Page 112 of Inked Adonis

Wrong.

So, so fucking wrong.

“There’s a lot I can’t tell you, but what I will say is this: do not underestimate Katerina Alekseeva. I did once before, and…” I shrug. “You can see how that turned out.”

Nova lowers herself down onto the cushion next to me. “I knew I should’ve told you about the phone. I wanted to, but… the things she said… about you and your family…”

“I can only imagine. Katerina is familiar with a lot of my family’s skeletons.”

As she should be. She put more than a few of them there herself.

She peeks up at me. Just once. Just for a moment. Then her eyes fall back to her hands twisting in her lap. “She said youwere together for a long time. She also said your marriage failed because you were controlling and possessive and cruel.”

“Kat brings out that side in people.”

She frowns. “Did you really hit her?”

Nova’s face yesterday flashes in my mind. The terror as she looked up at me. The frightened tears brimming in her eyelashes.

I shake my head. “Of course not. Never. But… But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted to. Fuck, she—” I fist my hand on the arm of the sofa. “Katerina knew how to get under my skin. I’m not the same man I was when we were married, thank God. When I left, I swore to never be in a relationship like that again. I didn’t think I’d ever want another relationship, but, well?—”

Here you are.

Here I am.

I bite back a laugh. I say all this shit like it’s just now occurring to me. Like I haven’t been fucking obsessing over Nova Pierce since the moment I came home and found her gone.

Nova looks down at her lap. Her hands wring together again and again, as if she’s trying to wash them of me but just can’t manage to do it. “You scared me, Sam. Last night, you were… you were a monster.”

I wince as the word falls from her lips.Monster.Is that what I am? What I’ve turned into?

I’ve always sworn I wouldn’t become my father—wouldn’t use fear to control the people I claimed to care about. But here I am,one step away from becoming exactly the same as the nightmare that haunted my childhood memories.

“I know what it’s like to live in fear of someone who’s supposed to protect you,” I admit. “I never wanted to be that person for you. I don’t waste my time with regrets, but I regret how I questioned you. I shouldn’t have—” I blow out a breath. Regrets and apologies: two things I do my best to avoid. “The house isn’t the same without you.”

“I can’t just come back, Sam.”

“Of course you can.” I lay a hand on her knee, desperate to let my fingers follow the warmth up her thigh. “You belong there. With me. With the dogs.”

As if Rufus can sense the precarious point we’re balancing on, he lets out a pitiful little howl from the corner. For the first time since I walked into the penthouse yesterday afternoon, Nova’s mouth turns up into the smallest of smiles.

“Bringing the dogs wasn’t playing fair.”

I take the opening. In one move, I spread her knees and slide myself between her legs. We meld together, head against heat, want against want.

“I want you back in my house—” I stroke a hand along her back, arching her into me. “—and in my bed.”

She blinks at me, her eyes staining dark. “This isn’t fair, either.”

“I told you already: I don’t fight fair.” Our lips whisper together. “Especially when it comes to getting what I want.”

“And you want me?” she breathes like she still can’t believe it.

I growl against her mouth, the truth stampeding like a dangerous, wild thing in my chest. “Desperately. All of you.”

Nova’s chin lifts. “I need to know you see me as a partner, not a possession. I won’t—can’t—live my life waiting for the other shoe to drop every time something goes wrong.”

She’s right. Fuck me, but she’s right. I’ve been so focused on protecting her, I’ve forgotten to respect her.

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