How did he find me so quickly? I've only been gone for an hour.
He scans the store, and the moment his gaze locks onto mine, everything else disappears. The rage in his expression is undeniable, but there's something else there too: relief and worry.
But all that is lost when he walks toward me in anger.
There’s an announcement asking customers to leave, with salespeople showing people out. I listen intently as a woman walks up to me and explains something about the store being closed for a private client.
I nod and turn on my heels, wondering if I should walk out as she says, but just then, Agafon reaches my side and grips my arm. Not painfully, but with authority. “She’s with me,” he barks.
“Of course, Sir,” the saleswoman’s eyes dart between us with fear. That’s when I realize Agafon has literally shut down a major department store just to confront me.
My cheeks burn with fury and embarrassment. He snatched away my freedom, just like that. He crushed my little rebellion without even flinching, and I decide I too can meet his fury with my own.
Chapter 10 - Agafon
My blood isn't just boiling. It's literally evaporating in my veins. I stand before Lilibeth in Bergdorf's and she looks at me like she couldn’t give a damn at having been caught.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I ask in a controlled voice. The store is mostly empty, but I won’t yell at her in front of the staff. “Sneaking out without security? Are you insane?”
She glares back at me and crosses her arms. “I was thinking I needed air, Agafon. That I'm not a prisoner.”
“You wanted air?” I ask incredulously. “Do you have any idea what could have happened? We're leaving. Now.” I place my hand on the small of her back and begin moving, making it clear that this isn’t an argument.
She steps away from my touch and glowers at me. “I'm not finished shopping.”
“You're finished.” I grasp her elbow, gentle but firm. “This isn't negotiable, Lilibeth.”
A flush rises from her neck to her cheeks, darkening her pale skin with indignation. She's beautiful like this, and that thought further fuels my anger. I shouldn't be admiring her when I’m angry that she's put herself in danger.
“Fine,” she hisses, yanking her arm free. She walks ahead of me with a haughty air around us, and now I’m mad that she’s mad. She has no right to act like I’m the unreasonable one when all I’m doing is making sure she doesn’t get kidnapped, tortured, or killed by the dozens of enemies who would love to get their hands on my wife, not to mention an Orlov.
We exit the store in tense silence, and she slides into the car through the door held open by the driver. I join her inthe back from the other side, instructing the driver to raise the partition.
The privacy partition seals us off. Lilibeth stares out of the window at the moving traffic, refusing even to acknowledge me.
“I was at work,” I finally cut through the silence. “And I had to drop everything to come get you.”
“Who told you to?” she hisses, turning to face me.
“Excuse me?” My eyebrows rise incredulously.
“All I’m saying is, you needn’t have bothered,” she says, coolly.
“You have enemies everywhere. You’re an Orlov married to a Letvin. Do you have any idea what kind of target that puts on your back?”
Her mouth—that soft, full mouth I remember tasting at every waking moment—twists into a thin line. “I'm well aware of who I am, Agafon. I've been an Orlov my entire life.”
“Then act like it. Your family would never allow you to wander unprotected.”
“My family.” She laughs sarcastically. “My family thinks I'm made of glass and cotton. They pat me on the head, let me run from responsibilities to travel the world and tell me not to worry my pretty little mind about business or security or anything that actually matters.” Her voice rises with each word. “And now I have you, doing exactly the same thing.”
My jaw tightens. “This isn't about underestimating you. This is about basic security protocols.”
“No,” she counters, turning fully toward me in the seat, her knees nearly touching mine. “This is about control. You putme in that house, and for the first week, you never spoke to me, never cared about what I’m doing with my day. Then, out of nowhere, you tell me to get dressed for a party we have to go to as though I have nothing better to do with my time than sit around waiting to accompany you someplace. You fired a man for daring to speak to me! I’m watched twenty-four seven, and I’ve had no visitors except your siblings, once. In three weeks, that was the highlight of my life. Can you imagine? I have no freedom, Agafon. I don’t know if I can meet my friends; I can’t run out for a cup of coffee, can’t hit up the bookstore, can’t see my family. Is this something you call a life?”
The car hits a pothole, jostling us closer together for a moment. My thigh touches hers, and I feel a shiver move up my legs, down my spine. God, I can’t focus on the conversation as long as I’m touching her and immediately pull away, crossing one leg over the other.
“Those protocols are for your protection.”
