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Viktor saw my face and looked up at one of his men. “Throw some sheets over those, my son is too young to see bodies.” The man obligingly headed into the nearest suite, coming out with folded bedsheets to cover the corpses with. I was glad to see them disappear from sight.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” I told Viktor weepily. “But you saved us anyway.”
“With a little help from our friends, yes, I did.” He kissed my forehead. “I am sorry it took me so long.”
“That’s okay. You got here in time and we’re safe now. That’s what matters.” I swallowed and looked up at him. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” Viktor said softly.
Michael started to squirm between us, his shock and terror wearing off as he started to realize we were safe. When he looked up, all he seemed to see besides my face was Viktor’s.
“Hi, who are you?” Michael asked, then peered at Viktor for a second. “You’ve got the same color eyes I do!” His little voice was shaky and quiet, as if he was doing his best to be brave.
“That’s because you got your eye color from him, honey,” I told Michael as Viktor smiled at him. “This is your daddy.
“He came to save us.”
Epilogue
Six months later
Olivia
Iwoke up to rain and wind battering against the hunting lodge’s armored windows, and Viktor spooning me from behind. One arm was tucked under the pillow beneath my head, while the other was slung over me loosely. His breathing was slow and even, he was still asleep despite the cacophony outside.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. I opened an eye and saw dawn breaking through the storm clouds. It was the only light coming into the room, the line of streetlights I could see through the trees from where I lay was still dark.Blackout.I listened, hearing the backup generators humming floors away in the basement. Between them and the house batteries, we would be fine for a solid day.
But that wouldn’t keep the thunder from waking Michael and scaring him into our bed. He was a lot less nervous these days than he’d been months ago, but loud noises still got to him.
Six months after Viktor had buried Boris and called an end to the war, my life remained a mix of the ordinary and the unbelievable. This had its drawbacks, but for the most part, I loved how things were going.
It was true that I would never be able to tell my friends and coworkers at the auction house what my new husband did for a living. We were still figuring out what to tell Michael about it. Right now, he just knew that Viktor had been far away during those years when he was gone from our lives. I hoped that by the time he learned his father’s true calling, he would be old enough to keep the secret on his own.
On the other hand, with Viktor, my life was endlessly richer, more exciting and more exotic than I had ever known. We had honeymooned for a month in the Caribbean on a yacht with a full staff and armed guards. Viktor had taught Michael to swim in the yacht pool while I had watched, marveling quietly at how fast the two were bonding.
I rolled over carefully in Viktor’s arms and gazed at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. He had pulled on a pair of pajama pants during the night, but his tattooed chest was bare. I slid my hand up it and he stirred.
“There’s a thunderstorm,” I murmured in his ear. “That means Michael’s incoming.”
His brilliant green eyes opened, and I propped myself up on one elbow to kiss him. He smiled up at me. “I see.” I felt him quickly do a pants-check on himself and my smile turned into an amused grin. He’d had to break himself of the habit of sleeping nude and leaving the bedroom door open. Fortunately, there hadn’t been any mishaps in the meantime.
Right on cue, another thunderclap shook the windows. Much closer this time, louder, following a lightning flash just a few seconds before. The storm was right on top of us. He stretched against me. “Sounds like the roads are going to be a mess for a while. Should we cancel with Anna and Luis?”
“I think we should talk to them and see what they want to do. Last time it rained like this they were fine, but then there was the time with the road closure.” My last word was punctuated by a yawn. I wanted more sleep, and certainly more snuggle time. We hadn’t come up here for the weekend to get up early and be busy all day.
“All right. I’ll make the call as soon as it’s a reasonable hour.” He was going to say more, but before he could, our bedroom door opened.
Michael was in his favorite superhero pajamas, and his hair was sticking up haphazardly from sleep. He rubbed one half-open eye and shuffled toward us. “Thunder’s loud and scary. I can’t sleep.”
“I get it, sweetie,” I told him as Viktor and I both sat up. “C’mon, snuggle in. The storm’s going to be a while.”
“Why is it so loud?” he grumbled while I stifled a laugh. He was so cute with the crazy hair and chirpy-voiced grumping.
“Thunder gets louder the closer the center of the storm is. Right now, it’s overhead. It will quiet down eventually.” Viktor scooted over to make room for our son, who flopped onto the bed and nestled in between us on top of the covers.
“Oh. Okay.” He jumped as lightning flashed and thunder roared at almost the same time. “I just wish it would go away faster!” Then he gave me a worried look. “Is Auntie Anna still coming?”
“We’re hoping so. It depends on how bad the roads are. It might be difficult for them to get here.” I smoothed Michael’s hair down gently so it would stop tempting me to giggle.
