18

Eros
There’s only one safe place I can think of in the entire city.
“Where are we going?” she asks as I roll through Hyde Park, turn off a quiet side street, and down a shady avenue. No Trespassing – Private Property signs are plastered all over along with more cameras than Buckingham Palace.
Somewhere not too far, a small army of well-paid, loyal, and heavily armed men watch every inch of the property for anything out of the ordinary.
“This is where I live.” I reach a gate and it opens before I can even roll down the window. The guard nods to me respectfully as I drive along a tree-lined, shady driveway until we come into view of the Khazan family home.
Cara sucks in a breath. I try not to smile to myself, but even after all this time, a swell of pride fills my chest. This is the heart of my family’s power, the nexus around which the city turns, and it’s all mine.
It’s a beautiful Tudor building with tall peaks and a stone facade. Trees surround the property, the grass perfect manicured, the bushes trimmed to lovely little round dumplings. I park the truck beside my sister’s Corvette and kill the engine as Cara gapes.
“How?” she breathes. “This place is massive. How the hell is this even here, in the middle of the city? This property has to be priceless.”
“My family has been in Chicago for a very long time,” I say and get out of the truck. She scrambles to keep up. “My ancestors built this place eight generations ago, before there was much else around here, and the city sprouted up around us. But our property remains.” I breathe deeply, smelling the fresh air and the briny scent of the lake not far from our garden.
This is my home, the place where I grew up. My best memories and worst nightmares are inside those walls-too much heartbreak, too much rage and sadness, but also triumph and excitement and joy.
The Khazan family may be depleted, but we are still powerful.
I begin to climb the front steps, but Cara stops and doesn’t move. “Wait,” she says and her tone’s firm now. “I’m not going in there.”
I turn back to face her. “This is the only place where Conti and the Italians can’t touch you. If you want to leave, I can give you the keys to my truck, but-” I let the repercussions remain unspoken and allow her to fill in the gaps.
Her hands curl into fists and she glares at me. “This is moving too fast. You told Christopher that-that-”
“I told him that you’re my woman.” I descend the stairs again and stand in front of her. I marvel at how small she is, and how beautiful. I find her more attractive every day, because every day she comes into herself a little bit more, growing into the gaps left behind by years of getting pummeled down and down in a loveless and abusive marriage.
I’m not supposed to care. Wanting her, feeling for her, that only makes things more complicated. If I could silence the heat in my chest whenever she’s close, I would.
But I am a man, and I have my needs.
“I am not your woman.” She stares into my face, and I have to admit, I’m impressed. Even if she pisses me off. Most people would cower when I loom over them, but not Cara. “Just because we slept together one time-”
“And I went down on you earlier today,” I remind her.
She grimaces. “Right, that too, but that doesn’t mean I’m yours. I’m not anybody’s,” she says fiercely.
I let that sink in for a moment and take a slow, steady breath. I can understand why she might not like my choice of words, but this is how things are in my world. If I don’t lay claim to her then I don’t own her, and if she’s not all mine-
Then she’s fair game, and I can’t have that.
Not now that I dragged her into this mess and made her life harder.
“I promised you I could keep you safe, and I keep my promises,” I say and hold her gaze. “That was before I understood who exactly you were running from, but it doesn’t change anything. I can still make sure Conti never touches you again.”
“By taking me away? By owning me, like you’re a fucking caveman?” She’s working herself up into a rage. “I’m not going to let you throw me over your shoulder and drag me into your lair.”
“Does it look like I want to chain you up in some dungeon? Open your eyes, asteraki mu. I’m offering you luxury.”
“A golden cage is still a cage.”
“Oh, little bird, you’ll chirp for me, and you’ll love it.”
“Don’t be a bastard.”
“You have two choices: either attempt to run away or accept my protection. I will admit that instead of easing tensions, I inadvertently made them worse-but your ex-husband is a fucking asshole and he deserved to get punched in the face.”
“That doesn’t help,” she says through her teeth. “Although, yeah, I really enjoyed that part.”
“Conti is the kind of man that understands only one thing, and that’s power. If he thinks you’re available to be taken away then he will never stop trying. But if he understands you are mine, entirely mine, and far from his grasp, he’ll give up and move on. Or I’ll kill him. Either way.”
She rubs her face with both hands and shifts her stance, shoulders tilting back, drawing herself to her full height, all five-foot-nothing of her. “I don’t care if there’s a gun to my skull. I let myself be owned for five years and I risked everything to get away from that. Do you really think I’m going to rush right back into the same situation?”
I step toward her quickly and she tries to jerk back, but I catch her wrist and hold it. I stare into her eyes, making sure she hears me as I lean closer. “I am not your ex-husband. When you are my wife, I will treat you with the dignity you deserve.”
“Then why are you grabbing onto me right now?”
I release her and she steps back, rubbing her wrist. I take beat to calm myself. Conti got me all worked up with that macho bullshit back at his place and now I’m losing control. I expected him to be reasonable, or at least to be amenable to discussing our situation, but the moment I saw his snide face, and heard him insult Cara right in front of me, I couldn’t help myself.
I have to break that little fuck’s jaw.
I only wish I’d done more.
Even with the witnesses, my life might be easier if I’d just put a bullet in his head.
That confrontation left my blood boiling, but I can’t take that out on her.
I let out a long breath and force myself to speak calmly. “There is no other option for you right now. What I’m offering will cause me considerable problems and pain, but I am willing to deal with all that if it means fulfilling my promise to you.”
“Why would you even want to marry me?” she grinds out. “You’re a total stranger.”
“You think I want to marry you? You think I want any of this? I love your taste, asteraki mu, but don’t misunderstand what is happening here. I am offering you a way to survive the coming nightmare only because it’s my fault you’re in it at all, and I believe in owning my mistakes. But I don’t want to be your husband any more than you want to be my wife.”
I turn away from her before I lose my temper again. I can’t stand out here arguing with her any longer-the more time we spend in front of the house, the more likely it is that someone on the staff will notice us and alert Sophia or Anissa to what’s going on, and that’s the last thing I need.
One fucking headache at a time.
“You’re really selling me on this, you know,” she says as I walk up the stairs.
I pause at the door and look back at her. “You can either follow me now and survive all this, or you can walk back down that driveway and take your chances alone. How far did you get the last time you did that?”
She glares death at me and I wait for her to react. Some part of me expects her to tell me off and storm away, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
But apparently, she’s not suicidal.
She follows me up the steps and into the house.