“Yes? Is this a yes?” he questioned as she nuzzled their mouths together.
“This is all the yeses ever spoken in the world,” she whispered. “This is the yes that I give you along with my very soul because I cannot live without you either.”
She ducked down and came up flashing the most dazzling smile he’d ever seen on her face. She held up the Tiffany box. “May I wear it now?”
He took it from her and reopened it. Tossing the box, he motioned her to stand and grinned when she rolled her eyes and jumped up. He didn’t draw it out but took her hand and kissed her finger before sliding his ball and chain into place. “You are mine; my woman, my partner. You’re the mother of my daughter, the love of my life, and I will cherish you forever.”
Her eyes overflowed as she looked at the brilliant white diamond set in a platinum band that now glittered on her finger. “The weekend we moved in here,” she said, still staring at the ring. “Do you remember what I told you as we folded our laundry on that Sunday night?”
He remembered swiping the pile of whites to the floor and using the counter for something other than folding. He also remembered what she said.
He nodded and sent his hand up under her dress to be sure he’d felt what he was sure he’d felt a second ago…yes, she’d come prepared. She was wearing stockings. Love. Her. “No matter what our future brought, the love you felt for me would last forever.”
She smiled, looking happy that he hadn’t forgotten. “It will, and I will never again attempt to deny it because it is too much a part of who I am. It is all-consuming, and I’ve finally admitted to myself how much I like that.” She pulled him to his feet, and as peace settled between them, his angel kissed his cheeks, one at a time.
“Thank you for your forgiveness, Alekzander. Thank you for our precious child—I would like two more, please,” she added with a flirty wink. “And, most important, thank you for giving me the chance to prove to you that if given the choice, I will forever choose my Russian.”
As his angel smothered him with kisses, the smile that settled on Alek’s face felt smug as fuck. But, he supposed, as with any spoiled brat, that’s what came with getting his way.
EPILOGUE
“Now that we’ve arrived, you’re going to stop sulking. If I had wanted to be accompanied by a dragging chin, I’d have asked Maksim to bring me.”
Vasily opened the car door and swung his legs out. He did what he could to hide how his face contorted as pain resonated throughout his entire body. Christ Almighty. He should have listened to the two pains-in-his-ass he’d left at Alek’s house. Yuri and Tegan had stood off to the side in the foyer as he’d walked out, both of them wearing identical expressions of if-I-wasn’t-worried-about-losing-my-head-I’d-have-sedated-you-again. He’d ignored them, just as he was ignoring Dmitri’s miserable look of concern.
“Because I know it’s eating at you…” He held up his arm.
Dmitri shot forward and carefully helped him from the car. Thank fuck, too. Pride was such an idiotic thing. He needed the help. Why was it so difficult to admit it?
Bracing himself, he turned to look at the house they now stood in front of. Pain that had nothing to do with his physical injury burst in his chest, but sick of feeling it, he shoved it off and attempted to look relaxed.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.
Vasily held still and welcomed the memory, loving it when she came to him like this. That evening, he’d smiled and reached out to brush a few strands of blonde aside so he could see her green eyes more clearly. She’d been straddling his hips as he’d lounged on a lawn chair on their small balcony. They were both wearing jeans and heavy sweaters to ward off the chill.
Like what, kitten?
I don’t know. So relaxed. You’re just laying here. You’re not on the phone, not swearing at your pager, not pacing with that knot that settles right here.
She’d leaned forward to kiss his brow, and he’d held her there when she tried to straighten.
I am free for two entire weeks. Free to do nothing more than listen through the door as you and the baby do your thing. That is what I miss the most after I go back to my father. Hearing you. And now her.
And that had been the truth. He’d loved nothing more than closing his eyes as he lay in their mussed up bed, hearing their sheltered, uncomplicated life go on around him.
I cannot believe she is four weeks old already and has changed so much since I saw her ten days ago. You were right when you said she looks like me. I see it now.
Kathryn’s hair had shimmered in the moonlight as she’d turned to glance into the apartment. Evangeline had been asleep in her crib.