Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Mikhail

Aboard the plane,I make sure my bride is comfortable before I look in on everyone else. Our private planes allow us to travel in luxury. The plush furniture converts from chairs to roomy beds, each nestled in the confines of private suites. The bathrooms are well equipped and climate controlled, and we have a well-trained and attentive crew with us.

Aria lies in bed in our private suite, but she isn’t asleep. She watches me attentively, her eyes never leaving me.

I’d arranged every detail of business before we traveled. My staff will take time off except the few that will come with me to Russia. The press release was pretty innocuous: Upon my release from jail, my mother’s home was under attack by a nameless assailant. Nameless assailant spent time in the ICU before he passed away.

The others have similar histories and fates.

Volkov’s been arrested on charges of human trafficking. While my charges were fabricated, his were absolutely true. The pace of what’s happening makes my head spin, and I can hazard a guess Aria’s no different.

I finally strip down to my boxers and join her in bed. It will take us about ten hours to fly to Moscow which gives us time to sleep.

But first, we have to talk.

When I join her in bed, she does this thing that I love. She snuggles up closer to me, nuzzles under my arm, buries her head on my chest, then crooks her knee up so her whole body is flush against mine. “It was a waste buying that body pillow, you know,” she says. “You’re my body pillow.”

I run my hand through her hair, and she sighs.

“I want all of this behind us, Aria. This whole ordeal.”

“Me, too,” she whispers. “Which is why you need to know that I looked at your texts and I know that Tatiana sent me to you.”

I nod. “I told her I needed a wife. She told me she was on it.”

Aria swallows. “How much did you pay her?”

“Does it matter?”

She pauses before she finally nods. “It does, Mikhail.”

“I paid her two point five million.”

Her jaw drops. “Two point five million? I’m not worth that much. Are you crazy?”

“You aren’t worth that much.” I kiss her forehead. “We cannot even put a price on your worth, my love.”

She sighs and doesn’t speak for long minutes.

“I…I need to let this go. I know I do. I thought…I felt so betrayed, I wanted to leave, Mikhail.”

“I know. Aleks told me you’d intercepted the texts, bypassed our security measures, then took yourself off our tracking system so he couldn’t get a heartbeat on you after the attacks.” I run my fingers through her hair. “You know what would happen if I had you alone right now, don’t you?” I lean in and kiss her cheek. "You’d be over my knee for being so reckless, Aria. For taking your life in your hands like that. For making a decision that put yourself at risk without coming to me, first.”

Even though she pouts, I know a part of her likes when I take her in hand.

“But don’t worry, love. We’ll have plenty of privacy in Russia.”

She squirms adorably before continuing. “Mikhail, I felt so betrayed. All this time you told me that I was your prisoner because of what I did, when I hacked into your computers.”

“You were.”

“But you’d orchestrated my coming to you!”

“I did.”

She pulls away and frowns at me. “Explain that to me, then.”

I easily frame her face in my hands, holding her gaze to mine. “I told Tatiana I needed a wife. Tatiana told me you needed protection. It fell into place as if you were sent to me. Kak s neba svalilsya, we say in Russia. As if fallen from the sky. Sent from above.”

I shake my head. “I kidnapped you, Aria. You were my little hacker. I took you, drugged, to my home and forced you to marry me. Are you offended or hurt that I didn’t go about this by conventional means? Your reasoning makes no sense to me.”

When she swallows and tries to look away, my grip tightens. “No, Aria. You look me in the eye and tell me why you’re upset.”

She blinks, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. “I thought I was just…a vessel to you. Someone to be used for gain. You needed a wife and child…then I came along. I could’ve been anyone. Anyone.” Now she cries freely. I release her long enough to pull her body completely on top of me. I sit up and arrange her so she straddles my lap.

“My love. Aria. Have I failed to demonstrate how much you mean to me?”

“You bought me,” she whispers. “You bought me like I’m a rare trinket you wanted for your collection to keep under lock and key.”

“I paid a price for Tatiana’s services, Aria,” I say gently. “Not for you.” I lay my hands on either side of her, my fingers laced at the small of her back. “There is no price for perfection.”

She sniffs, and I pull her to my chest. I hold her to me while she cries freely.

“Aria, don’t you know? If I’d only known you, I would’ve chased your shadow from the very first time I ever saw you. I would have reinvented myself, become the man you needed me to be just for the merest glimpse of your smile or a moment of your attention. I would have fought full armies for your favor and destroyed anyone or anything that pulled us apart. I would have razed the earth to clear a path to you and make you mine.”

“Oh my God, Mikhail,” she sniffs. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” I ask, bemused.

“Being so damn perfect,” she sobs. “I was totally convinced I was only your trophy and someone you’d used to get your way. And then you go and say all these perfect things…”

“Oh I have every intention of using you.”