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I could have lost her…wecould have lost her.
Bohdan lies a few inches away, the jagged side of the bottle jammed into his throat. His eyes are glassy and vacant as the life seeps from his body. Danil gets up with Daniela still in his arms and flips Bohdan over with his foot.
Petro, Hadeon, and the security guards burst through the doors.
“What happened?” one of the security guards shouts.
Danil looks at them. “The assailant was too busy looking backward to see the pole in front of him. he dropped the bottle, slammed face-first into the pole, and then fell to the ground on top of the glass pieces.”
The security guard’s eyebrows lift. “Is that so?”
Danil nods. “Yes, sir.”
The security guards mumble to themselves. I look around.
No security cameras. Danil catches my disbelieving eye and winks at me.
I should be filled with terror right now, but the only thing I can think is that this man just put his own life at risk for our family, exactly as he said he would. My gaze drops to the gray cement floor where Bohdan lies. Blood spreads over the floor under his face and ratty clothes. A foul smell wafts into the air, so noxious, it makes bile rise in my throat.
Danil guides me out of the stairwell, and my brothers follow close behind, leaving the security guards to deal with the literal Bohdan mess.
“Hades, you let the baby wander away?” I grit my teeth. “Anything can happen if you’re not paying attention.”
His face flushes a deep red. “I looked away for a second, just to grab her a bag of gummy bears. It was an accident.”
Danil claps a hand on Hadeon’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I saved the day.Again.”
I shake my head. “Wow. Humility really isn’t your strong suit, is it?”
“You’re gonna learn a lot more, too.” He winks. “Maybe. You still haven’t given me your answer.”
“We had a pretty major distraction. Besides, you didn’t get to finish asking the question.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“Fair enough.” He puts Daniela down, reaches into his pocket for the ring, and drops to his knee again. “Will you marry me?”
He takes my hand in his and I nod, a wide smile stretching across my face. “Yes.”
I gaze down at the ring on my finger. Luckily, it’s my right arm in the sling, so I can hold out my newly engaged hand to admire the sparkling bauble on my ring finger. “It’s gorgeous.”
“It pales in comparison to that smile on your face.” He grins, standing up from the floor.
“I love you,” I whisper, standing on my tiptoes to brush my lips against his.
“I love you.” Danil bends down to pick up Daniela, sandwiching her between us, careful not to jostle my arm. “And I love you, too, little D.”
I lean into them, finally feeling that the void in my heart and soul has been filled.
There are a lot of things about this life that I have to learn. I’ve already gotten plenty of frightening glimpses that should have sent me running far away at top speed from Danil Malikov. But my heart knows what it wants…who it wants. It did from the first time I fell into his lap years ago in that hotel bar.
And so now I can finally accept everything that this life is, and everything I hope it will become, knowing he’ll always be by my side.
My protector.
My love.
My forever.
Epilogue
