His eyes darken but he nods, knowing I’m right. He can’t argue with anything I’ve said.
“I want to talk with him.”
“No.”
“Dimitri,” I snap. “I will always love you. You will always be my brother. But Alek is my husband now and I am choosing him. I will talk with him and I will go home with him and you will stop fighting him.”
I can tell Dimitri doesn’t agree with any of this but he can’t say no. I am not a little girl any longer.
Dimitri storms out of the room and after a moment, Alek comes inside. He doesn’t hesitate to rush to me.
“Are you…?” he asks.
“I can move my toes.”
“Thank god.”
“Alek.” I take his hand in mine. “Before anything else can happen to me, there’s something you need to know.” I take in a deep breath and let it out. “I love you.”
His eyes widen before he sits down into the chair like all the air has been knocked out of him. “You…”
“I love you. And I am choosing to stay with you. But as your wife. Not your prisoner. I will get to see my brother. You and him will no longer fight. If you want to make sure I don’t get shot again. Make this happen.”
He’s silent for a long moment and then nods. “Deal. I want you in my life more than anything. I thought it would feel better beating Dimitri but… this isn’t what I wanted.” He motions at me. “You got hurt. It’s never what I wanted. I… I love you too, Katya.”
Hearing Alek’s words bring a peace to my chest. Despite all the pain I’ve been through, there’s a chance for me to find happiness.
“Nina and Susanna are here. They want to talk with you.” He leaves to get them and after a moment, both girls walk in. Alek stands behind them, keeping an eye on everything.
“Katya…” Nina begins. “I’m sorry for being rude to you. After everything… I am sorry.”
“Thank you.” I turn my eyes onto Susanna.
She doesn’t sneer, so that’s progress. “For Alek’s sake, I am glad you’re not dead.” That’s as good as I’m going to get with her.
“Thank you. Can we start again? Do you think?”
“I’m ok with that,” Nina says.
Susanna hesitates before she nods.
After they leave, Alek remains by my side when Dimitri comes inside. They exchange a cold look.
“You don’t have to make a deal,” I say. “Just stop fighting. Please.”
“I don’t trust you with my sister,” Dimitri warns. “But I don’t want to hold her prisoner and make her hate me. So I am willing to let her go. But if she ever gets hurt on your watch, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Alek holds out his hand. “Deal.”
After a moment, Dimitri shakes his hand. “Deal.”
I know things are still tense between them and probably always will be, but for now, I have both men in my life and that’s all I could ask for.
Epilogue
Katya
It takes a long time for my body to heal from the two gunshot wounds I suffered. Because of that, I’m mostly bedridden for weeks. In that time, Alek cares for me like a husband should. Dimitri calls to check in but he refuses to come over. I have accepted that I’ll only have half of my brother because of my marriage to Alek but I hope in time, that they’ll become friends. A girl can dream.
