“How about spending the rest of the day in our bedroom, hmm?”
“I don’t mind forgetting the world outside at the moment.”
He swung me up in his arms. “You got it, Luchik.”
Epilogue
Three WeeksLater
Kirill
It would have happened eventually—beingsurrounded by Lucy’s male relatives on their turf. But I had to play nice. It was Lottie’s birthday, and I didn’t want to be the Grinch who ruined it. I have been better with my social smiles. At least, that was what my darling wife told me. It also helped that I could sip a glass of scotch to disguise my derision every time a De Lucci male glowered my way.
But really, all I had to do was watch my wife in animated conversation with the other wives. She was especially close to Sloane and Bianca. Jeremiah King’s case was on lockdown. No one spoke about it at family gatherings. But down in my wife’s basement office, Sloane and Bianca were frequent visitors, which probably gave Bianca’s husband, the overprotective Sandro Rossi, heartburn after heartburn. Not only that, sometimes Bianca came by with their baby daughter.
Lucy threw back her head and laughed at something Sloane had said. Her eyes fell on me, and she shot me an impish grin before returning to her conversation.
I smiled into my scotch. Yes, watching my wife laugh like that was worth every second of aggravation from her De Lucci relatives.
“I’m surprised to see you relaxed amid all these Italians,” an amused voice said beside me.
“They’re not so bad,” I told Ivan. And honestly, they weren’t. They were growing on me. “Did the women boot you out of the kitchen?”
“Irina is helping Lottie and Ava. And Ava told the husbands to leave since too many cooks in the kitchen and all.”
I chuckled. “I don’t have that problem with my wife.”
“You’re lucky there. She doesn’t monitor your salt and fat intake,” Ivan grumbled.
I patted my father on the back. “She just wants you to live longer.” Ever since Lucy’s attack that landed her in a coma, my relationship with Ivan had mellowed out, and antagonism was no longer our default exchange. For one thing, he went from criticizing to praising me how I ran the bratva. More importantly, and I think this was the turning point—when Lucy was in the hospital, he never wavered in reassuring me it wasn’t my fault. He didn’t use that moment to make me feel less than or worse. Or maybe Lucy had successfully instilled more humanity in me by then, and that lessened the confrontational tone I used when talking to Ivan, or it helped me open up to accepting compassion instead of coloring Ivan’s approach as condescending behavior. “I heard Irina hid the saltshaker at the house.”
“That’s exactly the point,” Ivan grumbled. “What is life without salt?”
“You didn’t have to tell her she would have to pry it out of your cold, dead hands.” A fleeting laugh escaped my mouth.
“Are we talking about the saltshaker incident again?” Lucy appeared by my side, her arms hugging my torso. As was my newly acquired instinct, my free arm came around her.
“Don’t worry, Ivan,” Lucy told him. “Kirill does the same thing with my carb and sugar intake.”
“Someone needs to manage you.” I kissed the top of her head. And just my luck, or maybe it was the collective gazes burning a hole through me that made me raise my eyes, I spotted Dom and Matteo watching me. There was no sign of a smirk in their smiles. I wouldn’t call that even a smile. No, it was in their eyes. Instead of contempt, there was approval.
We’d come a long way since I'd married Lucy. What? Like I didn’t know they were ready with an escape plan for my wife. That had angered me so much, but it didn’t excuse how I treated Lucy in the beginning of our marriage.
My arms tightened around her. I got stabs of anxiety every time I allowed myself to remember the many times I could have lost her. First, because of my quest for revenge, I nearly failed to discover the treasure fate blessed me with. Second, if I had dealt with Anya decisively, then I would have realized Jeremiah’s manipulation before he had a chance to hurt my wife and family. My love for Lucy was absolute. I’d made my position clear in the bratva, including Kolya. They protected my wife the way they would protect me.Speaking of Kolya…
“I heard you and Kolya had a little secret meeting.”
Ivan scoffed. “As if there are any secrets to be kept from you.”
“Is this about Chloe?” Lucy asked sharply. My wife was still annoyed at her brother for keeping Chloe’s secret from her.
Ivan clamped his mouth shut.
I gave my wife a mild shake. “Yes. But you need to stay out of it, Lusenka.”
Lottie appeared at the mouth of the kitchen. “Food is ready!”
Ivan and I exchanged a look, our eyes saying,Saved by the dinner bell.
