“I won’t stop you from leaving. But I can’t go back to who I was before you,” I told her. “If you walk out, you walk free.”
I took a step closer to her. “But if you stay, you’re mine. Not as a hostage. As my wife.”
I watched her eyes study me for a while.
“I’m tired of running, Konstantin,” she finally said. “I’m tired of being blamed for men’s crimes.”
I nodded.
Her eyes bore into mine again as she said, “I choose to stay. But on my own terms.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you stop treating me like leverage and start treating me like a partner.”
“Baby, I’d love nothing more,” I confessed, unable to stop the smile that crept across my face.
“Damn. I love it when you smile,” she muttered.
“I love it when you breathe,” I told her before enveloping her body with mine.
I kissed her, my lips moving slowly over hers and making the promises my words couldn’t. It was different this time. Because it wasn’t possession; it was acceptance.
Epilogue
One Year Later…
Konstantin’s manor was not the same anymore; it had changed.
Physically, the building now looked different. While the balcony remained where it was because of Konstantin’s sentimental attachment (which he’d deny to any other person), the manor now had a medical wing for the Bratva’s legitimate employees.
However, the immaterial change in the manor was even more palpable. While guards and workers still worked at the house, it no longer felt like a military base. It was now home.
Greta was right, after all. Because I didn’t lose myself by staying with Konstantin. I had become the public ‘good face’ of Konstantin’s world. I was in charge of running the discreet medical wing, and I couldn’t have asked for anything to be different. I had my dream and the man of my dreams. A man who would stop at nothing to make me happy.
Konstantin still spoke to others like he’d be charged for using more than a few words at a time, but even his most distant clients could sense the change in him. He now spends his time between Bratva enforcement and being by my side. While no one could separate the man from his leather jackets, they no longer act as shields against the ones who love him; they were just a style choice now.
As I gazed at my reflection in the mirror, I imagined what I knew would be evident soon. Just then, Konstantin walked into our bedroom, his hands wrapping around me from behind.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted as I hugged him back.
“Hey,” I answered in a whisper, smiling at him through the mirror. “I have something for you. A gift, if you will.”
He turned me around in his arms so I was facing him. “Really?”
“Yeah,” I answered, going to the nightstand and pulling the lower drawer out. I brought out the small box and gave it to him.
Giving me a playful, scrutinizing look, he opened the box. He brought out the pregnancy test and looked up at me.
“It’s positive,” I told him, nodding.
He dropped the box on the dresser and asked, elation clear in his voice, “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
He threw his arms around me and kissed me.
“The world belongs to us,” he whispered, eyes closed, his forehead touching mine. “I’ll always protect you, baby.”
“And our baby,” I added.
“And our baby,” he concurred. “Always.”
******
THE END
