeps me off the floor and into his arms, and then I break into a fit of laughter.

Happiness.

I’ve never dared to dream about it before, but this must be what it feels like to be happy, and now, I’m finally daring to experience it to its fullest.

Please let it stay this way forever.

19

Adrian

Lia grabs on to me with her delicate fingers as I carry her to the bedroom.

I, on the other hand? I’m thinking of ways to punish and fuck her after she’s kept me waiting all night long.

There’s no way in hell I’m letting my guards near her in the future. This one time was enough. In fact, it’s more than I would have preferred.

If it were up to me, she’d have no contact with them at all. A certain dark obsession takes hold of me whenever she talks, let alone smiles, at other men—even if they’re my own guards. It provokes the beast inside me who’s ready to come out and slaughter any man in her vicinity so that I’m the only one she ever gives her attention to.

I kick the wooden door shut behind me and Lia digs her tiny hands into my shirt, giggling as she squirms. Her cheeks are rosy and her eyelids have drooped from drinking. Another side of her that I don’t want anyone else to witness.

She looks so beautiful, flushed and with the blue of her eyes softening. There’s no trace of the sadness that seems to have haunted her life.

If anything, she appears a bit…mischievous. A trait that she rarely shows, if ever.

Lia has always been the soft, elegant type who keeps her emotions to herself. She said she hates my silent treatment, but she doesn’t realize that she often uses the same tactic herself. In fact, she was the one who pulled away first and refused to let me in no matter how much I coaxed her.

She always used to see the worst in me, and as a response, I resorted to forceful methods in order to keep her. To some extent, it was because that’s all I know, but I also did it because the thought of her leaving me turned me into a fucking beast.

But she hasn’t seemed to have those thoughts about escaping since the day I found her at the park. Actually, she feels closer, especially since we came to Russia.

She was right. I brought her here as a twisted pay of homage to the trip I never got the chance to take with Aunt Annika. However, it turned out to be so much more for our family. Even if, deep down, I’m still torn apart about her infidelity.

Despite being naturally distrustful, a strong part of me believes she didn’t cheat on me; however, there’s also the wary part.

The part that was cut in half when she confirmed having a lover.

The part that believes this is all a sham and that, sooner or later, she’ll go back to trying to escape.

That if given the choice, she won’t look twice before she leaves.

I thought I’d gotten used to people leaving when I was a child. First Aunt Annika, then Mom, then my father. But the idea of Lia joining them strikes a completely different chord.

One that keeps me awake at night, racking my brain to find a solution.

“Let me down,” she slurs.

“Why?”

“Stop asking questions for once. Trust me.”

I raise a brow even as I put her to her feet. She stumbles and I grab her elbow to steady her.

Lia wraps both of her hands around mine and sighs deeply as she sways on her feet. “I love your hands. They’re so strong and masculine. You even have veins in them.”

“Is that so?”

“Mmm-hmm. But do you know what I love the most about them?”

“What?”

“How rough they are while still being caring.” She flattens my palm on her beating heart. “See how much I love it?”

A deep groan escapes my chest as I feel her erratic heartbeat and watch how her cheeks redden to a bright crimson. Lia isn’t the type who lowers her guard or touches me freely. It’s probably the alcohol, but I revel in every moment of her losing her inhibitions.