Cleaning up after the shootout at Viktor’s compound in Siberia took a long time. His men scattered, some vowing retribution, others eager to put their life of service behind them. I wasn’t sure what to do with it all: the flood of information, the caches of weapons, drugs, and even people; the new connections, the old blood feuds. It felt impossible to sort through. We had men knocking on our doors, offering intel and their loyalty; tens, and then hundreds of them.
An army.An empire.
I considered asking Sacha to take over, or any one of my seasoned men. But in the end, the answer was obvious.
Annika would take over her father’s operation.
Well,wewould—together. Everything we did from that day on would be together. As a couple. A unit. A family. Annika was the perfect face of her own Bratvacell. She had the bloodline, the experience, the knowledge. She had my men to back her up if anyone ever chose to rise against her. And better yet, I knew I could trust her. Not justher, but her instinct for justice, loyalty, and power. In a way, she was born for it. And killing Viktor had won her allegiance—if not cold, hard, Russian respect—from both my men, and his.
We chose Roza Dom as our point of operation, but the responsibilities of two cells frequently kept us traveling. Lilly looked after the girls whenever we left.
And now, a year out, we’re finally able to step away. Just for a vacation of sorts; just for a few weeks. I let Annika choose the destination.
* * *
The girls are asleep after a day of exploring the city, and we’ve turned in to the hotel for the night. It’s nice. Nicer even than the place we stayed in in Moscow so many years ago, on the night that changed both of our lives forever; the night that we made Karine and Manya.
Annika stands on the balcony, looking out at a stormy sea.Seattle. I wondered, often, why Annika had chosen this city to flee to. But I see now that it suits her. It’s wild and thunder-struck and beautiful; it’s different to everything we come from.
I watch her from the bed. Dusk is falling, the last pale of sunlight cleaving through clouds as a storm makes land. It touches her beautiful face, turns her wild, wind-blown curls fiery. She wears a pale silk sleeping gown that whips around her bare legs. Rain begins to fall, ignited by the last fingers of sunset. She looks like she’s standing in a fire storm.
I give myself a moment to fully, truly appreciate all that I have. I could have lost her so easily. So many times. I could have lost my daughters. My friends and family. My life. Instead, because of this girl, this dangerous, unpredictable, perfect woman—I have everything. And I will spend every moment of the rest of my life thanking her for it.
I rise and cross the hotel suite, stepping through the doors and into the storm. She doesn’t look at me as I slide my arms around her waist and bury my face in her neck. Despite the cold, her skin is hot.
“Voydite,” I say against her ear.Come in.I’ve loved every minute of having the girls here. They’re amazingly independent, wildly intelligent. But I’m grateful they’re finally asleep. There are a number of things I’ve been waiting to do with their mother. “Ya skuchayu po tebe.”
Annika grins. Raindrops glitter in her eyelashes. “How can you miss me? I’m right here.”
Her body is searing hot through the silk of her night gown. I kiss her neck, just beneath her ear, and press my body to hers. Does she feel how hard I am for her? How badly I want her? “Sometimes I wonder if you’ll slip away.”
“Why?”
“You are too good to be true,” I admit, drawing back damp strands of hair, kissing her neck, her collarbone. I slide the silk from her shoulder, press my lips to her skin. Her eyes flutter shut. “You are like a dream.”
“Even after all these years?” She smiles, but I hear a hint of ragged desire in her voice. I slide my hands from her waist, over her ribs, palms cupping her breasts. Through the thin silk, her nipples harden beneath my fingertips. I stroke them delicately, savoring the hitch of her breath as she leans back against me. “When will you trust that I am here for good? Forever?”
“When forever ends,” I murmur, gently sinking my teeth into her neck. She makes a delicate sound that turns my blood to fire. “When I have had you for a lifetime.”
She leans her head back on my shoulder, arm rising to stroke my hair. Her spine curves, breasts pressed into my hands. “You are like a dream,” she says softly. Her lips part in pleasure, and I slide one hand lower, over the curve of her stomach, gathering silk in my fist until my fingers find skin. My hand glides between her legs. She wears nothing beneath the gown, and pleasure courses through me when I find her wet. “Sometimes I think I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve better,” I growl, stroking her softly. She steps forward to the banister, gripping it hard with her free hand, apparently not concerned with anyone seeing us. “You deserve the world, Annika Volkov.”
A smile touches the corners of her lips. We aren’t married—not yet. But I have already asked her. And she has said yes. It’s a formality, but it brings me more joy than I care to admit that she wants to take my name, to be mine not just in privacy, but in the eyes of the world.
“You have everyone convinced you’re a monster,” she says, voice soft and bare with pleasure. “But deep down, all you are is a good man. My good man.”
“Yes.” She pushes back against me, and I deftly slide the silk hem of her gown higher, exposing the curve of her ass, the arch of her back. “I am yours.”
“Say it again,” she commands, the words almost a moan as I slide a finger inside of her.
“I am yours.”
She turns in my arms and kisses me hard, wind gusting against us on the balcony. The last of the daylight burns into the horizon, rain pelting every inch of us. I clutch her to me, feel the pounding of her heart against mine. She is pliant in my arms, but demanding, and all I want in the world is to give myself to her.
So I do.
Chapter Twenty-Six
