Page 91 of Sinful Bride

Somehow, that chills me to the bone even more than everything else he’s done.

He was here the whole time.

I suddenly feel better about my decision. The one I made without saying it out loud. The one that’s more of a mercy than a punishment for a man that far gone.

“Does it… does it make me weak?” I finally look my husband in the eyes, giving him my vulnerability because he earned it. He didn’t demand it or steal it or try to choke it from me. “To not want to watch what happens to him? Or not want to… you know… do it myself?”

“No.” The way he says it is so certain. Final. “You are anything but weak, moya zhena. You keep my dreams safe. Let me handle your nightmares.”

33

PASHA

I’m not thrilled about being at work right now. But I need to be doing something to keep my mind occupied.

I check my phone for any texts from Daphne. Just like I checked it two minutes ago. And two minutes before that. There’s nothing, and there’s been nothing, but who knows? At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if a giant pitcher of fruit punch burst through her hotel room wall.

“I’ve got my men watching both places,” Arlo assures me from where he’s seated on my office couch. I think he’s already mentioned that, but he says it again without judgment. “Nothing new to report, but I’ll let you know the second there is something.”

I nod. I’m not feeling up to speaking very much as of late.

Daphne and Tatyanna are staying in the presidential suite of a luxury hotel near my corporate building while a full security sweep and updates are underway at the penthouse. After realizing the full extent of Ewing’s creepy-as-fuck stalking measures—including his stash of half-eaten granola bars in the air ducts—I evacuated us from the building.

What’s eating at me is how Ewing was even able to get that close. Close enough to sneak in. Close enough to slip into my penthouse. My home.

I can’t rest easy knowing that, despite everything, despite all my wealth and resources and expert security personnel, despite all my power…

I still came this close to losing my wife and child.

This fucking close.

“Hey.” Arlo sits down in the chair facing my desk, still calm as ever. “Your mother is with Daphne and Taty. I’m not going to let anything happen to any of them, least of all her. You have my word on that.”

“I know.” I sigh and lean back in my own chair. “And I thank you for that.”

I’m slowly adjusting to the new reality of this man being my mother’s… man. Or whatever he is.

But he’s been faithful and loyal to our whole family, not just Mama. And not just for the sake of business, either.

I hate to admit it, but the more time I spend with Federov, the more he grows on me.

“Sir.” Lev knocks on the door as he opens it. Judging by the grim look on his face, there’s no time for formalities. My stomach twists, my mind flies to Daphne and Tatyanna, but instead, he says, “Senator Brennan is here.”

The pen slips from my fingers and lands on the desk.

I can use a win right about now.

“Send him in.” I straighten out my suit jacket. Arlo barely moves. Except for that eyebrow. The one that keeps twitching whenever he watches something play out.

Senator Scott Brennan, the political phantom eluding my every attempt to wrangle him, slinks into my office at Lev’s beckoning. His eyes are wide, his demeanor unsettled, and he doesn’t proceed in much further until the door closes behind him.

Once he reaches my desk and sees Arlo, however, he freezes altogether.

“I will not speak with him here,” Brennan bluntly states.

Arlo shrugs. “Pity. I’m not leaving.”

I glance between the two. I could make Arlo leave; I’ve been waiting months for this meeting.

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