A tremor of a smile curves her lips, her eyes locked on mine. “Truth or dare, Maksim Belov?”
“Truth.” I brush my mouth over hers. “I love you, Valentina. I was born to love you. Born to be yours. That’s my truth.”
Fifty-Six
VALENTINA
Afull-circle moment. Every one of us in a hospital room again, right where it all started. And while we’re all breathing, the relief is fragile. The air hums with unspoken tension and the weight of a new threat. But as I lie here in Maksim’s arms, the sound of his heartbeat steady against mine, I’ve never felt more whole.
So close. We came so close to losing it all.
I glance up and find Remi at the foot of the bed. She must feel my eyes on her because she turns, offering a faint smile. But there’s pain carved into every line of her face, and her pink-rimmed eyes are heavy with grief.
For a moment, we just look at each other. No words are needed. She blinks away the threat of more tears and straightens her shoulders, forcing strength I know she doesn’t feel yet. I reach for her, and she crumples in my arms in an instant…then lets it all go. Her cries shake us both. Aunt Amalia starts to rise, but Uncle Kai’s hand finds her shoulder. He knows we need this moment, that sheneeds this.
My baby came through for everyone that night. For Renji, holding him together when he couldn’t, and avenging hisbrother even as she fell apart. For Maksim and me, following us into hell and pulling us back out. We would both be dead at the edge of that river if it weren’t for her. The events of six days ago left scars on us all, but I can see it in her eyes. They changed her in ways she hasn’t even realized yet.
“What now?” Maksim is the first to break the silence. His gaze swings to Uncle Silas. “Dad?”
In true Silas and Maksim fashion, neither makes a fuss over this new step between them—the first time he calls him Dad.
Uncle Silas’s jaw tightens, warmth passing through his eyes before he answers. “Now we prepare,” he says simply. “We get our people in line, lay low, and wait for them to make their move.”
Aunt Leni nods in agreement. “We’ll be ready.”
“That’s if I don’t find them first.” Papi leans back in his seat, eyes distant, the ghost of a grin at the corner of his mouth, like he can already hear their screams.
We fall silent again, each of us lost in our own private calculations and fantasies of revenge. Beneath the grief and exhaustion of it all, there’s resolve, because we’ve bled too much to sit idle.
Remi wipes her eyes, voice rough when she finally speaks. “Whoever comes next will regret it.”
Aunt Amalia pulls her close. “That they will.”
I look around the room at my parents, my aunts and uncles, Remi, my brother and sister, the man I love, and feel the weight of everything we’ve survived. For the first time in days, the fear doesn’t swallow me whole. Because we’re together.
Whatever’s waiting for us next, whoever’s behind all this, they have no idea what kind of hell they’ve just invited.
Fifty-Seven
VALENTINA
Two Months Later
“That was a bullshit run. No way he took me clean.”
Thirty minutes later, and I’m still fuming. I slam the car door and practically stomp my way around the hood. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic. But losing to some fresh-faced kid on just my second run in two months is a blow to my ego.
“What, you think he cheated or something?” Maksim’s tone carries a hint of laughter.
When he reaches for my hand, I swat him away.
He’s trying to be funny.
“You’re not helping,” I snap, glaring at the ground instead of his smug face. I start toward the house, but he catches me by the throat and bends me over the warm hood.
“I can’t change the outcome, Kolibri. But I can fix that attitude of yours.” He winds my hair around his fist, tugging just hard enough to make me gasp. “I’m going to fuck it out of you.”
I grin, my breath fogging the paint as I arch my ass into him. “You can try,” I taunt, hissing when his grip tightens in warning—just how I like it.
