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“Confirm,” the men say in unison.
“You have thirty seconds to tell me why you defiled my family home with your presence.”
Thirty seconds or what? I look around the room and cringe when I notice a large open floor space with no carpet. He can do a lot of damage and still maintain clean carpets…
The older one speaks first. “You will soon hear news of the death of Fyodor Volkov, our formerpakhan.He died by his own hand two hours ago in America. Volkov intentionally kept his men at odds with one another with no strong leadership. In the wake of his death, our group is unstable.”
The second continues. “Your brotherhood is built on loyalty and a hierarchy of power. We come to you of our own accord and submit ourselves to your authority. You are a man worthy of respect, Mr. Romanov, and we humbly ask you to consider us as future men of the brotherhood.”
Mikhail scowls at them. “The only reason I’m still allowing you to live is because I’m curious what you have to offer.” These men knew they could be facing a death sentence with Mikhail. And yet they’re here. He nods to Nikko. “Keep them in holding until further notice.”
The men are brought to their feet and led out. They hang their heads in silence, their fates undetermined and resting in the palm of my husband’s hand.
Yikes.
Mikhail reaches for my hand. “Would you like to go out to dinner?”
So we won’t talk about the fact that he has two men “in holding,” which means that this gorgeous home has adungeonsomewhere or something. He won’t talk about what just went down at all.
Double yikes.
“Sure,” I say. “That sounds perfect.”
We walk hand in hand out of the room. “Am I wobbling?”
“Of course not.”
“I’ll eventually wobble, though.”
“And if you wobble, you wobble. You’ll still be gorgeous and adorable, andmine.” I love the feel of his heavy hand on the small of my back.
It’s kind of cute hearing him say “wobble” in his accent.
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have you here in Russia, my love. My homeland. Bearing my child. It seems at times to be more than I deserve.”
“Oh, it’s definitely more than you deserve,” I tease. We’re in a vacant hallway with a large window that overlooks the garden nestled behind this house.
“Is that right?” he asks. I squeal when he presses me against the window and slaps my butt, hard.
A rush of heat suffuses my cheeks. I turn to him, my tone demure. “I was only teasing, of course. You deserve so much more.”
“Do I?” He turns me to face him. The sun from the window glints on his handsome features. Shadows dance along the walls. He stands in front of me, his warm eyes reflecting a storm of feelings.
I love the feel of his warm hand on the back of my neck. He brushes a stray lock of hair from my face. I shiver. He rests his other hand on the small of my back. Heat curls in my stomach.
When his lips meet mine, it’s so much more than just physical – a joining of two hearts and minds.
I wrap my arms around him and lose myself in the passion of the moment. When we finally pull apart, we’re both gasping for air. He frames my face in his capable hands. “I love you.”
I lay my hands atop his. “And I love you. I feared this would happen, you know.”
“What would?”
“That I’d fall in love with my captor.”
He looks boyish and vulnerable when he looks up at me. “And?”
Does he really not know?
I grin. “It totally happened.”
I’ve made peace with a lot of things. My place in his family. Being a mom.
Being married to a tiger.
He reaches for me. “Aria, you opened the door to a world riddled with darkness and let the light in. You’ve given me a reason to hope. I love you for who you are and who I am with you.” He brushes his lips to mine. “I’ve lived many lives. But this one? This one is my favorite.”
When he holds me to him, I close my eyes and feel like we got a bonus wedding scene. The vows I took to him were under duress. But these? These words came freely and of his own accord.
Mikhail is sovereign over all, but most of all? He is king to my heart.
