Page 28 of Bratva Prince

“It’s also accurate,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact.

For a moment, amusement flickered across his expression before disappearing.

“He wants you to visit the Marino estate?”Dimitri guessed.

“That’s right,” she replied.

Sofia waited, expecting an argument, or Dimitri to bring up security concerns.Hell, part of her expected him to immediately refuse, given the attack happened two days ago.Instead Dimitri simply nodded.

“Very well,” Dimitri said.

She frowned.“That’s it?”Sofia couldn’t help but ask.

His gaze returned to the report in his hands.

“That’s it.Please assure him we are taking matters into our own hands, and that you’re safe in my hands.”

Myhands.Not our hands.The distinction immediately caught Sofia’s attention.

A few weeks ago, Dimitri would have phrased it differently.More formal or distant perhaps.Something about Volkov security or family protection.Lately, however, things had changed.

Ever since that night, they’d crossed a line neither of them had been able to uncross.Dimitri was still Dimitri.He was controlled, and frustratingly private.Dimitri remained the kind of man who buried emotions beneath layers of discipline and responsibility, but she was beginning to notice small differences.

The way he always seemed to know when she’d left the estate, or how his attention immediately sharpened whenever another man lingered too long in conversation with her.He’d become strangely possessive of her.

The realization should have annoyed her more than it did, but other times she caught herself secretly enjoying it.Which was far more concerning.

Sofia wasn’t naïve enough to mistake possessiveness for love.Men in their world claimed territory in the form of businesses, houses, and people all the time.Yet with Dimitri, it felt different.

There was less ownership and more concern, as though some instinct inside him had quietly decided she belonged under his protection whether she wanted it or not.The thought should have sent her running in the opposite direction.Instead, it merely left her unsettled.

If she was being honest, Dimitri wasn’t the only one changing.She found herself looking for him in crowded rooms, listening for his footsteps in the hallway, and wondering when he’d return whenever business pulled him away from the estate.

Dangerous habits and thoughts.Sofia pushed them firmly aside before they could grow roots.Whatever was happening between them, she wasn’t ready to examine it too closely.Especially not when it involved feelings she wasn’t quite prepared to name.

“Fine,” she found herself grumbling in the present.

“Fine.”

Silence settled briefly between them.Sofia took that as her cue to leave.

“One condition,” Dimitri suddenly said.“I’d like to come with you.When’s the meeting?”

“Two days from now,” she paused, thinking.“You have a meeting with an important investor on that day.”

Dimitri looked displeased by the reminder.“Fine,” he said rather grudgingly.“Will you call me when you arrive?”

The request surprised her, because it didn’t sound like a command.There was genuine concern in his eyes.He was worried for her.The realization lodged somewhere unexpectedly deep.

“I can do that,” she said quietly.

Dimitri nodded once.

Neither acknowledged how much that small exchange suddenly felt like something neither of them had expected to find in this marriage.

****

Two days later, Sofiawas finally going to see her father.