Page 99 of Stolen By the Don

It feels like it’s been forever—not two weeks and fourteen hours, but a lifetime since I last saw him. Neither of us says anything as I stand by his office door, my heart beating so fast I can hear it in my ears.

“Printsessa.” Roman finally breaks the silence.

“I didn’t think we were back on a nickname basis,” I tease as I walk toward his desk, my mouth curling into a smirk.

“Why are you here?” he asks, pushing the pile of documents in front of him away as if making room for me.

I knew it. It’s an unconscious action on his end, but it tells me everything I’ve been brewing over for the past fourteen days.

“To confront you with your bullshit,” I reply, settling down on the leather chair in front of his desk. His lips part, but he doesn’t say anything. “Good.” I nod. “Because I’m doing the talking today. That night, you had a lot to say. Today, you’re listening to me.”

He nods slowly.

I take a deep breath. “You love me. You didn’t expect to, but like almost everything else in life, love rarely happens when we plan for it.”

“I—”

I hold up a finger. “But you’re a coward, Roman Volkov. You’re a coward with good intentions. You hid the truth about how my mother died because you wanted to protect me, and then you used it to hurt me.”

He drags a hand over his face. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” I say. “That’s why I’m here. Because I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. Like before, you thought you were protecting me. The only thing you didn’t get right was not running your decision by me.” I lean forward, placing my hands on his desk. “I don’t need protecting, Roman. Not from you.”

“I almost got you killed.”

“Oh, you egoistic man,” I roll my eyes. “I made it through unscathed. Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know? I’m not angry that you avenged your father, but you ran straight to me. You camefor me,Roman. Can’t you see? Forme.” I touch my chest.

Roman’s eyes soften momentarily, but it shuts off almost immediately.

I sigh. “Fine. If you want to do it this way.” I stand and step around the desk, closing the space between us. “Roman Volkov, if you want me to walk away, say it. But don’t lie and pretend it’s because I’ll be safer. Don’t use my protection as an excuse to run.”

He doesn’t speak right away. His throat bobs with a hard swallow. Then, finally, in a voice so low it feels like it was scraped from the bottom of his chest, he says, “You scare the hell out of me, Isabella.”

My lips peel back in a laugh. “I should scare you. I’m not the type to give up easily. You’re certainly not a quitter either.”

“I love you,” he murmurs, touching my face tenderly as if too much pressure would break me. “I love you so much I would never forgive myself if I lost you.”

“Then work harder.” I shrug. “Work harder to keep me.”

His chest rumbles with a hearty chuckle, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and he rises, pulling me closer for a kiss. His lips slant against mine, and I throw my arms around his neck, all too eager for him.

“Lyubov moya,” he murmurs. I know what that one means. My love.

His teeth tease my lower lip as he edges back a bit, and then his tongue slides into my mouth, and I moan, curling my fingers around his hair. He hoists me onto the desk, stepping between my legs with his mouth still pressed to mine.

When the kiss ends, I’m breathless, smiling and clinging to him. “Does this mean I get to come live in your house again?” I tease.

“It’s yours,” he says without missing a beat. “Your house, printsessa. And the baby. I just live in it.”

My shoulders shake as I laugh. “You have a good sense of humor, Roman Volkov. I’m impressed.”

His fingers dip under the hem of my dress, caressing my thigh. I moan softly as his thumb skims the bow of my underwear. Roman leans in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear, his voice a dark promise that skates down my spine.

“If you’re impressed by that, wait until you see what I have in store for you.”

“Oh,” I whisper as he guides my back to the polished wood, my arms around his neck. “You’re about to make your wife a very happy woman, Mr. Volkov.”

A very happy woman indeed.

The End

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