I pushed from the table and stood. Molly hesitated a moment until I put my hand down to hover near hers, still resting on the table. “It’s time to go home, Mallory.”
“Won’t your wife mind?” she suddenly challenged.
The jealousy in her anger soothed my wounded heart. She still cared. Mallory might bite and kick and fight me all the way back to her pretty little cage, but she was jealous as hell, and I bet she’d missed me a whole lot, too. She and I were the same, and we’d always be each other’s exception to everything. There was no line I couldn’t cross that Mallory wouldn’t forgive me for one day because her soul had found its partner in mine.
“I’m not married, Princess. You should know better by now. There’s only one woman in this world I plan to marry, and she ran off before I could explain that to her. I told you I wasn’t getting married. You didn’t believe me?”
Her eyes flickered to mine, and a crease of confusion burrowed between her fine, blonde brows.“Nikolai said you were engaged. It made sense, considering all the other lies you’ve told me.”
“What are they? I’ll explain every single one, but not here. Don’t make a fuss and come with me. We can talk about anything you want.”
“And if we do, and I want to leave, will you let me?”
A pang in my gut struck me at that question. “You already know the answer to that.”
My flat tone had her eyes shying away from mine. I wanted to grab her and carry her from here, kicking and screaming, but her fragility bothered me.
She considered my words and nodded slightly, ignoring my outstretched hand to stand on her own. “Yes, I know the answer. It’s better, really. I like you more this way. It’s more honest. Be the monster you are, Kirill. Don’t bother pretending not to be. I’m going to hate you either way.”
Her words dug into my heart. This wasn’t how I’d pictured our reunion, not at all, but it didn’t matter. I’d have all the time in the world to bring her around once we were married. Once we were married, all the talk about the engagement would be behind us, and she would have the official protection of my name. Not even Viktor would mess with my legal wife for fear it would make the Chernovs look weak in front of the other families.
“Hate away, Princess. I’ll love you enough for both of us,” I muttered before jerking my head toward the men waiting outside, ensuring our conversation was private. “Let’s go. You’re done here.”
* * *
I drovewith Mallory beside me in the passenger seat. I didn’t trust myself to keep my hands off her if I was alone in the back with her. The dark roads of the small town and surrounding countryside sped past as I carefully handled the car around each bend. An armored SUV was in front, carrying Max and another behind. Security was a priority. I’d been sleepwalking through the threat to Molly’s safety before, unwilling to truly consider the time had come to face Viktor and the men in the Chernov bratva who didn’t want me aspakhan. But that time had passed. In all my calculations, I had failed to account for one player in the dangerous game I lived: Molly.
I should hate her for running again. It was the act that sent me down this dark path in the beginning, yet there was no hate left in my heart. Her sudden betrayal had broken something inside me I hadn’t known still existed.
“Why here?” I asked after we’d been driving for half an hour in silence.
“Why not?” she muttered.
She was closed in on herself. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her waist as if keeping her together. She was more fragile than I’d ever seen, and it was fucking with my head. She looked exhausted. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and her skin was pale.
“I met a wonderful man on the train, and he took me in,” she told me after a second.
It was nothing I didn’t already know, but I wanted to draw Molly out of the shell she had retreated into to avoid facing me and reality.
She shot me a quick look. “He’s old, so no need to hurt him.”
I nodded. Once I’d discovered where Molly was, she’d been watched. Fred, the older gentleman who’d taken her in when she was penniless and desperate, was about to come into a great deal of money, the source of which would remain anonymous. He’d kept Mallory safe for no reason other than being kind. There certainly wasn’t enough of that in the world, and it should be rewarded. His son was another matter.
“And the chef?” I prodded.
Molly flushed and looked away. That guilty look confirmed my suspicions.“He’s harmless. He asked me out. That’s it. When I said no, he didn’t push it.” Molly turned her head to me and stared a hole into the side of my face. “Some men know how to take no for an answer.”
My hands tightened on the wheel as frustration built in my chest. “Tell me when I’ve ever pushed myself on you when you’ve told me no.”
“I’m telling you no right now,” she said flatly.
“I’m talking about sex,” I said, dismissing her complaint.
“And I’m talking about freedom and autonomy. I’m talking about my right to choose who I want to spend my life with,” she said, each word a cruel blow.
“And what about my right to choose who I want to spend the rest of my life with, Princess? Doesn’t that matter?” I teased to hide how her words gutted me.
She snorted, a perfectly inelegant sound I loved. It sounded much more like my Molly than the stiff, reserved tone she’d addressed me with so far.