From somewhere behind us, Kyrill made a strangled choking sound, like he physically could not contain himself anymore.
“Don’t laugh!” She turned to glare at Kyrill. “It was an accident. I really don’t think I should’ve had a gun to begin with. My hand-eye coordination is still shit.”
I just stared at her, letting the tension finally bleed out. And then something broke inside me, a laugh tearing free before I could stop it.
This woman — my woman — had been kidnapped, stared down death, and had survived not through brute force but through sheer cunning, stubborn humanity,and an ability to see the bigger picture, even when all seemed lost.
I pulled her close, my arm tight around her waist, quiet and possessive, grounding myself in the fact that she was real, alive, and mine to hold.
Love for a man like me was never going to be gentle; it was always going to be catastrophic and all-consuming.
When we were finally alone, the silence between us was anything but calm. It was like pressure threatening to boil over, sparks on the verge of igniting or a grenade about to explode.
The door to our bedroom shut quietly behind us. But the violence I hadn’t unleashed tonight was still under my skin, looking for an outlet.
Her breath caught for a moment when she saw the expression on my face, then she lifted her chin. My gaze dropped involuntarily to her mouth before I dragged it back up.
“You were taken,” I said, my voice growing tense, “and I wasn’t there.”
“I handled it.”
I sighed. “Yeah. You did … doesn’t mean I wish you’d never had to go through it in the first place.”
I stepped closer, close enough to see the faint marks still circling her wrists.
Something dark flared in my chest. “Fuck, baby. You were tied up in a warehouse full of armed men. Men who wanted to negotiate using your life.”
“And now they’re not,” she shot back. “Because I stopped it.”
“I know.”
God, I knew. That was the fucking problem.
I took another step, leaving barely any space between us.
“Might I remind you, you were seconds away from turning this situation into a massacre?”
“I heard you were taken…” My voice was rough, closer to something unguarded. “And every version of the story ended with me not getting you back.”
Addy’s expression shifted ever so slightly. If I hadn’t been paying such close attention, I would’ve missed it.
“That’s unacceptable.” My voice was hoarse. “Unbearable.”
“Sasha…”
I backed her slowly towards the bed, not trapping her, but also not giving her the opportunity to escape the pull between us.
“If they had hurt you…” I murmured, “I wouldn’t have stopped.”
Her breath came in fast, shallow pants. “I should probably be scared, right?”
“Youscare the fuck out of me,” I admitted.
That surprised her.
“How can I protect you,” I continued quietly, my eyes locked on hers, “when you play by entirely different rules?”
“I’m not playing any games,” she protested, but her voice had lost some of its edge. “I’m simply seeing things from a different perspective.”