I swallowed hard, a chill trickling down my spine at just how evil my husband was.
At just how close I’d come to losing what little I’d managed to hold on to.
“Why?” I asked. “It doesn’t make sense. I was essentially a prisoner in his house. Why risk the added scrutiny?”
“I have no idea.”
“And this guy… Victor’s buyer. Do you think he’s still hoping to…purchase me?”
“I don’t know. But I swear to you, Ariana…” His voice was low and deadly, even through the fog of his concussion. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m going to find this guy. And I’m going to make him regret the day he was ever born. For you. For Sarah. And for any other woman Victor sold him.”
I settled back on my heels, pushing a few tendrils of his hair off his battered and bruised face. “Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything.” He attempted to peer at me through heavy eyelids.
“No more secret meetings with the Pakhan. If you’re going to do something completely reckless, you tell me. Don’t keep things from me because you’re trying to protect me or don’t want me to worry about you. I’ll always worry about you. That’s what people who love each other do.”
He sighed, a lazy smile tugging on his lips. “Say it again.”
I kneeled taller, inching my mouth toward his. “I love you. Even though you really pissed me off tonight.”
“Hold on to that,” he said sleepily.
“To what?”
“That anger.”
“Why?”
“Because once the world stops spinning, we’re totally having angry sex.”
“Angry sex?”
He nodded. “Definitely. I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity for a hot and heavy hate fuck.”
I laughed despite myself.
One thing was certain. It was impossible to stay angry at this man. Even though he frustrated me to no end, I still couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming warmth fill me from the inside out.
I leaned closer, brushing my lips against his. “I have a feeling you’ll find other ways to piss me off in the future.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
I pulled a blanket over him before settling back onto the floor.
The sounds of the ocean breeze rolled in and out through the French doors.
The clock kept ticking.
But for the first time all night, I could finally breathe.
Chapter Eighteen
Henry
A jolt of pain snapped me out of whatever form of unconsciousness I’d been in.
It started as a dull throb at the base of my skull, then heightened into something more prominent behind my eyes. My jaw ached. My ribs protested with every breath. My stomach felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.