“What?” Mikhail asked. His voice sounded close to a whisper.
“I…I…”
“You…what, Isabella?”
“ I love you, Mikhail. I think I've always known that I love you and want to be with you. And I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I don't love you as a weapon of war or as revenge. I love you because you've kept on choosing me over and over again.” My eyes clouded with tears, and my heart drummed.
“I love you so much,” I said, throwing myself at his body. He made a noise that reminded me he was in pain.
“I'm sorry.”
“It's fine. I was built for pain.” I laughed at his joke and sniffed. His face shone with a beauty I knew I would cherish every day.
“I love you too, Isabella.”
We both smiled, content in happiness.
Epilogue
Two Years Later…
We arrived right on time, despite my wife’s time-consuming indecision about what to wear. Sometimes, Isabella almost made me wonder who the real baby was, between her and Ivan, our son, who was now a toddler. Of course, we were both older, but she was still every bit the sexy and adorable woman I fell for. The woman who fought beside me as we dominated our enemies. The woman who showed me that I was worthy of love in every single way. A woman who combined cute and goofy, especially whenever she was pregnant. Which she currently was.
The small hall glistened with golden lights and champagne as I entered the Bratva charity gala at Viktor’s estate.But none shone brighter than the woman on my arm, her scarlet dress making her look like a princess with a baby bump.
The gala was a well-earned celebration for my brothers and me. We had crushed our enemies and expanded our empire, reaffirming our absolute authority in Manhattan. In recent years, we’d been betrayed and prodded, but we didn’t break. Neither did we ever lose. And, amidst it all, Isabella was there to smooth the rough scars each battle brought with her love. She was no longer a pawn; she was a queen in this world now. And the queen of my life.
“So, I really can’t drink?” she inquired, her playful voice just above a whisper as I inclined my head to hear her.
“No drinking, baby,” I uttered, dropping a kiss to her head. “Until you’ve dropped my princess.”
“Whew,” she breathed dramatically.
“I could give you something to look forward to, hmm?” I whispered into her ear as my hand subtly went to squeeze her ass.
“Mikhail,” she squealed.
“What? I was just showing you how I’d love to reward you for resisting the urge to drink.”
“I have a feeling you’d have done that even if we weren’t talking about drinking.”
“You won’t hear me denying. If time weren’t a factor, I would have had my way with you. You know that,” I confessed.
“Well, there’ll be plenty of time after.”
“Exactly what I can’t wait for,” I disclosed.
“Isabella!” Emilia called, approaching us in a golden dress and a happy smile.
After we exchanged greetings, I left the ladies to chat while I walked up to Viktor, who was wrapping up a conversation.
“Mikhail,” he called, a small smile on his face.
“Brother,” I answered. “How’s it going?”
“Good, as usual. Where’s Isabella?”
“Emilia found us first. You know what that means.”
