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I pressed the phone to my ear and sighed, shaking my head, "No..."
"Evangeline..." his tone was almost scolding.
"I can't, Nikolai..."
He sighed, "It's just a charity event. I'm a happily married man, I can't show up alone."
I lifted a shoulder, "Why would I accompany you?"
"Because you are my wife, whether you like it or not. Do you want other women to accompany me?" he asked.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling tiredly, "Who accompanied you to these kinds of events when I wasn't here?"
"No one..."
I scoffed, "Yeah, right..."
"I have pictures to prove my innocence," I could easily pick up the playful hint in his words.
"Then go alone again."
"I can't..."
"Why not?!"
"BECAUSE I'M TRYING..." he yelled out making me pull away from the phone, "It's fucking difficult but I am fucking trying, Evangeline. I'm trying to earn you. How the fuck am I supposed to earn you if you refuse to see me. I hadn't broken in this time," his volume dropped too low at the end of his sentence.
A hint of a smile crept over my lips, "So, it has nothing to do with Lorenzo being in my captivity?"
He laughed, "Sweetheart if I wanted to bust him out, I would have by now. I don't have to make a fool out of my woman to get my man back. I trust you, you said he was unharmed and you will let him go when you think it's the right time. I'm letting you have all the power here, Evangeline. You have all the fucking power over me, I have no fucking idea what more I can do, I'm trying..." his voice was soft, tender, a tone I have only heard once before when I was kidnapped and he was the one who apologized for it.
"How do I know you won't fall into your old patterns once you have everything your way again?" I asked, twirling a strand of my hair around my finger.
"I don't think it will be anything like before between us, you've changed Evangeline and so have I. The Evangeline I knew would never do the vicious things you did to me last night. I can still feel you all over me, baby girl. I can fucking taste you on my tongue, I could—"
I cringed, "Just shut up! That doesn't—"
He cut me off, "I'm trying, Evangeline, for you. I don't want to lose you, baby girl. You make the rules, you tell me what you want and I'll fucking make it happen. I really want to take you with me, not for appearances, not because I'm a married man, none of that shit, I want to talk to you; I want to spend some fucking time with you. There is something I really want to fucking tell you before I fucking chicken out."
