“Mikhail?” Sophia’s voice is soft behind me. “Are you okay?”
I turn to face her, and my breath catches the way it always does when I look at her.
She’s wearing one of my shirts, the white fabric falling to mid-thigh, her dark hair loose around her shoulders.
In the fading light, she looks ethereal, untouchable.
But I know better.
I know the strength beneath that delicate exterior, the fire that burns in her blue eyes.
“I’m more than okay.” I cross to her and pull her into my arms, feeling the warmth of her body against mine. “I’m terrified and amazed and completely overwhelmed.”
She laughs softly, the sound vibrating through her chest into mine. “That makes two of us.”
I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing across her cheekbones. “I never thought I’d have this. A family. A real family, not the twisted version I grew up with.” My voice roughens with emotion I can’t quite control. “My father was a drunk who beat my mother. I always thought that darkness was in my blood, that I’d pass it on to any child I had.”
“You’re not your father.” Sophia’s hands cover mine, her touch grounding me. “You’ve made mistakes, yes, but you’ve also fought to be better. To do better.”
“Have I?” The doubt creeps in, cold and insidious. “I’ve killed men, Sophia. I’ve built an empire on violence and fear. What kind of father does that make me?”
She pulls my hands from her face and presses them against her still-flat stomach. “The kind who will protect his child with everything he has. The kind who knows the darkness and chooses the light anyway.”
Her words pierce through my doubt, and I feel something shift inside me. A decision crystallizing into certainty.
I lean down and kiss her forehead, her nose, her lips. “No more violence. We’re going legitimate.”
“Just like that?” She searches my face, looking for hesitation.
“Just like that.” I pull her closer, feeling the steady beat of her heart against mine. “I have resources, connections, money. I’ve…ready been building something new in the background, for Nicole. I want to make it for you, too, and our future. We can build something new. Something clean. Something our child can be proud of.”
Sophia’s eyes fill with tears, and she rises on her toes to kiss me.
It starts gentle, tender, but quickly deepens into something more urgent.
My hands slide under the shirt she’s wearing, finding warm skin, and she gasps against my mouth.
“Mikhail,” she breathes, and the way she says my name makes heat flood through my veins.
I lift her easily, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carry her to the bedroom.
The dimmed lights cast shadows across the bed as I lay her down on the sheets.
For a moment, I just look at her.
The way her hair spread across the pillow.
How her lips are swollen from my kiss and her eyes are dark with desire.
“You’re so beautiful,” I tell her, my voice rough. “So fucking beautiful it hurts to look at you sometimes.”
She reaches for me, pulling me down to her. “Then stop looking and touch me.”
I obey, my hands learning the curves of her body all over again.
Every touch is a celebration of survival, of love, of the future we’re building together.
I strip away the shirt she’s wearing, revealing skin that glows in the dim light.
