Page 56 of Taken By Him

“You’re cleaning me?” she asks in a husky voice.

“I’m wiping the counter. Margaret doesn’t get paid enough to clean this up.” I smack her thigh. “Come on, get up.” I help her from the countertop and hand her her own bottoms. She slides them up her thighs, covering her gorgeous curves.

“Think you can sleep now?”

She yawns. “I suppose so.”

“Such a smart ass.” I finish cleaning off the countertop and toss the dirty towel into the laundry room as we pass it.

“Better than a dumbass, I guess,” she jokes.

She jogs ahead of me, laughing as she makes her way back up the stairs. The sound of her levity, the happiness I’m seeing, it warms me.

I have to be careful. Letting her get too close will make her dangerous. Will make her unsafe.

But for the moment, just this moment, I’m going to enjoy the sweet sound of my wife’s laugh as she leads me up to our bed.

Chapter Nineteen

Kasia

I wake up again to an empty bed, rolling over to his side of the bed and pulling his pillow to me. It smells of him, all spice and leather. This is the third time in as many days that he’s left before sunrise.

I’ve been his wife for two weeks. My father hasn’t tried to contact me in any way. It’s a good thing that he stays away. It means I don’t have to be the one to ignore him. I don’t have to be the bad daughter.

But I can’t help but wonder why he’s disappeared. Maybe I finally ran out of purpose for him.

My alarm on my phone dings. Time to get out of bed and do something with myself. I’ve been sending out resumes and applying for teaching jobs in the area. Most of the schools have already hired for the upcoming year, so the options are limited. I’m still unsure how this will work since Dominik has a man following me everywhere I go, but I’m hopeful.

For the first time, I cradle hope like the fragile being it is. He’s promised I can work. I can have some purpose besides simply being Mrs. Staszek, but I’m not sure any school district will approve of me bringing an armed guard into the classroom.

When I grab my phone, there are several email notifications. Maybe I’m getting an interview.

Sitting up in bed, I swipe open the app and thumb through the garbage until I find a long-awaited message. My stomach trembles as my thumb hovers over the icon. Finally, the private detective has something for me.

Dominik made me promise not to continue my digging into the accident, but this isn’t continuing. This is simply reading a message. I don’t have to act on it, and if it turns out to be something worth looking into, I’ll let Dominik know.

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