Page 111 of Bought By Sin

I sighed happily, content with the fact that I had all I ever could have dreamed of now. No more mantras of talking myself out of panic. No more fear and stubbornness to be defiant and independent.

I squeezed Lev’s hand and treasured how he turned to smile at me.

“We’ll be heading out to Miami next week,” Lev told the boss of the Rossi family. “If there is another contender for Yusef’s replacement, we’ll get a tracker on him. Or just cut to the chase and remove him.”

Talking about a hit on my wedding day didn’t appall me. Nothing would shock me about being a full-fledged member of the Volkov family now. And I would own up to whatever I could do to contribute.

“No honeymoon, huh?” Stefan teased.

“Not right now,” Lev said. “There’s work to be done.”

Carina pursed her lips. “But there’s work to be done in planning a wedding. Elena and I had already researched so much about honeymoon options for you.”

“Work to be done in planning a wedding?” Maksim teased her. “Oh, like you should talk.”

She gave him a saucy smile. “I know. Today is just another reminder of how our wedding was so…”

He curled her into a hug. “Meant to be?” he guessed.

“Well, yeah. But I was going to say that this wedding is like the most romantic gesture of a lifetime compared to ours.” She gazed at him adoringly, talking smack about the day she married him.

“I guess it’s not every day a couple threatens to kill each other at the altar,” he quipped before kissing her.

“Okay, hey.” Adrik approached, done dancing. “If you get her too happy, you could be asking for an early arrival too.”

Lev rolled his eyes and urged me off to the side, letting the brothers joke about Carina going into labor too soon.

“Do you think that’s true?” I asked him as we walked off, hand in hand.

“That he threatened to kill her before they exchanged their vows? Oh, yeah. I believe it.”

I laughed. No one could ever convince me that Maksim and Carina didn’t love each other deeply.

“I meant about her going into labor soon.”

He hugged me near the cake. It had already been cut, and the two tables flanking the one it was on were covered with gifts and other décor. “I bet it’s not an exact science, but I think it’s common knowledge that sex can induce labor. Or something like that.”

“I would just hate for us to be away when she goes into labor.”

He smiled down at me, linking his arms around the small of my back. “It’ll all work out.”

“First Elena. Then her.” I nodded. “We’re not in control of when we could add to the family, but maybe fate will let us pace it out a little bit.”

I smiled at the newness of thinking that far ahead. Of looking at my future as one large, blank slate of possibilities.

“Fate will intervene however it can want to, but one thing will always be true as far as I’m concerned.” He kissed me deeply.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You’re mine, Mila.”

I framed his face and urged him to lower so I could kiss him. When we parted for air, I turned my head slightly and spotted the marriage certificate that bound me to Lev. We’d signed it, and both of our names were there for the world to see.

We were legally bound together. Linked in love. Contracted to each other to uphold the commitment of loyalty and fidelity.

“That’s the only contract I ever want to have my name on,” I murmured, resting my cheek on his chest as we stood together in this embrace.

“Technically, it’s a certificate,” he teased.