Page 91 of Take the Sub and Run

“What do you want me to do, Andrei?”

“I want you to not put yourself back in your father's power.”

“You want me to just walk away. Right now. From everything. My whole life.”

A panicky feeling that he was losing her made him lash out. “What life, Sofie? What fucking life?”

Her eyes widened in shock, and he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. He was an asshole. He'd always been an asshole.

Right now, he was the biggest asshole.

“It may not look like much of a life, but it's mine.”

The rustle of fabric had him dropping his hands. She was off the bed, pulling on panties first, and then her shirt, which was long enough to touch the tops of her thighs. She held the fabric closed with one hand, gesturing with the other.

“I told you this morning that I’ve never had much choice in my life. And maybe when I did…do…have a choice, I make the wrong one.” She raised her chin, even as it quivered. “But it’s my choice. My life.”

He had fucked this up and he was going to lose her. Clichéd as it was, the moment he slipped back into bed, pulled her body still flushed and warm from sex against his, he had no choice but to admit to himself that he'd fallen in love.

Being cynical and jaded were not the defenses he thought they were, because he was helplessly in love.

If he was lucky, this was just a case of really intense lust, and he was just too fucking emotionally stunted to realize that. He imagined it would be easy to mistake a mix of protectiveness and lust and think it was love.

But the part of him that always expected the worst knew that this was love. Because, of course he would fall in love with a woman who didn't love him back. A woman whose life was so tight and narrow that there was no space for him unless she chose to make room.

And it was very fucking clear she was not going to choose that. Not going to choose him.

But he had to try.

“Come with me,” he said slowly. “Stay with me.”

Sofie’s expression softened, her gaze questioning.

“Right now, I'm stationed in London half the time, Budapest the other half. Both cities have world-class museums. I've got money saved up, enough that we can at least rent you a studio space in both cities.”

Tears gathered along her lower lids. “Andrei…”

He felt like he was ripping himself open, trying to pull his very hard from his chest to offer it to her. “You can paint. Paint anything and everything you want. Your style, not copying someone else’s. Original works, with your name on them.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll come with you?—”

He nearly went to his knees in relief.

“—while you’re in London, and then I’ll come home for a while and?—”

“What the fuck? Sofie, no. No.”

She stared at him. “What…did I do wrong?”

“You need to walk away.”

“From my life?”

“From being under someone else’s control. From being in fucking danger in your own home.”

“So instead of my father being in control of my life, you would be.”

“No.” Andrei turned, slapping his hand against the wall to vent some frustration. “I don’t want to be in control of your life. I may be a controlling asshole, but I limit how and when.”

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