Page 36 of Fierce Protector

“Well, it’s just that he’s currently balls deep in his girlfriend and has been—on and off—for the last few hours. If I go in and get him, we’re going to have witnesses.”

“Fuck…” I say in a low growl and start to pace along the length of the car. How could I have been so blind?

“I mean, we could wait till they’re asleep and…” Marcus suggests.

“It’s not Danny, but whoever it is has made a pretty public statement here that needs clearing up. I need you and your team at the hospital. You’ll need to tow my car and have Sin see if he can tap into on-site surveillance.”

It doesn’t take long for me to relay all the information, all the while staring at the frayed petals. I’ve never thought of flowers as particularly threatening, but seeing them torn to pieces and doused in red paint has that low-level dread I’ve always felt when it came to this guy building into something that feels much more sinister.

Katerina is in far more danger than she realises—and I will doanythingto keep her safe.

She’s been arguingwith me for the last hour about our new living arrangements, but quite frankly if she thinks she’s staying at her house after tonight’s little display, then she’s delusional.

“I don’t care if it’s not who we thought it was. Why do I need to leave my home? How is your home any more or less safe than mine? All he’d have to do is follow mehome from the hospital to find this place, so why not use my place to draw the fucker out?”

“Because I’m not using the woman I love as fucking bait,” I bellow. There’s a brief pause, where I try to catch my breath and cool my temper. “Please, can you just trust me? You’re safer here. This place can accommodate a full on-site security detail.”

Her eyes are fixed on mine and the set of her jaw is firm. She’s quiet for so long that I’m tempted to throw her over my shoulder, take her upstairs and tie her to the bed until she sees sense.

“You’re going to put a full twenty-four-hour security detail on me, aren’t you?” Her tone is resigned but laced with resistance. I try not to poke the bear, so I just nod. I don’t miss the soft grunt of frustration or clenching of her fists. I stare back at her, softening my features in some kind of silent plea for her to see reason and let me keep her safe.

She knows I’m right, but I get it. It doesn’t mean she has to be happy about her life being spun on its axis. It’s difficult to know exactly what to do right now. Every cell in my body is screaming at me to wrap her in my arms and never let her go, but Katerina has never needed a saviour. That woman needs a partner in crime, not a knight in shining armour.

So, I wait. Wait for her to process that because of the actions of one asshole, she’s going to have to turn her life upside down in the name of her own safety. To understand that it isn’t me making her life more difficult, it’s him. Whoever he is.

I hand her a glass of red wine and perch on the stool, letting her pace back and forth along the length of the kitchen, taking the occasional sip.

“This is ridiculous,” she mutters. “One unhinged man with boundary issues and I’ve got to leave my own home. A home I worked fucking hard for.”

I know better than to derail her mid-rant, so I simply nod and sip my whiskey. I catch every other word of her now muted venting. The gist being ‘fucking stalkers’, not having had a security detail since she was a teenager, and ‘asshole men’. If the situation wasn’t so serious, her mutterings would be almost adorable.

“I’ll try to make sure the detail Marcus puts on you is as non-intrusive as possible,micetta,” I say, trying to placate her.

“That’s not the point and you know it.” I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing as she turns and stamps her foot at me. The clack of her red stilettos on the tile floor must surprise her, as it snaps her out of her rage and pulls the smallest giggle from her lips.

“Am I really throwing a tantrum like a child… at being treated like a child? Fuck, I’m too old for this shit,” she says with a sigh.

Holding my arm out to her, she takes the palm I offer her in mine, and I pull her into me, putting down my glass and embracing her waist.

“No, baby girl. You’re having an entirely reasonable reaction to having your life fucked with by an asshole.” I kiss her cheek softly. “I should probably point out though, you are dating the Bianchi consigliere.” She givesme a ‘yeah, and?’ glare and I grin at her petulance. Brushing her hair off her slender shoulders as I say, “And since I don’t plan on letting you go anytime soon, there was never a timeline in this relationship where my woman wouldn’t have her own full time security detail. It’s just happening a little sooner than expected.”

There’s a flash of understanding in her expression. “Holy shit. I’m dating the Bianchi consigliere.”

“You’re only just realising this?” I say with a smirk.

She drains what’s left of her wine before placing the glass on the counter behind me. Taking my cheeks in her hands, she locks gazes with me. “I’ve spent my whole adult life living two lives, and I don’t think I recognised until right this second how completely unsustainable that is.”

I reach for one of her hands and wrap mine around it. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure that my work doesn’t interfere with yours.”

Her face softens with a smile. “It’s not your job, it’s your life. Our life.” She pauses to move the hand still cupping my face and runs her thumb over my eyebrow delicately as she explores me with her touch. “Maybe I need to stop trying to straddle two worlds and actually try to live the life I have, now that I have the love I want.”

My heart stops when those words pass her lips, and she restarts it when she presses her lips to mine. It’s soft and tentative, but no less earth-shattering. Her lips part and we fall into an unhurried kiss, that ebbs and flows with promises of a hundred different futures we might live together. I’m not going to push her, that’s as close asI think she can get to telling me she loves me right now. And I’ll take it.

Lifting her in my arms, I take her upstairs, knowing that now I have this woman in my bed, I’m never letting her go.

CHAPTER TWENTY

KATERINA

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