Page 71 of Ruthless Vow
“Nothing is happening to her,” I tell her confidently. “You’re just being a worrywart like always.”
She rolls her eyes at me, and I think my words give her the motivation to pull through. Then it’s time to start pushing. She holds my hand tightly, but I don’t mind the pain. It’s nothing compared to what she’s had to endure for the last nine months.
It feels like time stops moving, and then there’s the strong, proud cry of our baby girl. It starts thin and then grows stronger, filling the room and cutting through everything else like a blade. The nurse lifts a small, squirming body, pink and furious and alive, and places her against Anya’s chest.
Anya stares down like she can’t quite believe her. Then her face softens in a way that doesn’t erase her edges. It just adds something new to them.
“Congratulations on your baby girl,” the nurse says.
Anya laughs once, breathless and disbelieving.
“Hi, my daughter,” she says affectionately. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you.”
She looks up at me, eyes wet, and she doesn’t apologize for it. There’s no reason for her to.
Once our daughter is cleaned up and we’re taken back to Anya’s suite, we just stare at the little girl sleeping in Anya’s arms. She’s so perfect.
“I need to tell you something,” Anya says quietly, looking down at our daughter.
“You can tell me anything,” I say, running my fingers through her hair.
She nods, and I can tell that she’s nervous about whatever she’s going to say. I wish she knew by now that she never has to be nervous to tell me anything. There’s nothing she can say that would drive me away.
“I told you once that I wished we had a boy,” she starts. “I didn’t want a girl who would be treated like an object and given no choice in her life. But you showed me that there’s another option. You’re the first person who’s ever let me just be myself, without expectation or asking me to change.”
“You’re perfect the way you are,” I say quietly, a lump forming in my throat that I don’t quite understand.
“You’re the first person who ever thought so.” She laughs. “And I tried so hard not to love you for that. I thought that love was weakness. I thought it meant I had to give up myself to make someone else happy. But over the last few months, I realized it’s the opposite. I want you to be happybecauseI love you.”
My heart stutters in my chest. This is the first time she’s given me any indication of how she feels. I don’t speak. I don’t want to shatter this perfect moment.
“I never wanted to belong to anyone before,” she continues. “But Viktor, I really want to be your wife. And I want us to raise our daughter to see what healthy love can look like. I want her to know that she can hope for better in this life.”
I nod and bend down to kiss her gently. It’s chaste and gentle. After all, our tiny daughter is sleeping on her chest. Even so, I feel her love through that kiss, and it’s the best feeling in the entire world.
EPILOGUE
ANYA
Two Years Later
The frosting is too sweet and the noise is too loud, and somehow neither of those things bother me. It’s taken two years, but I’m finally learning to enjoy the little moments of chaos. They’re so much better than the violence I was raised in.
“Mommy,” Annetta says too innocently.
I immediately know she’s done something wrong and she’s trying to get in my good graces. I arch an eyebrow at her.
“Do you have something you want to confess?” I ask her.
Her mouth opens and closes once like she is considering it.
“No,” she says, letting the word last just a little too long.
“Interesting,” I deadpan. “Because there’s a bunch of frosting on your nose.”
She giggles and darts off before I can catch her, because she knows I won’t chase her through a party full of people. She’s right, of course. I may be the mother of a toddler, but I still try to maintain some decorum.
Viktor stands near the far wall with a glass of something dark in his hand. He is talking to two of his men, both of them a little older and both of them cautious about their tone around him. Viktor doesn’t look like he’s working. His posture is relaxed and his eyes are calm.
