Page 38 of Prince of Control
“Like him? No.” I sulk.
My mom waits. “Is he good-looking?”
The image of him standing naked in the shower pops into my mind, and my body instantly heats. I think of the bulge of his muscles. The confidence in the way he touches me. “Yes,” I keep my voice neutral. “He’s handsome. And…he is good in bed. Well, we haven’t done it in the bed, but he’s, um…he knows what he’s doing.”
My mom gives a light laugh. Seeing her smile relaxes the tight knot between my ribs. My mom is an artist–a fun-loving, wild, and wacky woman usually full of laughter and overflowing with love. That’s why her tears killed me. “Well, there’s something to be said for that. So does your fa–”
“Stop!” I cut her off. “I don’t want to hear that. Ugh.”
She chuckles. “Well, I will tell you that attraction was all we had at first, too. It started with sex. Your dad kidnapped me, and I seduced him.”
“What?”
“True story. And now here we are, madly in love twenty-five years later.”
“What do you mean he kidnapped you?”
“It’s a long story. I’d rather tell you another time in person.”
“Oh my God, Mama. You just smashed my entire reality into little bitty pieces.”
“The point is, as long as there’s chemistry between you, the most difficult situations can be worked out. I believe it was all meant to be. If your dad hadn’t wanted to kill mine, we never would have met, and I wouldn’t be with the love of my life. Maybe you and Benjamin are meant to be.”
I think about Baron. Not just the sex, but the way he washed my hair last night and brought me coffee this morning. How he holds doors for me. The way he anticipates and takes care of my needs. I could get used to a man taking care of me the way my dad does with my mom. A man who acted like the world revolved around me, and he would rip the heart out of every dragon or man who tried to come near me.
I could get used to it, but not with a man I can’t trust. Not with a man who is literally holding me and my family prisoner.
I glance at the time on my phone. “Mama, I have to go. I have a date with a guy from Russia I met yesterday.”
“A date?” My mom sounds appalled.
I roll my eyes. “Not a date-date. We’re just meeting for a drink.”
“That sounds like a date. Lyubimaya, Benjamin isn’t going to stand for that.”
The same sense of rebellion rises in me that made me agree to meet Denis in the first place. Benjamin Baranov thinks he owns me. I’m going to prove he doesn’t.
“I don’t care, Mama. I’m going to show him he can’t control me.”
I end the call with my mom before she can lecture me and walk to Whisper’s End. Denis sits at an open laptop at a high-top table for two near the window opposite the door. A beer and basket of fries sit beside him, and his books sprawl across the table. He has a goofy, disheveled look, and his face lights up when he sees me. If my mom could see him, she would know that there’s nothing about this guy that would worry Baron.
“Hi.” I greet him in Russian and slide into the chair opposite him. “How was your second day?”
He slaps the laptop closed. “You came. I wasn’t sure you would.”
Wow. This guy is like a puppy.
His gaze goes to my wedding ring. I don’t know why I didn’t take it off. Maybe I was afraid it would provoke a battle I wasn’t sure I could handle. “Is…that new?” he asks. “I mean, I didn’t notice a wedding ring yesterday. That is a wedding ring, isn’t it?”
I finger the thin gold band. No words come out of my mouth.
How do you explain to a stranger that you just got married to another stranger because your dad basically sold you off as a child? Is that something you share with a guy you just met? Probably not.
In fact, it’s probably not something I should share with anyone.
For one thing, I don’t like the way it makes me feel. My self-image doesn’t have room for the idea of me as chattel.
I draw a deep breath and sigh it out. “Yeah. I got married yesterday, actually.”
