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“What’s up?” I ask, laying my hand over my belly instinctually.
“Nothing bad, don’t worry,” he says, putting his thumb between my eyes and pulling my frown up. “I don’t want to see you frowning.”
“Well,youwere frowning, so what am I supposed to do?”
“Don’t copy me. I’m a bad example,” he replies with a chuckle.
I shrug. “Not to me. You’ve always been my hero.”
The sides of his eyes crinkle, and there’s a sparkle in them that I only get when he’s overjoyed. It’s his nonverbal way of saying “I love you”, and it makes me want to melt into a gooey puddle every time it happens.
“You’re the best, which is why I wanted to let you in on a little business stuff. I think you’ll find this interesting.”
“Go on…”
“Bobby, my hitman, has been hunting down members of The Red Council for months now, as I may have mentioned before.”
Even the name of the group makes me want to vomit, but I fake a smile, so he doesn’t stop talking. I want to know what’s going on.
“So,” he says, “Bobby managed to find their leader, and traced him back to a cartel in Mexico. Apparently, they’d been sharing weapons, and the cartel was not happy with The Red Council once their uranium supply dried up. The leader of The Red Council was executed before Bobby could get to him.”
“So, they’re not going to bother us?” I ask. “Or is it the cartel we need to be concerned about now?”
“Nobody is going to bother us,” he assures me. “The cartel has no idea who we are, and The Red Council has dissolved since the incident. Bobby has been sweeping up the stragglers just to make sure, but we won’t have to worry about them any longer.”
“Thank God!” I exclaim, throwing my arms out. “Or Bobby, I’m not sure.”
Danya laughs. “You could also thank me.”
“Of course, but I already do that,” I reply, crinkling my nose playfully. “Or have you already forgotten about last night?”
He gives me a knowing look, but then his expression becomes serious again. He takes a deep breath and takes both of my hands in his. “Taylor, I love you more than anything in the world. I want you to know that.”
“I love you too, baby,” I reply, feeling a resurgence of fear. What’s this about?
A smile flickers across his face before he lets go of my hands. He drops to one knee and reaches into the back pocket of his jeans in one fluid motion, retrieving a black velvet box and holding it out to me.
When it opens, I gasp. “Oh my God!”
Inside, the biggest diamond I’ve seen in my life sits atop an intricate gold band.
I laugh a bit, unsure of what to make of it. “Danya, we’re already married,” I say, my mouth dry with anxious uncertainty.
He stands up, plucking the ring from the box. “But you never received a proper proposal.”
That’s true. When we first met, he was leering at me from across my father’s dinner table. I barely had time to learn his name before I was saying my vows. We missed out on a lot, but we’ve caught up since landing on the island six months ago.
Danya smiles, handing me the ring. “You can wear it on your other hand if you want. I just wanted to get you something from the diamond mine. You’re the first person to ever wear a diamond from Antarctica.”
“Oh, is that where this is from?” I hold the perfect diamond up to the sun, admiring the rainbow glitters in the golden light. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.”
Danya puffs out his chest with pride as I stack the ring on my left hand with the others. I look like a queen with so many diamonds on my finger.
EPILOGUE
Taylor
The island is alive with wildlife as the sun sets. Cicadas chirp in the trees, and our son Konstantin runs around in the yard, trying to figure out where the noise is coming from so he can catch the culprits.
He’s grabbed a few frogs already, squeezing them so tight in his little hands that I thought they might explode.
Danya thinks it’s hilarious, but he won’t be laughing when one of them pops and sprays him with frog guts.
Konstantin squeals as he finds another frog, picking it up and running toward me with it.
I scream, jumping back as he attempts to throw it at me.
Danya laughs and shakes his head. “Konstantin, don’t throw frogs at mommy.”
Konstantin frowns at him, sticking out his little tongue and running back into the yard to find yet another frog. This time, he throws it at Danya.
