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“She ignored the out I gave her, and decided to go ahead with the wedding. Faced with it, and with no other choices, we arranged for the marriage certificate to look like a real one, but it wasn’t filed, nor was it a legal marriage. We have a certificate of annulment for it that looks legal, too, but again it isn’t because there was no legal marriage to dissolve.”
She almost clipped my chin with how quickly she lifted her head. “You were never legally married to her?”
Wiping the tears off her cheeks with my thumb, I looked down into her dark blue eyes. “Never, and she isn’t aware of that fact yet. We’re slowly and carefully spreading the divorce around to all of the people who the marriage may have swayed.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s something else we’ll discuss later, but just know it wasn’t ever legitimate or legal. Again, I wouldn’t have done that to you.”
Looking over my shoulder, she absorbed what she’d just been told. “This is a lot.”
“It is.”
Then, looking back at me, she noted wisely, “And it’s not all of it, so what you’re withholding has to be worse.”
Again, I wasn’t going to lie. “Yes, it is, but we can deal with it.”
We were closing in on whoever was responsible, so there may well be some unpleasant surprises to come. But I had no doubts we’d find them before they got anywhere near her and the boys.
“Are you safe?”
Giving her a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, I murmured, “I’m safe.”
“And the boys? My family? The Club?”
“The boys are the safest out of all of us. There are plans in place for them if anything gets close to us. Your family’s also safe, so long as they don’t put themselves in any stupid situations. The Club’s the same, but they’re all well trained, including Lena, and I can say with no hesitation at all, that I’d survive any situation if I had them behind me.”
She didn’t look convinced, but her worry eased slightly. “Me, too. I just have to make sure they don’t do anything stupid, then.”
“I’m sure you will. Just to warn you, there will be some new people joining us to help us with what’s going on, so you’ll need to memorize faces, and make sure no one’s around who isn’t meant to be. It’s easy, when there are so many strangers, to get confused about who should be here and who definitely shouldn’t be here. Can you do that?”
“Of course I can. Whatever you need me to do, I can do it.”
“Just keep you and the boys safe and healthy, dorogoy,” I murmured, pushing her hair away from the side of her face, struck by how beautiful she was for what felt like the thousandth time since I’d met her.
“That’s the only thing I need, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
Leaning her face into my hand, she scanned my face with her eyes. “I know you’re used to dealing with life by yourself, but I want to help. So if you think of anything…”
She left the end of the sentence hanging in the air, but she didn’t know how abhorrent the thought of her dirtying her hands in my life was for me. My reason for living was to protect and to love her and the boys, and I wouldn’t ever defile her with the realities of the Bratva.
Still, I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t including her because she wasn’t part of me, because she was.
“If the day comes when that happens—and I pray it doesn’t, baby—you’ll be the first to know.” My phone beeped in my pocket, signaling I was needed. “I have to go, but I want you to know how secure you are here, so you can sleep resting easy. I’ll bring the boys through from Lena’s room, and make sure you’re all settled before I go.”
It was as I moved her back to the mattress, that she asked softly, “And when do you get to sleep and rest easy?”
The answer to that was so simple.
“When I know for sure you and the boys are safe outside of these walls.”
Whether she trusted me with her heart was one thing, but she knew she could trust me with her and the boys' lives. The rest would hopefully come with time.
After I got the boys settled into their bed and kissed Nell goodbye, I pulled my phone out and read the message waiting for me.
Two more of my men who’d been working for the Azarovs and Los Segadores had been found, and were being questioned.
Having Vadim here to do it meant that I could attend the meeting with Sacha Azarov, Donna’s brother.
The man had returned to the US two weeks ago, and had met with Dad about what was going on. He was disgusted with what his family was up to, especially after we’d filled him in on who was running the gang now, and what they’d been doing.
