Page 112 of Gloves Off

“I can’t accept this kind of gift. It’s too much.”

“I’m rich, Georgia.”

I let out a short laugh. “Humble, too.”

He smirks. “If you really were my wife, I’d be happy to spend money on you.” He looks away, then back to me. “And I’d feel better with you driving something safer. If you want to keep driving your car, I’ll get it fixed up and I won’t say another word about it.” His throat works. “But I’m going to ask my dad to look at it regularly.”

“It doesn’t make sense to source all those car parts.” I glance at the floor, the giant pink crystal he hates so much, the photo of us from the team dinner. Anywhere but at him. “Your dad’s already so busy.” Maria mentioned his garage is booked for weeks.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this.

“I’ll drive the car for as long as we’re married, and then you can do whatever you want with it after that. Sell it, keep it, give it away, whatever.”

Alexei doesn’t say anything, and when my gaze lifts to his, I’m struggling to read his expression. His lips part and he takes a breath like he wants to argue, but he stops himself.

“Okay.” A short nod. “Thank you.”

“Okay.”

Part of me worried he’d look smug, like he won something, but he doesn’t. He just looks relieved. His eyes dart to the window, though, and a frown passes over his features.

“How did you get home?”

“I got a ride.”

Our eyes meet. “Dr. Handjob?”

My stomach dips at the possessive flash in his eyes. “So what if he did?”

His jaw ticks. “I deserve that.”

Another opportunity to act like a jealous asshole, and he passes it up? “Volkov, relax. I took a rideshare home.”

He’s visibly relieved, and I don’t know how to feel. “Okay, well, goodnight.”

“There’s a dinner for the league in Toronto next week,” he says, stopping me. “Come with me.”

A few weeks ago, Ward asked me to accompany the team on the road trip. I wonder if he assumed I’d join for this dinner.

“You owe me a date,” Alexei adds, but with a twitch to the corner of his mouth. “It would look weird if my wife didn’t show up.”

Itwouldlook weird.

“I’ll buy you a new dress.”

I raise my eyebrows. “And shoes?”

His eyes dip to my feet. Another jaw flex before his chin dips in a nod. “And shoes.”

“Anything I want?” Now I’m just teasing him. If this is the new direction he’s talking about, fine by me.

His mouth slants. “Anything you want.”

I stare him dead-on, starting to smile. “I’m going to burn a hole in your pocket, baby.”

Volkov. I meant to call him Volkov, notbaby. From the way his eyes flare with interest, I guess he doesn’t mind, though.

“Fine.”

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