“And if I don’t agree?”
He patted my cheek. “I’ll have your phone traced every second of every day. Your choice.”
I wanted to claw his eyes out. How dare he treat me like some common prisoner when I’d shown him nothing but loyalty and grace? Did this man really still believe I was going to slit his throat in the middle of the night? Or poison him with some sort of drink? It made me wonder if he could ever feel for me the way I knew I felt for him. It made me wonder if I’d ever win his trust, or build a strong relationship with him, or even get a glimpse into what it might be like for him to love me.
Maybe he’ll kill you once this is all over anyway. “How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?”
He grinned. “You don’t.”
Cheeky little asshole. “Are you going to check in with me every hour on the hour?”
“If you call, yes.”
I tilted my head. “So, you’re going to tell me who you’re with and what you’re doing just like I’m going to?”
“No. I’m not.”
I snickered. “Then, I get to hack your phone, too.”
“Not how this works.”
I stood, pinning him with a glare. “That’s exactly how this works. I’m in this with you, Israel. I’m betraying everyone and everything I’ve ever known, and not just to save my own hide. But yours as well. You can trust me. I’m not going to—”
He shot up from the couch. “Says the woman who married me under a false name with a false identity, and never told me about any of it until she was backed into her own little corner.”
He has a point. “What can I do to prove to you that I’m really on your side in all of this?”
“You can do as I’m telling you to do or you can get out. Those are your only options right now.”
I didn’t like how overbearing he’d become. I didn’t like the controlling monster he’d turned into. But I saw it in his eyes. I saw how strung out this entire situation had made him. I saw the stress washing over his body and the anger fleeting behind his eyes and the frustration in his balled-up fists. And the longer I stared at him, the more that tough facade melted.
Until his hands gripped my shoulders, and his stare held my gaze. “Just do this for me, Bonnie. Please.”
And in my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d ever hear the great Israel Rossi say the word ‘please.’ Except sarcastically, perhaps.
“Okay.”
He sighed. “Thank you.”
“Under one condition.”
He rolled his eyes. “What?”
I closed the gap between us. “You’re going to run the same schedule with me. No more being gone by the time I get up and coming back after I go to sleep. If I’m going to run this schedule, so will you. And we’ll at least enjoy coffees and dinners together. Okay?”
His eyes danced between mine. “Is that what you want?”
“More than anything.”
He kissed my forehead. “Then you’ll get it.”
“Is it always this easy to negotiate with you?”
“Don’t push it.”
“I’m just saying, if I proposed an alternative to this situation that didn’t inconvenience us so much, would you at least listen to it?”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Probably not.”
He eased himself back down onto the couch. “Fine. Let me have it.”
I knelt in front of him and took his hands within my own. “I’m more than willing to stay under this roof for most of the time if you put more guards around this place. The two downstairs aren’t going to work. For all we know, they didn’t even know what was going on up here. We need more guards downstairs and all around this place.”
Israel nodded. “Done. And trust me, I intend on interrogating those guards downstairs to make sure they weren’t in on this.”
I grinned. “Well, go easy on them. Two men can only do so much, no matter how heavily they’re armed.”
His eyebrows ticked. “I take it you have another request?”
I rolled my eyes. “Quit the act, Israel. I know that behind all of this anger and frustration, you’re worried about me. And I’m worried about you. So, instead of taxing our phones and having to keep track of time constantly, why don’t I just accompany you whenever you leave?”
He blinked. “I have to work.”
“And I’ll come with you. I can sit in the waiting rooms, or help some of your workers with things.”
“You’re not coming to work with me.”
I snickered. “Fine. Okay. How about this, then? More guards downstairs, I come with you whenever you leave, and in exchange for going along with this particular plan, you get to have me every night.”
His eyes darkened. “Say that again.”
I kissed his hands. “As a prize for taking me along whenever you leave so we can both keep track of one another, you can have me every night. Any way you wish.”
His hands slipped out of mine, and he crooked his finger beneath my chin. He raised my eyes to his level as a wild grin spread across his face.
My toes curled, and my gut clenched. I wanted nothing more than to kiss that grin right off his face.
“If we do it this way,” I said carefully, “you can see first-hand what I’ve got planned for this turf war. We can work together, in real-time, to make sure we come out of this on top.”
When he spoke, his voice commanded my attention with all of its huskiness and strength I admired so much in him. “I’ll be on top, all right. I always come out on top, no matter what I’m doing.”
I smiled. “I take it you accept my counter-offer?”
“Without a shadow of a doubt.”
I raised myself up to kiss him, but he turned his head. And instead of my lips falling against his own, they fell against his stubbled
