The private clinic is definitely a bougie upgrade from the ER, with comfortable seating and food laid out on the table, buffet style. We all take turns circling the room in a restless pattern, aside from Iris and Rose, who have finally succumbed to their exhaustion and are sleeping together on a big recliner in the corner.
"I've never seen a surgery that was catered before," I whisper to Roman.
His face is still blank, but at least I got him to go wash his face so he'd stop scaring the nurses. He reaches into his pocket, holding something in his huge paw. I can't see what it is until he opens his palm, and resting there is a black velvet box.
A ring box.
"I planned on something more romantic," he says abruptly. "I brought it on the rescue mission as good luck. A sign that I would find you alive and I could put the ring on your finger. Then all of this happened and – I was going to do it tonight. I was going to let you shower first, of course. I'm not an animal." Roman stops for a minute, as if not sure what else to say. I put my arms around his neck, trying not to notice that there's blood still smeared on his skin.
"Is this where you propose to me?" I whisper. "You probably have something smooth to say, right?"
The strangest expression crosses his face, a laugh trying to struggle free from a man who can't find anything entertaining right now.
"Will you say yes?" he asks, smiling down at me.
Now, I'm the one to laugh, it's creaky and awful sounding and my hand goes to my side, already feeling a stitch. "Oh, that's kind of like shutting the barn door after the cows got out, isn't it?"
"Is this another one of your Texas grandmother's sayings?" Roman's smile is tentative, but it's something more than his scary, blank expression.
"Yeah." I'm still laughing and probably half in shock, but nobody seems to look up long enough to notice. "You should've seen Colin's face, that fuckingChad,when they told him I was already married." I lean against the wall weakly, still laughing. "Oh mygod, I've never seen anything like it. He looked like a kid who just found out Santa Claus isn't real and he's getting socks and underwear for Christmas."
I have to sit down, my stomach's hurting, and Roman is still standing there, holding that velvet box in his hand. "You are the most autocratic bastard I have ever known," I manage between laughs. "When the hell did you forge my signature on the marriage license?"
Kneeling in front of me, he takes my hand. "I'm offended, sweet Violet. I would never be so crude. You did it yourself when you were signing documents for the grant proposal, that night at my place."
"I don't know whether to be flattered by your passion or insulted that you pulled that off without me catching you." Dmitri's watching us now with a faint smile, and I ask him, "Is Roman always this arrogant?"
"Only on days that end with a 'y'," Dmitri says, standing with a pained grunt.
Roman ignores him. Still on one knee, he opens the box. Resting on the velvet crease is a large diamond ring. Apurplediamond.
"Did you know that purple diamonds are the rarest of the colored diamonds? They only come from the Argyle mine in Western Australia. The color is from hydrogen and boron impurities." He's rambling and if this wasn't Roman Morozov I would think he was nervous. "Traditionally, they're small diamonds, it took five brokers to source this three-carat stone for me. If it's too small, I can-"
Rose wakes up, and smacks Iris with a screech. "He's proposing! Wake up, you're missing it!"
"What, right here in the waiting room?" Iris asks, rubbing her eyes.
Roman's gaze never leaves mine. "I love you, you know that. If you think about it, we've been married for over a month, and it's going pretty well, aside from you being kidnapped, but I murdered him so that's taken care of."
"Don't use references to murder in a proposal," Dmitri groans.
"Sweet Violet, I'll tell you something mybrotherskipped over when he proposed to Ava. Marriage in the Bratva is for life."
"Wow," Iris said. "That's intense."
"I want you to be with me, every day, I promise to give you a beautiful life," Roman continues. "You'll make me human. We'll take care of the girls. They can go to the most expensive school in the country."
"Really?" Rose asks.
"Everyone be quiet! If this is the only proposal I'm going to get, I want to enjoy it," I scold.
Roman knows he's winning me over, a salacious little grin curving the corner of his mouth. "I promise to attend to youreveryneed. Every day, every night-"
"Teenagers!" I blurt. "Teenagers listening."
Roman stands, picking me up with one arm and carries me into the hallway, which is blessedly empty. "Say yes," he says, his tongue delicately circling my ear. "Say it again, that you love me."
"I love you," I say. "I'm still mad at you for tricking me into signing that marriage license, but it was all worth it just to see Colin suffer. The Chads deservesomuch suffering."
