The car is silent. She won’t look at me.
Tears dry on her cheeks, but her arms are crossed, body tucked into the far corner of the leather seat. It kills me, the distance. Lev rides up front, the privacy glass up and fogged.
“You going to yell at me now?” she asks tightly. “Because I really don’t feel like being punished for this. I did what I had to.”
I don’t answer. I’ve been trying to find the words since the moment we left Giuseppe’s compound, but they just won’t come.
How can I beg for forgiveness, thank her, promise her everything, chastise her, all at once? Everything I want to say tangles and sits heavy in my throat.
“Olena said you wouldn’t see me,” she whispers, staring out the window. “She said you were too busy. Didn’t want me to know where you were and would kill her if she told me.”
“She’s right,” I answer gruffly. Hurt flashes across Audrey’s face, and she tucks into herself somehow even more.
“I have been busy. She told me you came looking. But I had things to do. I buried Sal, burned his contacts. Hunted down the mole in the Spire and made an example of them. Your friend is safe,” I assure her at her startled gasp. “In fact, she’s the one who led me to them. I needed time, Audrey, after what you said to me.”
I reach into my coat pocket.
Pull out the small black box I’ve been carrying for weeks.
When I open it, the diamond catches the light between us.
Audrey stares. Her gorgeous eyes catch on mine.
“You think I disappeared because I was done with you?” My voice is low, lethal. “You think I stayed away because I wanted to?”
Her eyes are wide, a hand resting on top of her belly.
She swallows.
“I’m obsessed with you, Audrey Wolfe. From the moment I saw you. From the first damn time you told me no.” I reach across the seat, sliding the ring onto her trembling hand. “You are mine. And now you’re going to be my wife.”
She covers her mouth. Her eyes brim.
And for the first time since I met her, she’s speechless.
“I love you,” I say, the only truth I’ve ever known. “You’re my obsession. My salvation. My punishment. I don’t care what anyone thinks. I don’t care if it makes me look weak. I’d burn this city to the ground for you.”
Then she’s in my arms.
Then she’s kissing me like she’s drowning and I’m the only breath she has left.
The Spire is dark when we arrive.
Lev disappears like smoke. The elevators are empty, the floor silent.
I barely get her into my office before I have her pressed against the wall, her dress hiked up, her legs around my waist. Her fingers tangle in my hair. My mouth crushes against hers like I’m starving.
“I’m going to marry you,” I growl against her neck, biting just hard enough to make her gasp. “You’re going to carry my name and my child. And everyone who ever looked at you sideways is going tofearyou.”
“Yes,” she breathes, gasping as I tear her panties. “Yes, Konstantin?—”
I slam her onto the desk. Sweep the files off with one hand.
Her legs fall open. Just the scent of her, burned into my brain, is enough to make me hard. I press my palm to her slick heat, groaning at how ready she is.
“You came for me,” I rasp. “You camethrough themfor me.”
“I had to,” she whispers. “I love you.”
