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He traced a finger over the palm of my hand. “If I hadn’t vowed to protect you from harm, even from myself, I would cut you for a blood vow.”
That was new. Usually, Kristoff kept me far away from anything Bratva-related. “Maybe you should.”
He looked up. Then he shook his head. “I will never draw your blood, Ekaterina. Ask anything you want from me, but not that.”
“Not even if it would tie me to you even more?” Once I was in, I was all in. I wanted to bind him closer to me, this time while we both knew what was what.
His eyes narrowed. “Why would you want that?”
“I feel like I want to renew our vows. I mean, the first time around, I didn’t have much of a choice.”
He grinned. “You had a choice.”
I scoffed. “Oh right, you don’t believe in that phrase.”
“Not having a choice is an illusion. Even if option B is as bad as option A, you can still choose one of two options. There’s always a choice.”
“In that case, I choose,” I gave him a pointed look, “to renew our vows. This time around there are no more secrets. It would feel like a new beginning.”
He stilled for a moment. “When?”
“Next weekend?” I shrugged. “One day, when our kids ask about our wedding, I’d like to tell them a better story than their dad held a gun to his head.”
Heat flared up in his eyes. His hand dropped to my stomach. “Our kids?”
I coughed. “Oh, God, no I’m not pregnant.” I blinked at the sudden change in him, the sheer possessiveness in his eyes. When he didn’t react, I asked, “So, I take it you want kids?”
He was silent for a beat. “It appears I do.”
“You sound surprised.”
“With my genes…” He shrugged. “I figured it was best to not spread them around.”
I snuggled up to him. “For the record, I happen to love your genes. And one day, I’d love to have kids with you.”
If a person could have turned into a statue, that’s exactly what happened to him. Apparently, I had finally found something that terrified him.
I felt for the guy. “Maybe let’s start with a celebration first.”
When he exhaled in relief, I mock-slapped his stomach. No way was I ready for kids right now, but he didn’t have to sound so happy about it.
“Take it easy on me,” he said, coughing for good measure. “I’m sick.”
19.
KATYA
I felt excited and on top of the world, even though I sat in a colorless and secluded corner of the university library. Yesterday had been like starting a new chapter in our life, our marriage. It was hard, concentrating on my paper, instead of the way Kristoff had woken me, with his face between my legs. I turned back one page in my notebook for the third time, still basking in the glow of his wicked tongue, when a dark force interrupted my daydream.
Ilya sat across from me. The faint scent of e-cig vapors surrounded him.
“We really have to stop meeting here,” I said with a sigh. “You don’t seem like the type that willingly visits libraries.”
He scowled. “I read.”
I looked up at him. “What’s the last book you read?”
“Meditations.”
