But this isn't just about physical desire. If it were only lust, I could master it.
No, this is something more.
I love how her sharp mind challenges me.
How her courage against impossible odds commands my respect.
How her sweetness feels like a gift I'd kill to protect.
I've survived in this life by maintaining control, by remaining the impassive soldier.
Never wavering, never questioning, never wanting beyond my station.
Yet Valentina has me wanting in a way I never thought possible.
"Cristian?" She's watching me, head tilted slightly in concern. "Are you alright?"
No. I'm not alright. I'm falling for the one woman who could destroy me.
The woman promised to our most dangerous enemy.
The woman I'm sworn to protect but can never have.
"Just thinking about security at our next stop," I lie, schooling my features into professional detachment.
But when she slips her hand back into mine, warm and trusting, I’m lost in her again.
When she finishes picking flowers, I guide Valentina toward the car, dropping her hand as we exit the florist's shop.
She clutches a small bouquet of sample flowers for Maksim's approval, but her smile has dimmed now that we're heading to his mansion.
Reality sucks.
"Are you sure we need to go?" she asks, hesitation in her voice. "We could say the florist kept us too long."
I open the car door for her. "He's expecting us. And you know how he gets when he doesn't get his way."
The drive to Maksim's estate feels like we’re driving to our own execution.
Soon she'll walk down the aisle, a vision in white.
But it won't be me waiting for her.
It'll be Maksim with his cold, soulless eyes.
The same hands that have tortured men to death will take hers.
He'll place his ring on her finger, claiming what I never can.
I swallow hard from jealousy I have no right to feel.
But my mind keeps betraying me.
I see her in his bed, in his home, bearing his children.
I see her beautiful spirit dimming under his control, her fire reduced to cold embers.
I see the bruises he'll leave on her skin when she inevitably challenges him.