“It’s done.” His voice is low and steady, the way it always is after a long night of work.
“Tell me.” I sit up a little straighter, heart picking up speed.
He gives me the broad strokes about the warehouse ambush Fadir attempted, the false intel they fed him to let him believe he’d won for a few critical hours, then the surgical takedown. Accounts frozen. Remaining allies flipped or removed. His name dragged through every circle that once feared him until it became synonymous with failure and weakness. Alexey and Tikhon effectively killed Fadir’s way of life and businesses, not with bullets, but with precision that left nothing behind but ruins.
When he finishes, there is a quiet pause on the line.
“He’s a ghost now,” Alexey says finally. “No longer a threat worth mentioning.”
“It’s really over,” I exhale slowly, the relief hitting me like a wave.
“Almost,” he replies, that careful edge still in his voice. “ But yes… It’s over.”
We speak for a few more minutes with soft reassurances, his promise to be home soon, then my quiet “be safe” before we hang up. I set the phone down on the side table and stare at the book in my lap without seeing the words.
News spreads quietly through the Sokolov circles that Fadir’s empire has fully collapsed—his remaining allies have scattered, and he is no longer a threat worth mentioning.
The relief should feel like victory.
Instead, it leaves an unexpected emptiness in its wake.
For the first time in months, the constant thoughts of revenge lift, and I’m forced to face what comes next: a future that no longer has a clear enemy to focus on.
I close the book and set it aside, one hand automatically moving to rest over the curve of my belly. The baby kicks softly, as if sensing the shift in my mood. The pregnancy has made everything feel bigger... emotions, fears, hopes. Tonight, with the war against Fadir truly ending, the weight of everything I’ve survived settles over me differently.
My phone buzzes with incoming texts.
Katya:Just heard. It’s over. Breathe, Anja. You did it.
Arina:Fucking finally. Come over tomorrow if you want. We’ll celebrate properly—no men allowed. You okay?
I smile despite the strange hollowness in my chest and type back quickly.
Me:I’m okay. Relieved. It feels… weird. Like I’ve been running toward something for so long, and now I don’t know what to do with my hands.
Katya:That feeling is normal. The first time the threat is really gone, the silence can be loud. Call me anytime.
Arina:You survived him. You helped destroy him. Now you get to live. We’ll help you figure out what that looks like.
Their words bring a lump to my throat. These women, completely fierce yet warm and unshakeable, have become more than allies. They’ve become family in a way I never expected. I breathe through the emotion, pregnancy hormones making the relief and the emptiness swirl together until I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.
The constant image of revenge has lifted.
Now I can face the future without it.
I think about the months that led us here. The warehouse rescue. The deal was struck in fury. Late-night sessions where Alexey’s quiet competence slowly chipped away at my walls. Public appearances where his hand at the small of my back felt safer than it should have. The night the tension finally snapped, and we crossed every line we drew. The pregnancy test. The move to the compound. The way Alexey has kept choosing me, even as Fadir’s lies and desperate moves tried to tear everything apart, made me realize I have found what the future holds for me.
My old black-and-white view of the world, where Bratva equals evil, all of them monsters like Fadir.
Those men are loud. They enjoyed the fear.
Alexey is none of those things.
He is patient and fiercely protective in a way that still sometimes terrifies me because it feels too good to be true. He gives me space when I need it. He holds me when the old fears rise up and never once makes me feel weak for them.
The war with Fadir is truly over.
But the real battle, learning to trust this life, learning to believe I deserve the safety and love Alexey keeps offering without conditions, is only beginning.
