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She nods happily, proud of herself for wrangling three rambunctious little girls into their PJs and into bed. I’m proud of her too. Getting the girls to bed each night is no easy task. I pull out my wallet and slide her a few crisp twenties.
She smiles and thanks me, having enough tact not to count the money until she walks out of the living room.
Geri’s a good girl, a neighborhood teenager who’s running her own babysitting business. I know for a fact that we pay her the most of any of our neighbors, but our girls are a lot of work. The twins are constantly fighting, and Lily’s inching ever so slightly to her preteen phase. Some days I miss my little babies and long for the moments when I could calm them with a lullaby.
When Geri’s gone, I lock the front door and turn on the alarm. Johnny comes back down, looking much more casual. I eye him suspiciously.
“What?” he asks, defensive. “I didn’t want to mortify the babysitter with the massive boner I had for you.”
I smile and fall into his arms, kissing him sweetly. The wine from the night is going to my head, and it doesn’t take much to convince me to rip my dress off and let him inside of me.
When we’re sated, we lay on the couch and start a movie. It’s a rare miracle to have the TV to ourselves these days, and we can never watch anything rated higher than PG when the girls are awake. Our lives have become a quiet, suburban dream.
He holds me in his arms as he flicks through the streaming options. We have to find the perfect movie to watch in this rare, child-free moment. Nothing gang-related or too violent, though. We’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.
I think of my father, who’s been in federal prison for the last four years. It was a long battle to get him there. We had to upend our entire lives and go into hiding for a period while Johnny worked with the FBI. But we both agreed it was time to get out of New York and find somewhere safer for our family.
There was a long trial, during which we had to be moved to a safe house. Besides my father, there were a few Bratva members who were unhappy with our actions, and they wanted to make it known. We chose a hard path, but we had to put family above everything.
It was a sacrifice for Johnny, giving up everything he’d worked so hard for, but he was willing to do it out of his love for our family. It wasn’t even a question for him. He told me in no uncertain terms that he would give up everything he owned if it meant keeping our girls safe. Keeping me safe.
Thankfully, he had plenty of legitimate assets that the government couldn’t seize. Plus, the income from my software company alone keeps us living in the lap of luxury. Our girls don’t want for anything. They’re in the best private schools in San Francisco, and we’ve already set aside considerable amounts of money to pay for their future education.
Lily is a natural leader, and I would not be a bit surprised if she comes home one day and tells me she wants to be the president of the United States. She certainly loves bossing around her little sisters. Autumn is a creative thinker and loves art. Our fridge is covered with her drawings, which I believe are highly advanced for her age.
Then there’s Aubrey, my little mini-me. She loves all things science and computers. I swear she knows how to do things on my tablet that I don’t even know how to do, and she loves coming to work with me when her school has holidays. The other two prefer to stay home with the babysitter, but my little Aubrey lights up in a room full of computers.
Our girls are happy and well-adjusted, and that’s all I could want as a mother. I know that when the teenage years come around, we’re in for a rude awakening, but right now I’m content with our life. I feel safe in my husband’s arms, assured no one will take away this slice of paradise we’ve created for ourselves.
My phone chimes, and I hold it up to see it’s my brother, thanking me profusely for coming to his wedding. When we moved out to California, he decided to come with us, claiming he needed a fresh start away from our parents. He was an invaluable resource when Johnny and I decided to pursue legal action against our father. He helped me organize all the evidence I had against him.
Steve has been a rock for me, and I’m so glad someone in my family ended up loving me. Our mother has disowned us, refusing to speak to us since Papa went to prison. I don’t even know where she is these days or what she’s doing with her life, and it makes me sad.
Despite all her flaws, she was my mother. She devoted her entire life to a man who ended up imploding his life and hers. He was so desperate and power-hungry, so jealous of the life that Johnny gave me. When he tried to hurt our family a few years ago, enough was finally enough.
She’ll never understand that, though, because she was groomed to be a trophy wife. It’s all she ever wanted, but now her husband is serving two life sentences. My heart aches when my girls ask about their family tree, but I have to tell them the truth that I’ve come to accept. I don’t have parents anymore.
Even so, I’ve never been happier in my entire life. Between having Lily and the twins, I started working on impenetrable cybersecurity software. When Johnny told me all the ways my father had tried to attack his business in the past, I got to work creating firewalls that couldn’t be hacked.
It took years, but the software took off, and now my company is the foremost cybersecurity software company in the world. I created it from the ground up, and it’s as much my baby as my biological children. Steve came on as my CFO, and together, we’re building a new legacy, breaking the negative association that our family once carried.
The Bratva itself has been falling apart since my father went to prison. Johnny was an integral part in making that happen. Once he made sure all of his men were safely off the FBI’s radar, he started working with State Attorney’s office. Over the years, he’s brought them critical information to bring down the organization, and my father’s arrest was just the lynchpin.
I sleep better at night knowing there’s nothing he can do to hurt our family. He’s gone for good, and our lives are no longer in danger from his tyranny. I’ve seen my brother become a new person, his anger dissipating as he’s found a purpose in life. I even introduced him to his now-wife. He’s a new man now that he’s been given the freedom to live the way he wants.
Funny how that happens.
But no one’s changed more than Johnny. When I met him, he was an intimidating, hulking figure. He knew he had the power to ruin lives, and he used that power often. But he did it to protect me most of the time, and he saved me from a horrible life.
Now, though, he’s softer. I know that’s in no small part to our daughters, but even to the outside world, he’s kinder and more approachable. He’s still physically intimidating, but his eyes no longer carry the hardness and threat of imminent danger. In addition to helping the State Attorney’s office, he’s become a Russian translator. He loves getting to use his native language in a way that doesn’t hurt people.
Now he goes by the name John, which always makes me laugh. To me, John is the perfect picture of a suburban husband. He’s the father of three little girls who make him dress up for tea time, and he’s the regular recipient of makeovers. No one would ever know he used to be the leader of a crime syndicate, or that he made men like my father shake with terror.
It’s kind of fun that way, knowing our family has this hidden past. But there’s still danger in his job. Of course, there is. He’s been working for years to dismantle decades of criminal activity. He always tells me he enjoys being on the other side of the law, and I think the thrill of the chase gets to his head sometimes.
But he is the best husband and the best father. He takes care of our home, always making sure we want for nothing, that when we lay our heads down at night, there’s nothing for us to fear.
He craves danger, but he keeps it away from our girls. That was part of the deal. We wanted to take our daughters away to live a safe, drama-free life. He takes no chances with our safety, and if any assignment gets too dangerous, he pulls back. He never once has gambled with our safety, and I love him for that.
