A month has passed since everything changed.


    A month since the dust settled. Since the DeLucas were all killed. Since Emilia quit her job with the feds and we began rebuilding what was broken.


    The men who hurt her—every single one—are dead.


    Lloyd, the one who begged for mercy as I carved him into pieces. The other svolichy from her past who dared to touch her when she was younger. They’re all erased. Gone. Like they never existed.


    It’s what I do. What I will always do for her.


    A husband’s duty is to protect his wife, and I don’t take that lightly. It’s not just a promise; it’s my purpose.


    As I sit at the head of the dining table, my eyes drift to my wife beside me as sheughs at something Kirill said. Her hand rests on her stomach, a little rounder now. And every time I catch sight of her, something inside me swells with pride. I put that baby in her. I created life with her, and there’s nothing I could ever do that would feel more meaningful than that.


    The house is filled with warmth, the scent of dinner in the air, all the people I love around the table, and there’s something in that. Because any one of them could be gone tomorrow.


    My gaze drifts to Lev, whose little hands line up his carrots with careful precision. I watch him for a moment, a smile tugging at my lips. I’d do anything for him. I’d die for him, for his happiness, for the future of everyone sitting at this table.


    My attention returns to Emilia, admiring her strength through everything she’s endured. But there’s still quiet sadness behind her eyes. I know she’ll never truly be okay with the way things ended with her brother, but she’s strong. Stronger than I’ve ever seen anyone be.


    If that bastard was still alive, though, I’d kill him all over again. I’d rip him apart for even thinking about trying to hurt her. The thought of him trying to kill her—the woman I love, the mother of my child—fills me with rage, like fire burning under my skin.


    She smiles at me when she catches my stare, and maybe because we’ve been through so much, I’m more in love with her now than ever before.


    Thankfully, she’s been keeping up with her therapy with someone new I found for her.


    And her old therapists? Well, they’re unavable. Permanently.


    The conversation drifts from one subject to another, everyone rxed for the first time in a long while. But then Aleksei, of course, breaks the flow with his usualments.


    “I can’t believe you knew Fiona all this time and I had no idea.” He shakes his head slowly, that familiar smirk tugging at his mouth. “That woman…”


    A muscle twitches in his jaw.


    There’s something in his tone, something dark, gritted, too sharp to be just annoyance. It drips with heat. Frustration. Obsession.


    It’s not just hate. It’s desire, barely restrained, twisted up in everything he can’t stand about her…and everything he clearly wants.


    Emilia nces at him, lips quirking. “Yeah, I know she’s amazing. It’s perfectly eptable for you to have a crush on her. I mean, I do, and I don’t even swing that way. She’s just?—”


    Aleksei cuts her off, his grin dimming like a storm rolling in. “An ice princess? Satan?”


    Emilia turns to him fully, narrowing her eyes, and that flicker of the viper she is could incinerate kingdoms. “Listen to me, motherfucker. You mess with Fiona, and I will personally cut off your balls.” She shes a sweet, dangerous smile as she lifts the bowl in her hands. “More potatoes?”


    Aleksei mutters something under his breath, clearly frustrated, but he knows better than to push her any further. She’s my family now. And no one touches her. No one messes with her. Or they will deeply regret it.


    Reaching under the table, my hand brushes against hers, a silent promise of protection. Bringing her hand to my mouth, I kiss the top of it, letting the moment linger between us.


    Thoughts race through my mind, back to the days before she came into my life. I thought I had everything figured out, that I could keep control over it all, that nothing could break me.


    But she has. In ways I never expected, she’s cracked the walls I’d built up over the years. And I’m grateful, more than I ever thought possible.


    I look at her, and it feels like everything is falling into ce. When I think about how far we’vee, how much we’ve fought through, it’s hard to believe it’s real. That we made it through it all.


    But here we are. Together.


    Aleksei leans back in his chair, sucking in a long, deep breath.


    “Fiona may be a challenge,” I tell him. “But you’ve never met a challenge you didn’t like.”


    He gives me a sly grin. “You’re not wrong about that.”


    I watch him for a moment, trying to figure out what’s going on in his head. But I don’t press, because when ites to matters of the heart, we always tend to figure it out.


    As dinner winds down, a sense of contentment hits my chest.


    My brothers, my nephew, my Emilia—my family. Everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve fought for, is right here.


    And I know that no matter what happens, I’ll protect them. Even if it means tearing the world apart to do it.


    When the evening ends, I stay close to my wife, holding her hand the whole time, needing that constant contact, wanting her to know she’s not alone. We walk outside together, the breeze catching her dress as we stroll across the grounds. I pull her close, guiding her against a tree, my heart swelling with the love I never thought I deserved.


    “Do you miss it?” I tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Your old life? Your job?”


    She shakes her head, a soft smile curling on her lips as her hand rests on her stomach. “No. What I have now with you…it means more to me than anything else.”


    Her words hit me hard, a rush of powerful emotion flooding my chest.


    “I’ve never been prouder of anything,” I tell her, cupping her jaw. “And I swear to you, Emilia, I will give you and our child the life you deserve.”


    She looks up at me, her eyes wide and filled with so much trust that it knocks the breath from my lungs.


    “I know you will.” Her fingertips trace the stubble of my jaw. “I love you, Konstantin.”


    “Ya tebya lyublyu, katyonak.” The words leave my mouth with a force I can’t control, because every part of me feels it. This need to make her understand, to make her feel what she is to me.


    With a rush of need, my mouth crashes down on hers. Our kiss is fierce, desperate, full of promises of tomorrow. My hands round her hips and I lift her up in the air, her body pressed against the tree trunk while I roughly undo the zipper of my pants and yank them down, and she eagerly pulls her panties to the side. And with one hard thrust, I’m inside her.


    I remain still for a moment, staring into her eyes, every inch of me belonging to her. With a growl, I thrust into her again and again, her cries reverberating in the silence, only to be swallowed up as I im her mouth with another kiss, deep and desperate.


    Passion pulses through me like fire—unrestrained, untamed—and I drown in the taste of her, the warmth of her body pressed against mine.


    My hands cradle her face, tilting her head slightly to deepen the kiss. I lose myself in her, in the way she responds, her hunger matching mine with every press of her lips.


    What we feel right here, right now… This is love. One that burns so brightly, it’s impossible to ignore. I know it in my bones, what we have is stronger than anything I could have ever imagined.


    It’s unbreakable. It’s ours. Nothing—not her past, not mine, not the danger that will always follow us—will ever change that.


    And I can’t wait to see where we go next.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!