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And when he kisses me, he kisses me true.
I’m practically high for the rest of the evening, warm and fuzzy all over. Even when someone cuts the cake early, and the DJ shows up late, and my distant Aunt Renata drinks a little too much and makes several passes at Luka—I’m still the happiest girl alive. Aurora and Alexandra keep an eye on our children while Dimitri and I dance the night away.
“I’ve got two left feet,” I warn him as he drags me onto the floor for our first dance as husband and wife.
He pulls me clothes, his hands enveloping mine. “What a coincidence, so do I. Everybody else better steer clear.”
We laugh and we kiss and we dance some more. By the end of the night, my feet have never been sorer. It’s a joyous occasion that flies by much too quickly. What I wouldn’t give to make this night last forever.
Dimitri moves in to dip me, leaning forward to kiss me on my way up. “I love you,” he murmurs against my lips.
My cheeks hurt from smiling, but I don’t care. “I love you, too, Dimitri.”
Epilogue
Dimitri
Three Months Later
New York City. The Big Apple. The city that never sleeps.
It feels a little strange to come home again after so many years away. Plenty has changed, yet it feels exactly the same. The never-ending construction, the bumper-to-bumper traffic, the constant hustle and bustle of people getting to and from work. I was basically raised in this concrete jungle; every subway line, skyscraper, and electronic billboard familiar to me.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d come back as a tourist. A tourist traveling with five kids and one very enthusiastic Russian wife. Thank God I only fly private, as bougie as that is to admit. But I can’t imagine what the experience would have been like on a commercial flight. The thought makes me shudder.
“I’ve got a whole itinerary planned!” Natalya tells me as we step out onto the tarmac of the private landing strip. “I want to see the Statue of Liberty, go to Time Square, and I want to see a Broadway musical!”
“Which Broadway musical, angel?”
“Allof them!”
I throw my head back and laugh. “I don’t know if we have enough time to—Ah, screw it. Let’s go see all of them! The only one Iwon’twatch isCats.”
“Aww, but that’s the one I wanted to see most.”
“Seriously?”
“Singing cats, Dima. What’s not to love?”
Natalya looks around, keeping a watchful eye on the children in their five-seat stroller. At the rate they’re growing, I’m going to have to order a new one custom fitted to carry their additional weight.
There’s a line of black SUVs already waiting for us, their engines running. Pyotr steps out of one of them and approaches with a small grin—his version of beaming like a madman. He’s never been the touchy-feely type, but that doesn’t stop me from wrapping him up in a big bear hug.
“Did you miss me?” I exclaim. “Man, did you get smaller? I swear to God, you’re getting shorter every year.”
Pyotr rolls his eyes and ignores me. Instead, he addresses Natalya. “I take it he ate all the honey-coated peanuts on the flight?”
Natalya nods. “I expect him to come down from his sugar high any minute now.”
I squint at the two of them. “You know what? I don’t like the two of you when you’re together. You conspire against me.”
“Let me grab your suitcases,” Pytor says. Except he isn’t the one to do it. With a quick gesture of the hand, his bodyguards take care of the rest, loading our things and helping us get the babies settled in their waiting car seats.
I chuckle, crossing my arms over my chest. “I see you’ve gotten used to being a high-profile CEO, huh? Talk about fancy. Do you really need this much protection on you?”
“You know as well as I do that being the face of CyberFort makes me an easy mark. I don’t have the luxury of keeping my life private like you and Mikhail do.”
“No, I know. I certainly don’t envy you.”
