Damian
A mine doesn’t run itself, as Ellis likes to remind me. There are contracts waiting to be signed, but I can’t focus. I’m sitting behind my desk in the study with papers spread out in front of me, and all I can think about is how close I came to losing Lina. She’s been through an ordeal. Punishing her is not what I wanted to do, but not punishing her would’ve been worse. She needs to know she can always trust me. I can’t give her reason to doubt my word. Besides, I feel better now that she’s branded as mine in every way.
Dalton needs to be dealt with. I almost lost my mine to him twice. He made a deal with Zane that put his daughter’s life at risk. Taking my gun from the drawer, I check the chamber. Six bullets. I plan on using each of them. If I can’t make Dalton suffer for the long years I planned, I’ll make him suffer in death. No one puts Lina in danger and gets to live.
The very object of my turbulent thoughts walks through the door. Inconspicuously, I return the revolver to the drawer and close it. Business with Dalton will have to wait. Lina associates my study with punishment. I know how little she likes to be in this room. She wouldn’t have come here unsummoned if she didn’t have something important on her mind. Dressed in yoga pants and the shirt I removed this morning, she looks impossibly small and fragile. Impossibly mine. She pads barefoot to the fireplace, her eyes fixed on the naked wall above the mantelpiece.
The atmosphere is fragile. Her ego is still bruised from being tattooed and chipped.
“What did you do with them?”
I don’t have to ask what she’s referring to. “I burned them.”
She turns her head quickly toward me. “Why?”
“You said they made you run.”
Hugging herself, she says quietly, “I thought that’s who you are.”
Not at the price of losing her in more ways than one. She already hates me for our forced marriage. I broke something other than her skin, something inside her, when I punished her with the cane. I hurt her pride. She’ll never admit it, but that’s why she asked me to leave. She couldn’t even stomach the aftercare I offered. I can’t give her the freedom she wants, but I can at least try to give her the happiness in my control. There are other ways of feeding my dark obsessions she’ll enjoy. We’ll find them together.
Weighing my words carefully, I say, “I can be someone different for you if that’s what you want.”
Her midnight blue eyes turn wary. “You shouldn’t have to change for anyone. If this is who you are—”
“It’s called compromise. Isn’t that what marriage is about?”
I don’t like her silence, but I ignore the feelings it stirs in my chest. This isn’t about me. I pat my leg. “Come here.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she walks to me and sits down in my lap. It’s not like her to be so compliant after what just happened.
I fold my arms around her. “What’s up, Lina? Got something you want to say?”
Resting her head on my shoulder, she traces the buttons of my shirt. “I’m sorry about…” Her voice almost breaks. “Anne and Zane.”
My words are harsh. “I’m not.”
She winces. “You were friends.”
“I don’t consider anyone who kidnaps my wife and tries to steal my money a friend.”
She studies my face, seeming to search for the right words. “He was jealous. He was in love with you.”
“If he loved me so much, he wouldn’t have done what he did.” If he loved me as much as he claimed, he wouldn’t have hurt me by hurting the only thing that matters.
“He told me your money was his objective even in jail. I’m sorry you have to find out like this, but I thought you deserve to know, and I…”
“You what?”
“I thought it would make it a little easier to cope with the loss if you knew the truth. I’m truly sorry.”
“Stop saying you’re sorry. Zane’s actions aren’t your fault.”
“I didn’t want to be the one to tell you.”
“I already knew.”
“You did?”
“I figured when I threw him out of the house.”
“Why did you take him and his family in and give them jobs? Did you owe him?”
“Yes.”
She abandons the buttons and lowers her hand to my stomach, absent-mindedly brushing her palm over my abs. “What did you owe him for?”
“Saving me from rape. Zane had alliances. He threatened my attackers with food poisoning.”
Her hand stills. “They believed him?”
“He wasn’t bluffing. There was also a time he saved me from taking a sharpened toothbrush in the kidney.”
She covers her mouth with a hand. “That’s awful. You suffered all of that just because…”
“Just because Dalton accused me of stealing his diamond so he could steal my mine.”