We sit like that for a while, comfortable and quiet, the scent of dinner filling the apartment. Eventually, he gets up to finish cooking and returns with two plates of pasta.
We eat together on the couch, shoulders pressed together, and when we’re finished, he takes the plates back to the kitchen.
When he returns, he’s holding a tablet along with a small velvet box.
I raise an eyebrow. “What’s all this?”
He sets the box on the coffee table and hands me the tablet. “Something I’ve been working on.”
The screen shows a detailed intelligence report—a trafficking operation running out of the Balkans, smuggling women and children through a network of shell companies and corrupt officials. Names, photos, financial trails, everything meticulously organized.
“You’ve been talking about wanting to do something meaningful with your skills,” he says, settling beside me. “I thought maybe you’d want to help shut down networks like this one.”
I look up at him. “This is… amazing.”
“You’d have everything you need: my help, Marina’s help. But you’d be calling the shots. Choosing which operations to target, how to dismantle them.” His hand finds mine. “You could use your skills to hunt traffickers.”
The idea sends a thrill through me—sharp and electric.
I study the report again, already thinking through attack vectors, ways to infiltrate their systems and burn the whole operation to the ground.
“You’re the best.” I throw my arms around him, and then immediately regretting it when the stitches pull. I groan, and he can’t help but laugh.
“There’s one more thing. Open this,” he instructs, handing me a black velvet box.
Inside is a delicate gold chain with a bird pendant. The bird’s wings are spread wide, detailed and elegant, with small diamonds catching the light.
“Do you recognize it?” he asks quietly.
I lean closer, studying it. There’s something familiar about the shape, the way the bird’s wings curve. And then it hits me.
“The coins,” I recall. “The Ghost’s calling card. There was always a bird.”
“Your mother told me you gave her this necklace when you were four years old. You found it at a street market and insisted your father buy it for her.”
My throat tightens at the memory.
“It was the only thing she had of you after Ruslan’s men took her. She wore it every day, as a reminder. When she became the Ghost, she used the bird as her symbol. Put it on the coins she left behind.”
Tears prick my eyes.
“She offered it to me. I had it finished in gold instead of silver and added the diamonds.”
I press my hand to my mouth, overwhelmed.
“I know we’re married, but I want to do this right. I asked your father for his blessing, and your mother too.” He lifts the necklace from the box. “Dinara, will you marry me? For real this time. Because you want to, not because you have to.”
I nod, tears streaming down my face. “Yes. God, yes.”
He fastens the necklace around my throat, and the bird settles just above my collarbone, warm and perfect.
“I love you,” he murmurs, pulling me close. “You carved yourself into my soul so deep, you’re part of everything I am. Everything I’ll ever be.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, my fingers finding the pendant. “So much.”
He kisses me then, soft and fierce and full of promise that whatever comes next, we’ll face it the same way we’ve faced everything else.
Side by side.
