Page 63 of Surrendered Innocence

“I was going to wait until you had a good dinner before I took you, but you had to be naughty.” He lets me go and buckles his belt again.

“Hmm… if that’s what I get when I’m naughty, maybe I’ll be naughtier.” I look at what’s left of my blouse. Ruined. Not a single button was spared.

“You can try, but don’t forget I’ll light your ass up other ways too.” He taps my nose then turns back to the stove. “You better not have ruined my dinner.”

His cellphone dances on the kitchen island, and he leans over to look.

“Hmm, Roman.” He picks it up.

“I’m going to change before we eat. Since you destroyed this.”

He shrugs, uncaring. This is the third shirt he’s ruined in the last month. I think he just wants to be able to buy me a whole new wardrobe and since I won’t let him pay for everything, he’s decided he’ll just destroy what I have so I’ll be forced to let him.

By the time I change into a pair of leggings and an old t-shirt and get back to the kitchen, he’s finished with his call. I pull my hair up into a messy bun and wrap the band around it while he’s piling food on a plate.

“I hope that’s yours, I’m not that hungry,” I say, sitting at the table. He’s picked up the dishes we dropped while I was gone.

“You’ll eat as much as you want.” He puts the plate full of stroganoff and a pile of green beans on the table in front of me. It’s the only vegetable the man will eat.

“Everything okay?” I ask when he sits across the table from me.

“Roman is moving to Boston.” He leans back in his chair. “He wants me to go with him.”

“Oh.”

“The Boston businesses are all real-estate based,” he continues, which grabs my attention. “There are a few colleges there you can choose from to get your counseling degree.”

My shoulders relax.

“We’ll get married before we go. In two months’ time. He wants me there by the first of the year.” He leans across the table and grabs my hand, squeezing it tight. A small sign that he gives me to remind me I’m not alone.

“What if I can’t get into any of the schools there? I mean it’s already October,” I remind him.

“It’s not a concern.”

Of course it’s not. He’s Maxim. There’s no limit to what he can do.

“And work?”

“You won’t. You’ll concentrate on school.”

I squeeze his hand. “Boston sounds good. New place. New memories.” And the darkness that I’ve known in New York can stay right here.

He grins. “Good. Then it’s settled.” He lets me go and grabs his fork. “Eat,moy malen’kiy voin. You’ll need your energy for what I have planned tonight.”

“What’s that?” I take a big bite.

“What we just did… that was an appetizer.” He winks.

I laugh. “Will you ever get tired of me, do you think?”

His smile drops and his fierceness is on full display. “If I ever do, kill me. A bullet right to my heart. Yes?” he demands.

“Kill you? All right.” I sigh. “If I must.”

He shakes his head. “You’re teasing again.”

“I would never be so bold.” I laugh.

He points to my dinner. “Eat.”

“Bossy,” I grumble.

“And you love it.”

A smile tugs at my lips. “I really do.”

The End

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