Test him.
Don’t test him.
My heart and my mind were pulling me in two different directions. I was safe and sound, so why turn everything inside out by asking questions? Questions that might just finally push Rurik over the edge and unleash whatever he had been doing such a good job of hiding. After seeing him so easily take down a violent creep like Jordie, I didn’t really want to meet his true self, did I?
But what if the guy who was sweetly pulling my hair back to look for more bruises on my neck was the real Rurik? What if there were no monster?
“I know about your family,” I whispered. Maybe he wouldn’t hear. Maybe I could pretend I said something else if he flew into a rage. “I know you were doing something with guns this afternoon. I know that your cousin owns the apartment building I was supposed to move into.” My voice raised a notch as I lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “Did you arrange for my place to be unavailable when you knew I couldn’t go back to the old one? Were the guys hanging around outside watching me for you so I’d be scared enough to want to move in the first place? Were you stalking me? Molding my life to your whims?”
I was panting by the time it was all out, heart pounding, bracing myself for whatever came next. Fear and fury were back, unlike anything I ever felt about Jordie, because I had never cared about him the way I cared about Rurik.
Because he tricked me into caring.
What could he possibly say to get out of what I already knew?
Shockingly, he didn’t try. “It’s all true,” he said simply. Not sorry, not angry, as calm as if he told me we were changing something on the work schedule.
“Why?” I demanded, scrambling away when he tried to take my hand.
“My guys were there to keep you safe. I didn’t know that your ex was looking for you, but that apartment building had some pretty shady operations going down.”
“How did you even know that?”
“I’m your employer,” he said.
“Sure, that’s a reason to know my address, but how is it a reason to go check the place out? Did you look in my windows?”
“Yes,” he said. His eyes captured mine, and I couldn’t look away. “I was obsessed with you, Clem. I needed to know everything about you. You were mine. You are mine. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt you.”
My heart thudded in my chest, my blood heating up in my veins. There was no way I thought his confession was hot. I was confused, tired, literally beat. I shook my head.
“And my new apartment? You were behind that, too?”
“I only pulled that stunt because you were going to find out about our marriage soon, and I didn’t want you to have to go to all the trouble of unpacking.” He dared to smile mischievously at me as he continued to confess. “You complained about it so much before I hired the movers, I thought I was doing you a favor.” He paused again, the sweeping look he gave me heating my cheeks. “And I wanted you here with me. Where you belong.”
I swallowed hard, tightening my grasp on the bedcovers. Why? To keep from scratching his eyes out or grabbing him and kissing him?
“The marriage,” I said, still struggling to breathe properly.
“Our very real marriage,” he interjected, still with that hint of a grin.
“To get the deal with Koboyashi Corp,” I said.
He shook his head. “Because I wanted you.” He gripped my shoulders, his face serious now. “Because I love you, Clem. I love you so damn much that it took over my whole life. You are my whole life. I will always keep you safe, even if you don’t like the way I do it.”
The force of his words shocked me into stillness, not pulling away from his steady, firm grasp. Unable to tear my eyes from his, full of everything he just told me. He loved me. It was clear he meant every word, and just like that, I believed him. I remembered the rush of relief I felt when he first brought me here, how untouchable I felt. It wasn’t the fortress of a house; it was him.
But…
“What about the mob ties?” I asked. He’d completely dodged those questions so far.
His lips curled up in a harsh grin as he stood, heading for his desk. “I don’t have mob ties,” he told me, grabbing his laptop to sit beside me. He snapped it open. “I am the mob.”
I choked as he began to pull up pages and pages of information, showing me so much I couldn’t possibly take it all in.
“The Bratva, to be more precise,” he said. “No more secrets. This is everything. All my holdings in Moscow, everything I do here. This is me.”
“Does this mean I know too much now?” I asked, hoping he’d laugh.