Not many others would have survived so long in an enemy camp without suspicions being raised. She played her part to perfection. She was one of my two most useful assets on the ground, and I wasn’t about to say anything different to soothe Willow’s ego.
“I’m sure she’s amazing,” Willow snaps sarcastically. “So why don’t you share a bed with her?”
I try very hard not to smile, but I know she can see the corners of my mouth twitch up. I have to admit, I’m enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would.
“What makes you think I don’t?”
Her eyes flare for a moment before she manages to get her expression under control. “She doesn’t strike me as the type to share.”
“Oh, she can play nice when I ask her sweetly.”
Finally, Willow breaks. She slams her hands against my chest. “Move.”
“I don’t think so.”
Her fist flashes through the air, but I’m ready. I block her once. Same with the second punch.
But she’s prepared, too. She spins around and knees me in the stomach. It’s a surprising blow, but I take it in stride. I straighten up and shove her back against the wall.
She realizes she is losing the upper hand, and her movements become more forceful, more frantic.
She’s good. I can’t deny that. There’s some talent there, but it’s still rough. It needs to be properly honed before she can be truly dangerous.
She sends a roundhouse kick my way, but I grab her leg and swing her around in the opposite direction. She nearly stumbles onto the bed, but she catches herself just in time.
Her eyes are wild as she charges at me again. And it’s already got my cock hard.
Time for what was always meant to happen next.
I push her down onto the bed. Her t-shirt rides up, revealing the fact that she’s not wearing panties underneath.
I grab her ankles and drag her forward so that her thighs are parted around my legs.
“You should never fight without the proper gear,” I say.
“You can’t just fuck me whenever you like!” she yells. “You want sex? Go downstairs to your whore.”
I lean in and press my body against hers. “All I’m hearing is that you’re very concerned with where I stick my cock.”
“I don’t give a shit about where you stick your cock. As long as it’s not inside me.”
I snake my hand down between her legs and probe them open. “Then why are you wet?”
She pushes me again, and I let her up, chuckling.
She puts distance between us, shooting daggers at me with her eyes, but I’m too busy admiring the slim lines of her thighs that lead up to her sweet, tight little pussy.
“Stop it,” she snaps.
“Stop what?”
“Stop using me like I’m your plaything. I’m a person, Leo. Not a tool or a weapon or… or a name.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Are you?” she asks. “Because as far as I can tell, you brought me into your life so that I could deliver you the Mikhailov Bratva. You married me because you wanted my name. And you made sure to get me pregnant so that you’d have a child that would unite the two Bratvas.”
She releases a quivering breath. “I don’t know who I am anymore, Leo. I belong nowhere. The only thing I have anymore is my son. When I’m with him, I feel… like myself. Even though I don’t really know who that is. At least I’m his mother. But you want to take that from me as well. You’ll make him to be your son. And then I’ll have nothing left.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Willow—”
“Am I?” she asks, as her walls start to break down. “Because you took everything about me and destroyed it. Including my love for you.”
I raise my eyebrows, wondering if I just heard her right.
“What?” she asks, defensively. “You didn’t know that I loved you? Well, I did. At some point in this whole ridiculous fucking charade you’ve concocted, I fell in love with you. And I was stupid enough to believe that when you married me, you loved me, too. In your own way. I convinced myself that we could be happy, that we could build a life together.”
She shakes her head. “And then I learned that it was never about love at all. You never wanted me. You wanted my name. You wanted power. You wanted a key.”
The emotion pours out of her, leaving her looking pale and shaken.
“I loved you, Leo. Wholly and completely,” she says. “But not anymore. You took that from me, too.”