“I’m marrying you because I want your name beside mine before the city can finish whispering about what you are to me,” I said. “I’m marrying you because I want every door,ledger, guard, doctor, banker, and bastard with an opinion to understand that you’re my family. I’m marrying you because you chose me when you didn’t have to, and I’m selfish enough to want the whole world corrected.”
Nadia’s eyes filled.
This time, she didn’t tell me not to make her cry.
Mikhail made a low sound. “That will do.”
Galina looked at my father. “Generous of you.”
My father ignored her.
Nadia stepped into me in front of them all.
I put one hand at her waist and the other against the side of her face. She lifted her chin before I could bend, meeting me halfway.
The kiss wasn’t gentle enough for a formal room.
Good.
Let them look. Let them understand. Let every witness carry back the same truth.
I hadn’t taken a temporary prize from an auction.
I had found the woman who would sit beside me while the city learned new rules.
When Nadia pulled back, her cheeks were wet.
She turned without leaving my arm and faced the room.
“I’ll marry him because I choose him,” she said. “Not because Gennady shamed me. Not because Petya owes him. Not because anyone bought me. I choose Vadim because he made me safer without making me smaller.”
Petya covered his mouth with one hand and looked at the floor.
Galina’s eyes shone once before she turned toward the samovar.
Mikhail nodded slowly.
“Then it’s done,” he said.
Chairs shifted. Men lowered their eyes. Galina reached for a porcelain cup with a hand that trembled once before she steadied it.
The Kask witnesses left first, escorted by my men. The auctioneer went next, pale and silent. Petya stayed with Nadia until Lev came to take him to a protected apartment two floors above the club for the night.
Petya hugged Nadia hard.
This time, he let go first.
“I’ll call you when Lev says I can,” he said.
Nadia touched his bruised jaw. “Listen to him.”
Petya glanced at me, then back at her. “I will.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.” Petya tried for a smile and failed. “You’re scarier than he is.”
“No,” Nadia said. “I’m just more disappointed.”
