Page 28 of Possessive Vows

“Coffee is fine,” I lie.

I’ve avoided caffeine since long before I landed my dream modeling job, but it hasn’t helped me at all, has it?

I smear on a layer of lipstick and drop both into my purse before closing it and swinging it onto my shoulder.

My first sip of coffee burns my tongue. I blow across the top of the disposable cup and lean against the wall before taking another cautious sip.

Dimitri watches me with eerie intensity. I ignore him and enjoy the bitter brew and heat as I fill my stomach with the scorching liquid. Halfway through the cup, energy rushes through my veins, but it’s too jittery, so I set the cup on the counter and grab a sandwich wrap from the fridge.

After a few bites, I toss the rest in the trash and announce I’m ready to leave.

Dimitri rises from the chair. My heart stutters. He’s so big. A sliver of fear travels down my spine.

He leans over the corner of the bed, lifts my larger bag off the floor, and swings his pack onto his shoulder before peeking through the curtain and scanning the parking lot.

“Stay close,so´lnyshka. My brother knows I am in town now,” he announces.

My insides clench and I struggle to keep the food and coffee down.

I nod and follow him out into the sunlight. We walk a full circle around the car before he opens my door for me. After I settle in my seat, he asks for the hotel key, so I fish it out of my purse and place it on his palm.

My fingertips brush against his smooth flesh even though he waits to close his hand until I pull back.

He meets my gaze. My stomach drops. Hunger lurks in his sky-blue eyes. Fire roars in my veins.

He shuts the door and places our gear in the trunk before driving to the front desk. As I wait in the car alone, dread pulses in my chest.

I should ask him where we’re going, but I don’t want the answer. Staying in the moment is the only way I’ll survive until we meet with my siblings.

Fuck. He’s going to ask my brother for my hand in marriage, isn’t he? He’s going to strike some deal thinking I can provide him an heir, or worse, because he thinks he owes my family for the damages his brother caused.

I don’t need rescuing or revenge or anything except my sister and my niece.

I’m not being fair. My brother may have been absent during the first few months of my trauma, but since he got his head out of his ass, he’s been nothing but supportive. He won’t marry me off the way our parents forced both him and Serenity to wed for power.

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth when Dimitri returns.

He’ll learn soon enough I’m not wife material, so I blindly stare out the window as he drives deeper into the city.

When he stops in front of a familiar jewelry store, alarm streaks through me.

He steps out and shows the valet his keys but turns and opens my door without handing them over.

“I’m not getting out,” I say.

He leans down to eye level with me, bringing his face so close his low words only reach my ears.

“Even if you will not marry me, we must make others think you will. Feliks will see,” he says.

Fear stiffens my spine, but Perla’s tiny fist wrapped around my thumb flashes through my mind’s eye.

“You want to make him angry,” I half accuse, half consider.

“I want him furious, so let’s make a big show, da?”

“Why?” I ask.

I know from firsthand experience how horrible his brother can be to his enemies, so the last thing I want to do is earn more of his ire, but if putting myself in danger is the only way to protect my family, then I’ll do it.

---