"That's a little morbid, given recent events," he mumbles around a yawn.
"True. How about till we're old and gray and annoying the hell out of each other?" I ask.
"That sounds more realistic," he mutters, and I feel my body finally starting to surrender to sleep. "I can work with that."
I close my eyes and let the combination of exhaustion and security finally drag me under. For the first time in what feels like forever, I'm not worried about what tomorrow will bring. I'm not scared or anxious or wondering if everything is about to fall apart. Being in Vadim's arms is more than enough.
Russia is going to be an adventure. A new language to learn, a new city to navigate, a new life to build from scratch. But we'll figure it out. We've survived everything else that's been thrown at us. We can handle this.
31
EPILOGUE
VADIM
Islip out of bed and leave Danica sleeping. She's breathing deeply and evenly with a peaceful expression for the first time in weeks. After everything she's been through, she needs the rest.
My clothes are still soiled with yesterday's mess, but I dress quietly and head downstairs, following the smell of coffee to the dining room. Where the leaders of this family are all seated around the kitchen table.
"Good morning," Yuri says, gesturing to an empty chair. "Come, sit. We were just discussing your situation."
I take the seat and accept the coffee that Rosa sets in front of me. "I didn't know you'd all be here." When I meet Dimitri's eyes, he nods. He's come all the way from Moscow to help with things? I'm confused, but there will be time for questions later.
"Yuri called us in last night," Fyodor says. "What you uncovered in Belgrade is gonna fuck with all of us." He sips a cup of coffee and looks a little too serious for first thing in the morning.
"Tell them everything," Yuri says.
So I walk them through the entire situation. The months hunting Lebedev, discovering Ruslan was feeding information to our targets, the video evidence showing his tattoo, the politician providing protection. Then I get to the part that's been eating at me since yesterday.
"Ruslan said something before he died that I can't stop thinking about. He talked about an impending war between the Gravitch family and the Balkan syndicates. He said every Gravitch male is marked for death. He claimed he killed Dominic to show strength."
"Did he say who else was involved?" Dimitri asks, narrowing his eyes. I've been gone so long, I have no clue what's transpired around here other than snippets I've heard, but he seems to know something. Or at the very least, have a deeper interest.
"I couldn’t get a word out of him," I grumble, taking the first sip of my scalding coffee. "But he led on that he wasn't the end of this problem."
"Do you have any more intel?" Lev asks.
"I'm sorry," I say. "I don't."
As if on cue, the dining room door opens and Inessa walks in with Danica beside her. My beautiful wife is wearing a simple black dress that must belong to Inessa. Her hair is pulled back and she looks nervous, but when her eyes find mine, she relaxes.
I stand and cross to her, kissing her on the cheek softly. "Good morning. I didn't want to wake you."
"Inessa came to check on me and offered to lend me some clothes," Danica says quietly.
"Come, sit," Yuri says, his expression softening. "Inessa, you should be resting." He reaches for her and she bends to kiss him.
"I wanted to meet Vadim's wife properly," Inessa says, taking a seat near Yuri.
I guide Danica to the chair next to mine. "These are the heads of our family's Russian operations. You've met Yuri. This is Fyodor and Lev, more of my cousins, and Dimitri" —I nod at him— "Yuri's brother."
Each man nods as I name them, and Danica offers a quiet greeting and a smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Fyodor says. "Vadim's spoken highly of you."
"Which brings me to something I need to announce," I say. "I'm staying in St. Petersburg permanently. I'm done with fieldwork. I want to be here, working to root out these conspirators. But I want to do it from a secure location where I can go home to my wife at the end of each day."
My family is probably shocked by this announcement, given my penchant for being on the road and out on my own, but Yuri has already approved, and when Fyodor nods his acknowledgement, I know they understand.
