“Now you can see him all the time,” Vadim whispered.
“I thought it was lost,” I said, tears sliding freely down my cheeks as I traced the tiny curve of his skull and then the shape of his hand.
“I kept it.”
I set it carefully on my lap and put my arms around his neck. No sobs. Just tears, falling steadily, soaking into his collar. He didn’t pull back. He didn’t speak. He just held me—one hand moving slowly through my hair, the other tracing the length of my back.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that.
Long enough.
Long enough to know the man who held me was besotted with his family.
Past and present.
Epilogue
Vadim
When the door flew open and crashed against the wall, half the men had their hands on their guns and the other half knew I’d fucked up. Iskra glared at me and I smiled, giving her a little finger wave.
A nervous-looking Olya brought through the tray with light snacks and a pot of tea. Bogdan inched into the room and stood behind Iskra.
Me?
I couldn’t take my eyes off my wife.
This was the reckoning.
She walked toward me, her hair flowing around her. It looked almost white against the dark green dress.
She slapped something on the table and stormed back out.
The men sat back down, eyeing one another, wondering what had happened now. Bogdan remained by the door, hand resting on his gun.
My brother peered over at my desk, eyes widening.
Olya finished emptying the tray and left.
“For the love of everything holy, get off that woman,” my brother muttered.
“Pour the tea,” I said, waving my hand before glancing down at the white plastic stick on my desk.
“Start coming back to the pit,” Konstantin said. “Or take up a sport.”
I stared at the two lines and leaned back in my chair.
“What was that about?” Valentin asked.
“For someone so small she is scary,” Ruslan said, still staring at the door as though she might return for him.
“When mine gets like that a light to medium spanking does the trick,” Aleksandr offered.
Konstantin sighed.
“He got her pregnant again.”
Everyone turned to face me like I was the villain.
