Page 32 of Modern Romance Collection Books (5-8)

“He will not for long. I will find him. And I will have him killed.”

“You can’t just...do that,” she said.

“Yes, I can. I command entire armies. I can certainly command a small group of assassins to take out the human garbage that would dare do such a thing to you.”

“This isn’tlistening, Riyaz.”

“I have heard everything that I need to. The world would be better off if he was not wasting its oxygen.”

It was the strangest thing, he could tell that he frightened her, and yet he could also see a small amount of pleasure reflected in her eyes. She was glad that he wished to protect her.

“I will always protect you,” he said. “Brianna, you never have need to fear for your safety.”

“Riyaz, that is very kind of you. It is... I’m not your responsibility. You’re mine. You’re a job that I have to do. Your brother has asked me to and... You and I have known each other for two days.”

Was that all? Time had so little meaning to him. And he had very much not met many people in these past years, so there was something about this time that he had spent with her that felt deep. That felt timeless.

This moment in the baths could’ve been weeks.

This revelation of looking at her, of having a few stolen moments of holding her in his arms.

Though he would not grab hold of her. Not again. Not after what she had said about her father. Not after hearing that her father had wanted to sell her.

She would need to come to him. She would need to be the one to draw her body against his, and then he would hold her, move his hands over her.

He wished to do that.

To touch her everywhere. To kiss her.

He had to be certain it was what she wanted.

He was certain of many things. Not the least of which being that she was attracted to him.

But the reality of what she had been through... He didn’t know what else her father might have subjected her to.

He did not know enough about her. And he was hungry for more, and yet she did not seem to wish to share. She seemed to only want to throw her trauma out as a weapon.

“I will protect you,” he said. “I pledge myself to you.”

“How can you do that?”

“Life has been simple for me, these past sixteen years. It is a funny thing. Because while I might resent that Cairo had access to certain things. Certain freedoms. He also had to do all this work. And he lived a life of complexity. Apparently that has included an endless string of lovers, which, I will not deny I am slightly envious of. I had tosurviveevery day. And that is all. I had to care for my body. The day that lay before me from the time I woke to the time I slept was incredibly simple. There was very little in the way of decision-making to be done. I was in control, for all that I was not in charge of whether or not I left the dungeon. That has actually made me incredibly certain in moments like these.

“You think that I’ve not known you long enough, and yet to me, this is the deepest I have known someone in sixteen years. Deeper even than Cairo, who has not been around. I have shared things with you that I have not shared with anyone else, and now you have shared things with me. It is the simplest thing in the world to pledge you my allegiance. That I promise you.”

“Riyaz...” She looked away for a moment, then took a breath and met his gaze. “I appreciate that. But this is a job for me. Nothing more. And when it’s over I’m going to go back to my life. I’m going to have a normal life. Someday. This has been somewhat clarifying for me. I am too attached to Cairo, and that needs to stop. I can’t afford it. This... This attachment. I need to make my own life. And this is the beginning of me stepping away from him. My feelings for him. All of that. I want to find a normal man, and I want to have a normal family. I want to live in a normal neighborhood. Not some town house that there’s no way I could ever afford. I’ve never had normal. I’ve never even seen it outside of a book. But can you imagine that? A little house in a neighborhood. Where kids can ride their bikes. My kids. That’s what I want. That’s what I want more than anything. Normal.”

“I see,” he said. “I know the normal that you’re talking about. I’ve read about it. But we talked about this earlier, and the truth remains. Normal will never protect you. I will.”

“Thank you. I will keep that in mind.”

He felt her withdraw before she physically began to do so.

“Were you hurt?”

She was halfway out of the water and stopped. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Had your father sold you before?”

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