“Curiosity.”
“Liar.”
He shrugs again. “I knew who you were.”
I laugh. “Oh, you thought you’d cash in that good deed with my father.”
“I thought he’d be appreciative.”
“Joke’s on you, I guess. He doesn’t care.”
Sergei actually flinches. His hands balling into fists. “Your father is a worthless, dishonorable man.”
“Fair.”
I take another step closer. He stays put.
I take another step. And another. Until there's almost nothing left between us.
I take a breath, trying to steady my racing heart.
There’s something else I need to tell him. Something I’ve never told anyone because there’s never been anyone to tell.
“I need you to know something,” I say. My voice sounds small. Vulnerable. I hate it, but I force myself to continue. “I’ve never been with anyone. Not before. Not after. I haven’t let anyone touch me since that night. But before, I was, I’ve never…”
I’m embarrassed. I know I don’t have a reason to be, but I’m a twenty-one-year-old virgin.
He nods slowly. “I know.”
Of course he knows. If he’s been watching me for three years, he already knows everything about my life. Every choice.
“I’m ready now.”
The words surprise us both. I can’t believe I just said that, but it’s true. All of that relying on instinct and gut reaction tells me this is right.
He’s the one.
He searches my face. “You don’t have to do this, Sofia. Not tonight.”
“I’m not doing it because I have to.”
I step closer. Close enough to feel his heat.
“I’m doing it because you’re the only man I don’t want to run from.”
The admission hangs between us. It’s true. He’s protected me for years without asking for anything in return. He’s never hurt me. Never taken advantage. Never pushed.
A man like Sergei Sokolov should terrify me. Instead, he’s the only one who’s ever made me feel safe.
“You need to be very sure before you say something like that to me.”
His voice drops. “If we do this, we do it your way. You stop me, I stop. You have all the power here, Sofia. Understand?”
The gentleness in his words breaks something inside me. Some wall I’ve been holding up since that night in the alley.
“Yes.”
"I'm sorry," he says. "That this is your wedding night. That you're scared."