"Ilya? What are you—Mara?"
I turn to see her standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock as she takes in the penthouse, and me, the obvious signs that I live here. She’s very visibly pregnant, and she looks confused and shocked as she stands there.
"Hi, Annie," I say, my voice steadier than I feel. "Come in. We need to talk."
Ilya excuses himself with a meaningful look at me, and then it's just Annie and me, and six months of secrets.
"You're living with Ilya Sorokov," Annie says, and it's not a question. "Mara, what the hell is going on? You've been avoiding me for months, making excuses, and now I find out you're—what? Dating him? Living with him?"
"It's complicated," I start, but she cuts me off.
"Complicated? Mara, do you know who he is? What he does?"
"Yes," I say quietly. "I know exactly who he is. And I know what he does. I'm part of it now, Annie. I've been part of it for months."
She stares at me like she’s never seen me before. "Tell me," she says finally. "Everything… and I do mean everything.”
So I do. I tell her all of it… where I saw Ilya for the first time, that he was the man in Boston—Alexander Volkov—and how he followed me to New York. I tell her about him watching me, about Sergei, about the time in his penthouse and how we eventually found a life that works for both of us. How much I know he loves me, even if he went about it all wrong at first, and how much I love him. I show her the ring, and I sit there, waiting for her to tell me how wrong all this is.
When I finish, she's quiet for a long time. And then her mouth twitches, a strange look of both amusement and guilt on her face.
“If I’d known you were going to end up with a Bratva boss, Mara, and how fine you’d end up being with all of it, I’d have told you the truth about my family years ago.”
I stare at her, not understanding. "What are you talking about?"
Annie winces. “My brother, Ronan? He’s the leader of the Irish mob in Boston, Mara. I do their finances. I’ve been working their books since I graduated college, keeping my family out of trouble with that part of the law. My father was the leader before him. I’m part of a generational Irish mafia family, and I nevertold you because I wanted to keep you safe from it.” She laughs. “I guess it came home to roost, after all.”
It takes me a moment to fully process what she’s just said. Annie, my best friend, the person I thought I knew better than anyone, has been keeping the same secrets I have. We've been living parallel lives, both of us hiding who we really are, both of us afraid of losing each other if the truth came out.
"What about Elio?” I ask, and Annie bites her lip.
“He’s the don of the Italian mafia. He inherited it after my brother killed Rocco de Luca.”
I press my hand to my mouth, bursting into laughter. Annie looks shocked, and then she starts to laugh too, both of us letting out all of the pent-up emotions and the secrets she’s been carrying for even longer than I have.
“Your family is mafia. Your husband is a mob boss. AndIwas worried about telling you about Ilya!”
"I'm sorry," she says, her eyes glossy from laughing so hard. "I'm so sorry, Mara. I should have trusted you. I should have known you'd understand..
"We're idiots," I tell her. "Both of us, keeping secrets, thinking we were protecting each other."
"Complete idiots," Annie agrees. "But we don't have to anymore. No more secrets, Mara. We're part of the same world now. We can be honest with each other."
The relief is immediate and complete, and within moments, it’s like the last six months have never happened. I tell her about what I’m doing with the art gallery for Ilya, and she gives me advice. We talk about her pregnancy and my engagement, scouring the Internet for wedding ideas until Annie finally leaves to go back to her hotel, the pregnancy making her tired.
Ilya returns that evening to find me in the living room, curled up on the couch with a book I'm not really reading, a smile on my face that I can't seem to shake.
"It went well," he observes, sitting beside me and pulling me against him.
“You knew.” I shake my head at him. “You knew all about Annie’s family and her husband. That’s why you were sure it was going to be fine.”
“Yes,” Ilya admits. “She needed to tell you, though. But of course. I knew she might be concerned about who I am at first, but the two of you would work it out. She can hardly judge.”
“I’m so happy we… wait.” I glare at him. "How did you know it went well?"
He has the grace to look slightly guilty. "I may have been monitoring the security feed," he admits.
I should be annoyed, but instead I find myself laughing. "I might have to start spying on you too," I tease. "See how you like it."
