She smirks. “You like him too much to shoot him.”
“I did not say I would shoot him. I said he would have to get through me.”
It’s true that Marcello and I have a certain understanding in place. After Stella told me he was the force behind her father letting her come to Russia at a point in my life, where she was all I needed, I came to respect him a bit more.
But let’s not get things twisted.
If anyone dares come in between me and Stella, family or not, they will bleed.
Inside the jet, the scent of leather, cleaner, and a faint trace of caviar meets us. Lights glow warm and golden along theceiling. Cream seats, dark wood accents, everything ordered and disciplined, exactly how I like it.
I close the door behind us. The click is firm and final.
For the first time tonight, I let my shoulders drop.
No brothers. NoPakhan. No Romanos. No soldiers.
Just Stella and me and the choice we are about to make.
I walk down the aisle and pause beside one of the side closets, easing the garment bag off my shoulder. Then I walk back towards Stella, who is chewing her bottom lip, her mind a million miles away.
“What’s wrong,milaya?” I ask, grabbing her by the waist and plopping her on my lap. “Are you getting cold feet on me now?” I joke, but when she doesn’t reply, my brows furrow. “We do not have to do this tonight,” I tell her quietly. “We can still go back. We can even have a big wedding if you’ve changed your mind. Your mother would love nothing more. We can pretend to be normal people.”
She turns to face me, her green eyes finding mine, calm and steady now.
“We are anything but normal,” she says with a teasing smile. “And my mother has had enough weddings for the year. She can make a grand event when it’s Annamaria’s turn. Besides, if we wait for the perfect moment, it will never come. There will always be some deal to make, or a rival to take care of, or some guy whoaccidentallyshoots his gun in a church.”
“That was one time,” I say, with a pout
“It was Lucky’s and Frankie’s wedding day.”
“And I apologized. How was I to know the safety was off? Honest mistake.”
She laughs softly, and the tension eases again. “No, it wasn’t. You were just pissed they got married before us.”
“I admit nothing.”
“I want this,” she says, after a long pause, while looking deep into my eyes. “I want you. I want to stand in front of some bored Elvis impersonator and say that I want to be your wife without half of Chicago and half of Moscow watching me do it.”
“I want that more than anything,dusha moya. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Her gaze softens as she lays her head on my shoulder, running her fingers over my other shoulder where her bite-mark tattoo is hidden away.
“Mr. Petrov. Please take your seats as we are taking off,” the copilot advises before he returns to the cockpit.
But I don’t move a muscle. I stay exactly where I am, my arms around the love of my life.
The jet begins to move, a soft rumble under our feet. Stella stares out the window like she is committing every light to memory.
“We can come back tomorrow if you want?” I ask, needing to know every thought that is rummaging through her head.
“I’d like that. It would be nice if we could spend our honeymoon at the lake house at least.”
But it’s the faint hint of sadness in her voice that makes me turn her chin toward me.
“What’s wrong,milaya? You’re scaring me a little.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just… just…”
