"I'm being selfish. Here I am, focused only on my own misery, not recognizing how much danger I keep putting you in."
The car slows at a red light. "That's not true. Protecting you is my job."
"Is pulling a gun on my future husband part of that job description? If Alessandro knew what happened back there?—”
“That’s why he assigned me to protect you."
“I’m sure threatening to kill Maksim wasn’t quite what he meant. And Maksim, I’m sure you’re now on his radar for some sort of retribution.”
The light turns green, and Cristian accelerates. "I'm not afraid of dying."
"Well, I'm afraid of your dying. Especially because of me."
“I made my choice."
"That's the problem. You didn't." I twist in my seat to face him fully. "You were assigned to me. You never asked to be caught between me and Maksim. Between me and my brothers. Between your duty and—" I stop myself.
Between your duty and whatever this is between us.
Christian rolls his shoulders. "I've been a soldier my entire life. I know the risks."
"But this is different." I place my hand on his forearm. “At least, I think so. It’s more than duty, right?” All of a sudden, I’m feeling vulnerable again as I ask him if he feels more for me than just a job.
He sucks in a breath. “It doesn’t change the situation.”
Okay, so not what I wanted to hear.
I pull my hand away and look out the window.
It’s time for me to grow up.
I need to stop looking at him with stars in my eyes, thinking I’m seeing more between us than really exists.
“And I’m not powerless. There has to be a way out of this marriage.”
My heart stutters, but I guard it from believing his words mean that he cares for me. "What?"
"I said there has to be a way to stop the wedding."
Hope blooms in my chest. "How?" I ask, desperate to believe him.
"I don't have all the answers yet," Cristian admits. “But there has to be something.”
For the first time since this nightmare began, I feel something other than despair, even as I know the odds are stacked against us.
That the end result could very likely be that I’m married to Maksim and Cristian is dead.
His eyes meet mine, dark and intense, and I see in them everything I need to know.
He does care.
There are lines he won’t cross, but he will protect me with his life.
I barely speak to Alessandro when we arrive home, muttering something about a headache before retreating upstairs.
I need space to think, to breathe, to process the possibility that I could get out of this marriage.
But how?