CHAPTER 8
"I never filed those divorce papers, Emma," Nathan revealed, his deep voice carrying a wave of shock that made her heart race.
Emma stared down at her hand, the brilliant stone sparkling under the afternoon sunlight flooding through the reinforced glass windows.
"What... what are you talking about?" Emma stammered, her breath hitching in her throat as she looked up into his intense eyes. "I signed them nine months ago!"
"You signed them, but I never submitted them to the county clerk in New York," Nathan explained, leaning down so his face was inches from hers. "You are still my legal wife, you carry my name, and you are carrying the heir to the Romano empire."
"You lied to me!" Emma gasped, trying to pull her hand away, but Nathan held her fingers firmly in his warm grip.
"I protected what belongs to me," Nathan countered smoothly. "I knew if you thought you were free, you would stay safe until I cleared the threats around us."
"And the threats?" Emma asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and lingering affection. "Are they ever really gone, Nathan?"
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"The men who targeted that diner are currently facing federal life sentences or are six feet beneath the desert sand," Nathan answered with total certainty. "No one touches my family and lives to see another sunset."
Emma looked down at her hand, feeling the weight of the ring that she had worn during the happiest—and most terrifying—years of her life.
