Chapter 9 – Jennie #2
So I retreat, walking stiffly down the hallway toward the living room. My feet click against the polished floors, echoing louder than they should. I hate how empty the house feels. How powerless I feel.
I drop onto one of the velvet couches and cross my arms, tapping my foot anxiously. Then I rise again. Pacing. Circling the room like a restless animal. I keep glancing at the hallway, waiting—watching—for Adrian to come out. For answers. For anything.
What bounty? Who are they talking about?
Why did Kaz’s visit make Adrian so tense?
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to quiet the growing unease in my chest.
He said he’d protect me. But from what? Clearly, he’s the one I need protection from. I’ve never felt this scared when I lived alone. Never.
Kaz leaves about half an hour after I sat in the living room.
I hear the heavy door swing open and shut again, the low rumble of exchanged words between the two men fading as they move outside.
I stay rooted in place, pacing slow and anxious across the length of the living room rug.
My fingers tighten around the hem of my dress.
The front door opens again.
Adrian walks in, alone this time, and he stops when he sees me already standing. His shirt sleeves are rolled halfway up his forearms now, and the tension in his shoulders hasn’t gone down one bit.
I don’t wait.
“What was that all about?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even.
His eyes lock on mine—dark, unreadable. “What?”
I lift my chin. “Kaz. Your meeting. The bounty. I heard him mention it.”
Adrian exhales slowly through his nose and shuts the door behind him. “You were listening?”
“I was standing outside the door. You told me to stay inside, not to stay deaf.”
Something sharp flickers in his eyes. I don’t care. I step closer.
“You said I’m your wife now,” I continue. “So I deserve to know what’s happening, especially if it’s dangerous. Who’s the bounty for? Is someone coming after you?”
“Are you worried about me now?”
“No. I’m just concerned for myself, that’s all. What’s it about?”
He doesn’t answer. He moves toward the couch instead, shrugs off his jacket, and tosses it over the backrest before undoing the top buttons of his shirt with slow, deliberate movements. Like I’m not even speaking.
“I’m not going to shut up just because you’re ignoring me,” I snap, following him. “Tell me what’s going on.”
He looks over his shoulder at me, finally, but the expression on his face is cold and quiet. He doesn’t raise his voice—he doesn’t have to.
“Jennie,” he says, “don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you.”
“That’s rich,” I shoot back. “You dragged me into this. You gave me your name, forced me into your house, your bed. And now you want to tell me I don’t get a say?”
He turns fully to face me.
I freeze at the intensity in his eyes. He steps forward slowly, closing the space between us.
“You’re safe,” he says, voice low. “That’s all you need to know.”
I laugh—bitter, disbelieving. “That’s not enough.”
“It should be.”
“It’s not.”
He tilts his head slightly, watching me like a puzzle he hasn’t decided how to solve yet. Or destroy.
With a tired sigh, he mutters, “Your brother’s not just a fuck-up, Jennie. He’s a goddamn curse.”
I blink, confused. “What do you mean?”
He turns halfway, one hand gripping the doorframe, his jaw hard as stone. “The bounty Kaz mentioned—it’s not from us. It’s from another mafia.”
I go still.
Adrian’s gaze settles on mine like cold steel. “Apparently, your brother didn’t just steal from the Rusnak Bratva. He pissed off other people, too. Big people. Dangerous ones. Now they’ve put a price on his head.”
I grip the back of the couch to steady myself. “But…I thought— I thought you said he was safe.” My heart lurches, twisting with dread. “They’re going to try to kill him,” I whisper. “They’re going to find him and—”
Adrian cuts me off with a sharp look, his voice colder than the marble floor beneath our feet. “You should be worrying about yourself first.”
I stare at him, breath hitching. “What?”
He steps closer, slow and deliberate. “Whoever’s coming for Logan won’t stop at him.
They’ll use whatever they can to find him.
And if they know about you—which I’m sure they have—they won’t care that you’re wearing my ring.
In fact….” He leans in slightly, eyes flicking to my hand.
“It might make the hunt even sweeter for them.”
“I don’t care,” I snap, my voice trembling. “I don’t care what mafia is after him or what target is on my back. You need to keep Logan safe. That’s why I married you, Adrian. That was the deal.”
His eyes narrow slightly, then soften in the quietest, most dangerous way. “Nothing will happen to Logan,” he says, firm and low. “I gave you my word. And I don’t break my word.”
I let out a shaky breath, my chest tight with fear and fury. “So what now? What am I supposed to do—just sit around while some psychopaths come looking for my brother? For me?”
Adrian steps closer, his presence consuming. “No. You’re supposed to relax.” He brushes a hand down my arm, slow and possessive. “Let me do what I do. I’ll die before I let anything happen to you.”
It’s a promise that should soothe me, but it doesn’t—not completely.
“Things will tighten around here,” he continues. “More guards. More restrictions. And your phone stays off.”
“What?” My voice rises. “Why? You just gave it back—”
“Because the more reachable you are, the more traceable you become. I don’t want your signal pinging somewhere and leading them straight to you.”
I stare at him, my nails digging into my palms. “So I’m supposed to live like a prisoner now?”
Adrian’s lips twitch, a shadow of something unreadable crossing his face. “No, moya printsessa. You live like a queen. A well-protected one.”
I turn away before he sees the heat of tears threatening again. I don’t want protection that feels like chains. But I don’t want to lose Logan either.
And Adrian knows that.
***
The rest of the day goes by in a blur, and I embrace nighttime so easily that I don’t even remember falling asleep.
After Adrian told me about the bounty, I stayed curled on my side for what felt like hours, staring at the wall.
My mind was a storm of fear, fury, and confusion—Logan in danger again, my own life now a target, and Adrian acting like both my protector and my prison warden.
Eventually, exhaustion won. My body gave up even when my thoughts wouldn’t.
The room is dark when I stir. A strange heaviness sits on my chest, like something’s pressing down on me. At first, I think it’s a dream. But then I open my eyes.
And I see him.
Adrian.
He’s in the armchair beside the bed, unmoving, asleep. I’m surprised to see him because after that first night, he stayed in the guest room, giving up his room for me.
His large frame slouched slightly, head resting against the side, one ankle crossed over his knee. The soft light from the hallway bleeds in through the slightly ajar door and glints off something in his lap.
A gun.
There’s a gun in his lap.
I blink hard, trying to process. He stayed. Sat there all night. Watching me. Guarding me. It should be unsettling, and maybe it is—but what’s worse is how my chest tightens with something I don’t want to name. Something dangerously close to warmth.
Why does he care this much? Why does a man who kidnapped me, married me by force, and threatened to kill my brother now look like he hasn’t slept in days just to make sure I’m safe?
I sit up quietly, my bare feet brushing against the soft rug beside the bed. I move slowly, not wanting to wake him.
That’s when I see it.
Something small and pale on the dresser.
A piece of paper that wasn’t there before.
I frown, my stomach knotting. The air changes around me, the way it does when something’s wrong. I pad toward the dresser, barely breathing, and pick up the folded slip.
The handwriting is sharp. Slanted. Foreign.
Your husband can’t protect you forever.
My fingers go cold.
I spin around on instinct, scanning the room, the windows, the locked door. No broken glass. No creaks. Adrian is still asleep, the gun unmoved.
But someone’s been here.
Someone came inside this room—my room—without either of us knowing. Someone got past the guards. Past Adrian. Past the man who kills without blinking.
My heart thunders in my chest, and for the first time since I entered this house, I feel something worse than hate or rage.
I feel hunted.
And for the first time—I don’t know if Adrian can stop what’s coming.