“I’m taking her to bed,” Vasily declares, picking me back up. I’m too tired to argue. I give them a wave goodnight over Vasily’s shoulder as he carries me out of the room and up to bed.
Chapter 16
Vasily
Two Weeks Later
Using my boot, I give the dead Irishman the nudge he needs to tip his body into the ocean. The weights tied securely around him will ensure he doesn’t ever resurface again. After we’d sent pieces of Colin’s body to various parts of the city owned by the Irish, most of them had wisely decided to flee. The ones that stayed were brought to a quick, bloody end. We’ve been picking them off one by one, and the fucker sinking to the bottom of the ocean was the last of them.
I go and stand next to Volodya. “I’m going to need someone to watch over the southern part of the city.”
He’s quiet for several minutes, both of us looking out at the dark horizon as Andrei starts the motor and points us in the direction of home. “You will,” he finally says. “What about Moscow?”
I shrug. “Valeri can handle it for now.”
“Valeri can handle what for now?”
I turn to see Valeri standing right behind us, not a trace of guilt on his face for eavesdropping.
“Moscow,” I say. “I need Volodya to stay here and take over the Irish territory. We need to keep a strong presence there so the Irish don’t get any ideas about taking it back.” I can tell Valeri isn’t thrilled about the idea. “Eventually, I want you to come here, too, but we’re not set up for it yet. We need to decide what we want to do about Moscow first. For now, though, we need to keep a heavy presence there to deter others.”
“So we’ll be equal partners?” Volodya asks.
I smile because I know how much it grates on him that he doesn’t have the boss title, but I also know he’d never go up against me to get it. Lucky for him, I don’t mind sharing. “Equal partners,” I agree. “New country, new rules. You get your territory to run, and I get mine, but together we run the whole damn city.”
He smiles and scrubs a hand over his jaw. “Sounds good.”
I smack him on the back, excited to have one of my brothers so close. As soon as we figure Moscow out, we can get Valeri’s ass over here to join us. When Andrei slows down and maneuvers into the boathouse, my heart starts to speed up in anticipation of seeing Nina again. She’s been worried nonstop the last two weeks, and I know she’ll be relieved to hear it’s finally over.
While the others get ready to head out for a night of club hopping, I grab the bouquet of roses and orchids I’d picked up for her earlier. I know she loves pink, and this thing has every shade of pink imaginable. The florist had done an amazing job of putting it together. She’d had no idea I’d had a man bound and gagged in my trunk while she was picking out the freshest, prettiest flowers, but the end result had been worth keeping Liam in my trunk for just a bit longer.
Walking through the house, I call out for her, not at all surprised to hear her voice coming from the sunroom. It’s still her favorite room of the house. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that it was the room Colin attacked her in, the one she watched me kill him in. Instead, she seems to love it all the more because of that. I think it gives her a sense of power, a sense of control that she’d thought was lost to her. Whatever it is, I’m thrilled she still has her favorite room and that Colin wasn’t able to take anything else from her.
When I step in and see her curled up in the leather chair she loves so much with a book in her hand, I smile and run my eyes over her, taking in every perfect detail. Her stitches were removed a couple of days ago, and the bruising is gone from her face, not that they detracted from her beauty in the slightest, but I hated the constant reminder of my failure to keep her safe. I’m not a man to make mistakes twice, though, and with the added security measures I’ve put in place, I’m confident no one will be stepping foot on our property without my express permission.
Her dark eyes meet mine and light up. I love that the big smile on her face is just for me. She hasn’t even seen the flowers I’m holding behind my back. When I bring them around, she lets out a soft gasp as I cross the distance and bend down to kiss her. The fragrant aroma from the flowers fills the air around us, but nothing smells as sweet as my wife. I love burying my nose against the base of her neck and breathing her in. I’m completely addicted to her, and it just grows stronger every day.
“It’s over,zolotse,” I whisper against her lips.
Her whole body relaxes at my words as her arms wrap around my neck. I lower my knee to the ground and hand her the large bouquet. Her whole face lights up as she brings them to her nose and inhales.
“They’re so beautiful. Thank you, Vasya.”
“I’m glad you like them. I’ve never bought anyone flowers before,” I admit.
“Really?” She runs her fingers over the velvety soft petals. “You did a great job with these. They’re gorgeous.”
“I had some help. I told the florist you liked pink, and she gave me a few to choose from. These reminded me of you: beautiful, graceful, and sweet smelling.
She laughs and kisses me again. “Such a smooth talker.”
Before she can get up to put them in water, I grab onto her thigh, holding her in place. I can’t remember the last time I was nervous, but I’m nervous now when I reach into my pocket and take out the black velvet box.
“Vasya?” she whispers, confused by what’s going on.
“I never got a chance to propose to you. You deserve everything, baby, the absolute best, and instead you ended up saying your vows while you were terrified and enduring one of the worst nights of your life.”
“No,” she quickly corrects. “It started out as the worst night of my life, but it ended up being the best.”
