Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

MARAT
Josef and his team exited the plane first, leaving me and Destiny to follow. She’d been fiddling with her wallet, reorganizing the new ID that came rapidly after I’d pulled some strings in Las Vegas.
I noticed her ring glittering in the light and felt the emptiness on my left hand even more keenly. We never stopped at the jeweler’s in the hotel. But I made a mental note to call someone to meet me at the office the following day.
“Don’t be nervous,” I told her, but she just looked at me like I was an idiot.
Of course, she was nervous. She bit her lower lip, and that was when I realized I was nervous, too.
“It’s just my brother and his wife,” I said out loud, as if that would make it better.
Josef had tattled like the big fucking baby he was and now Adrik was demanding I bring my bride to his house for an early dinner. The plane ride was smooth, but traveling was never really easy for anyone.
Still, I didn’t dare tell Adrik no. He could be a ripe bastard when he wanted to be, and I was not inviting that kind of attitude from him. I took Destiny’s hand, pulling her along with me. Touching her made me feel better.
“Do you live near your brother?” she asked, and I ignored the choked cough coming from the front seat of the SUV.
Fucking Josef. Always the clown.
“No. We live in Manhattan. Adrik and Sofia live on the Long Island Sound. But it’s closer to the airfield than our penthouse, so we’ll stop there for an early meal, make introductions, then I’ll show you your new home. Okay?”
I was trying to be gentle, but I sounded like a damn general even to my ears. Destiny nodded her understanding, turning her head to look out the window. Something was wrong. I didn’t know what, and it worried me.
My gaze roamed over the silk blouse she wore, and I groaned. The flimsy material did nothing to hide her delicious curves from my eyes, which meant others could see her pebbled nipples as well in the cold interior of the vehicle.
“Did you bring your sweater?” I asked, suddenly mad as fuck.
“What? Oh, yeah,” she murmured, and looked down at the space between us.
“Put it on.”
“What?”
I looked at her breasts pointedly, and she followed my stare, her cheeks turning bright red when she saw what I had already noticed. I watched her throat work as she swallowed, and I couldn’t understand her expression.
It was tense. Stressed out.
Is she mad at me?
“Dumplin’? Dumplin’, look at me,” I said, my voice low. “I love looking at your body, but Adrik’s home is heavily guarded. If one of his men looks at you, I won’t be able to control my reaction. I’ll have to hit him. And if I hit him. I won’t stop. Do you understand?”
“No,” she replied. “But I’ll wear the sweater for you, Marat. You just had to ask me.”
I nodded, lifting her hand to my lips. I kissed her soft skin, reveling in her citrus scent. The soft cashmere sweater was navy blue, and it complimented the patterned dress she wore.
Spring in New York was way cooler than Las Vegas, but my Dumplin’ was born a Jersey girl. She knew all about East Coast weather. The pale periwinkle blouse she wore tucked into a pair of navy blue cropped pants that matched her sweater was pretty and perfect for the weather.
Her dark curls were piled on her head and secured with a hair clip. She looked fresh and innocent and I wanted so badly to take it down, run my fingers through it. I wanted to mark her so everyone knew who she belonged to. The sparkling ring on her finger wasn’t enough.
“Is this your brother’s house? Wow, it’s beautiful,” Destiny said.
I couldn’t believe we’d arrived already, but I guess time flew when you were busy obsessing. I heaved a sigh and she tensed.
“You alright?”
“Oh, yeah,” she started, but my frown seemed to stop her. “Honesty, ground rule one. Okay, you sighed, and I thought maybe you were regretting this whole thing. Bringing me to meet your family is probably not a good idea yet, Marat,” she explained.
“It’s a great idea. And I am not regretting a thing, are you?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know.
The entire plane ride, I’d buried myself in work, refusing to give my riotous nerves even a fraction of attention. Adrik could be a real prick when he wanted to be, but this one area of my life was off limits. He wasn’t getting a say in who I married.
Adrik had his bride. He’d hunted Sofia with all the precision of his wolf alter ego. But me? I wasn’t a wolf. I was not my brother. And I knew that.
It was true, I did not know a lot about my wife. But Destiny and I made a promise to be honest, and I knew if I asked, she would tell me anything I wanted to know.
The thing was, if I did that. If I pushed this thing from almost purely physical to emotional, everything would change. And I did not know if I could handle that.
Am I being a coward? Maybe.
But for now I was fine letting sleeping dogs lie. I had my Dumplin’ in my bed, by my side. She settled something inside of me. Filled a void I’d lived with for so long, I had no idea it was there until suddenly it wasn’t.
That was enough for now. It had to be.