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I look at the man I love and watch his lips twitch in his sleep. He looks like he’s smiling. I hope he’s having a good dream. Since I’ve met him, all he’s given me are good dreams. Because of him, I have the freedom to dream of my future. And as long as he’s in it, I know it will be bright.
EPILOGUE
TWO MONTHS LATER
Ivan
She’s at it again. Ever since the semester began, she’s been sick every single morning. She claims it’s the stress of the new semester, but I suspect it’s a little more serious than that. A little more life-altering.
I won’t push her to tell me, though. She probably hasn’t figured it out herself. I know that when she does, and when she’s ready to share with me, I’ll be the first to know.
She comes back into our bedroom, her engagement ring sparkling. Her face is pale, and she looks miserable. I hold out my arms to her and pull her down on the bed, against my chest. I rub her back as she groans in pain.
“I think I have the flu,” she cries. “That’s the only thing that can be making me so sick, right? If it was food poisoning, it would have gone away days ago.”
I chuckle, pressing my hand to her forehead. “Well,” I say. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. Do you have any other symptoms? Body aches? Fatigue?”
“Not really,” she concedes. “I’ve been tired, but I’ve also been working a lot. This semester is kicking my butt.”
I nod and pull her close, placing a kiss on her forehead. I’ve always loved her innocence, and that hasn’t changed a bit. She’s going to be delighted when she figures it out. At least, I hope she will.
I get up to get ready for work and let her lie in bed for a little bit longer. I make her a hearty breakfast, knowing that once the nausea passes, she’ll be starving. She hasn’t figured out her patterns as well as I have. I grab a tray and load it up with the food, knowing she won’t want to get out of bed until she has to leave for class.
It’s a Wednesday, so her first class isn’t until noon. She looks up at me miserably as I carry in the food.
“No,” she groans. “I don’t want to eat anything. Are you crazy?”
When she sees the bacon, though, she changes her tune. As I suspected, she’s ravenous. She eats everything on the plate, even asking if there’s more in the kitchen. I laugh and tell her I made her a second plate, but she’ll have to get up to get it. I need to get to work.
Knowing she’s feeling better helps me get out of the apartment. I hate leaving her like this, but duty calls.
Life has been so much easier since Dimitri finally backed off. We haven’t had any more attacks since I threatened him a few months ago. He knows well enough not to cross me. I was too lenient on him before, but not anymore. If he incurs my wrath again, he’ll deserve every ounce of it that he receives.
I sit in my office with my bookkeeper, going over our latest budget reports. Business is going well, and all of our businesses are flourishing this quarter. My phone chimes, and I look down at it and smile.
My bookkeeper, an older woman named Elaine, smirks knowingly. “I’d know that face anywhere. That must be your bride-to-be.”
I grin even wider, loving how that sounds. When I took her away from her wedding all those months ago, I could only dream this would be the outcome. I didn’t know if she would accept me as I am or forgive me for the wedge I drove between her and her family.
Of course, I came to realize the wedge existed long before I came into the picture. She was a porcelain doll, never allowed out of the packaging. Her life was spent pleasing other people, and now it’s her own. Well, soon it will be wrapped around someone else’s, but she doesn’t know that yet.
I look down at my phone to see she’s checking in to let me know she got to class okay. We agreed that it was a little excessive to make her go to school with her bodyguard, even though it made me a nervous wreck to let her go on her own. But she keeps her tracking watch on at all times and checks in with me regularly to let me know she’s safe.
We haven’t heard anything from Niko since that day in the park, and I’m grateful. The packages and notes stopped coming, and I finally felt like I could breathe again. I’ve learned, though, that I have to trust Kat with her own safety. Because she isn’t a porcelain doll. She’s proven she can take care of herself as well as she can take care of me. And she takes care of me very well.
She’s as fierce as I ever thought. She and her brother, Steve, have begun a tentative reconciliation. I don’t hate him as much as I used to, and I know it’s not my business to pry into her relationships. I just feel especially protective of her when he’s around, knowing he was once so close to Niko.
Niko, who was sent back to Russia after his indiscretions against Kat. Classic oligarchy. They would never really punish him. They think their family is above the law, but I made it very clear that he needed to be taken care of or I would take care of him myself.
My men dropped him off at the hospital after the attack and called his parents. I came to meet them the day after I proposed to Kat, telling them what their son had done to my fiancée. His father was furious, getting in my face and asking me who the hell I thought I was. He cursed at me, spat at me, and threatened my life.
I simply laughed in his face because it was clear he had no idea what I was capable of. He thought he had all the power, but I had Vlad dig up every crime his family had ever committed and compile a very large envelope of evidence. The Zaitsevs had a lot of power back in Russia, but we aren’t in Russia. One anonymous tip, and the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security would be on their asses immediately.
Zaitsev knew when he was beaten, and he agreed the family would take care of it. I told him that if they didn’t take care of it in a pleasing way, I would be forced to intervene. He didn’t like that at all, but I appreciated the way his face paled at my threat. He didn’t like me or respect me, but he feared me. That was enough to ensure Kat’s safety.
Our lives have been much more peaceful since then. Kat started school a few weeks ago, and I’ve seen a spark inside of her that was missing. It’s so clear that she loves learning and enjoys her chosen field. How could I ever want to deprive her of that?
Even when the sickness started, she made herself work through it and attend all her classes. I’ve been worried, telling her to slow down, but she reminds me every day that she worked too hard to get to where she is now. She won’t let a little stomach bug stop her from finishing her education.
