“I love you. Skazhí mne, moya lyubimaya,” he said softly.Tell me, my love.
And I did, with no fear or hesitation, because I knew the love we had for each other—and this growing baby—was endless.
Epilogue
Lucia
Not only did the weight and size of my belly change drastically in the last couple of months, and the way I moved or how careful I had to be when I stood; but also the way I thought about what came next.
I rested both hands over the curve of it, feeling the steady movement beneath my palms as our son shifted. He was strong already. I could feel it in the way he pressed outward, like he wasn’t meant to be small or quiet in any part of his life.
I let a slow breath out, my fingers spreading over my belly as I thought about what that meant in a world like ours. Boys were raised with purpose, shaped early, and taught what they were expected tobecome before they were old enough to understand it. I thought about Alexei and what they’d done to him as a child, and how his father had taken a child and turned him into a weapon.
That wouldn’t happen to our son.
I knew it without hesitation. Alexei wouldn’t break him down to make him stronger. He would teach him, guide him, and make sure he understood the world he was born into without taking away who he was.
He was fiercely protective of me now that I carried his child. His hand was almost always on my belly or my lower back, a silent claim that no one dared challenge. He was attentive anytime I was in pain or uncomfortable. I’d never seen a man so focused on taking care of a woman so much in my life.
The guards gave us a wider berth when we walked the grounds. Even his most trusted men lowered their eyes when Alexei’s palm rested possessively over the swell of our son.
I was smiling as I thought of all of that when I heard the door open behind me and felt my husband before I saw him. His presence filled the room in a way I had grown used to. He was someone I leaned into without thinking.
“There she is,” he murmured in that thick Russian-accented voice. “My girl.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. He slid his palm around to rest over my stomach, and covered my hand.
“He’s moving,” I said softly and looked at Alexei. His smile was already in place when his gaze lifted to mine. “He’s going to be strong.”
“He will. But he’ll also know how to be kind and gentle when the time comes,” Alexei answered.
I studied his face, and the way his eyes held mine with so much gentleness that it landed right in the center of my heart. There was nothing uncertain in him, nothing that made me question what kind of father he would be.
I let out a breath slowly, because there was more to this than just what we would build here. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me,” I said. “About the Rossi operations. The routes and everything tied to it.”
His attention sharpened, but he didn’t stop me from continuing.
I had learned more than I ever thought I would. What my father had been connected to, what had been hidden through layers of men and money, the way it all worked without anyone ever seeing the full picture. It had made me sick the first time Iunderstood what Alexei was telling me. Not uncomfortable, not uneasy, but absolutely sick in a way that didn’t go away once I knew it was real.
“They’re moving women,” I said quietly. “Like it’s nothing, like they’re pieces of property to be bought and sold.” I exhaled as emotion rose in me. “I can’t ignore that,” I said. “I won’t.”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” he replied.
“I know I can’t go out there and do what you do,” I continued. “I can’t help in that way, but I want to be part of shutting it down, no matter how long it takes.”
“You already are helping,” he said. “Being here, growing our son, and being so damn strong. You do so much already.”
He didn’t want me sheltered from this part of his life. He wanted me to see it and still stand beside him.
He watched me for a moment before speaking again. “It’s not just your family tied to it. It runs through different groups, different cities. It’s been there a long time. It branches out wider than you think.”
“I figured that,” I said, knowing how deep and long this heinous shit ran. Something like that didn’t disappear overnight.
“I’ve been in contact with Dmitry,” he said.
I knew the name. Everyone did, but I also knew what came with it now.
“And Zoya?” I asked about Dmitry’s wife and the woman I’d previously gone to school with. It had only been a short time, but I’d seen the look in her eyes that told me she was living in the same fucked up, patriarchal, and female oppressive world as I was.
“They’re both involved,” he said. “She doesn’t ignore it either. They’ve already started pulling pieces apart where they can. We’re not the only ones working on it.”
