Page 64 of Bound By Sin
Glasses clink and the tension finally breaks. I drink the wine and sigh, letting the rest of the stress ease out of my shoulders.
"One more thing," Roman says, setting his glass down. He leans back and crosses one leg over the other and looks around the table. "I'll be stepping back from the ring entirely for a while. The Radin operation needs my full attention. Their gun outfit's been coasting and it can't coast anymore, not with how things are shifting. This new alliance is important for business."
I wait because I can feel there's more coming.
"So I am fully trusting you all to keep things on the Kuzin side running smoothly." Roman picks up his fork. "Now can we eat like a normal family for five minutes before someone else drops a bomb on me? Figuratively speaking."
Mila laughs first and Stepan shakes his head with the ghost of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. Timur reaches for the bread and tears off a piece and passes the basket to Zora. This tiny beginning feels like the first stone laid on a new path we're carving toward a stronger family.
"So," Mila says, leaning forward with her chin in her hand, looking right at Zora. "When are you due? I need to know how much time I have to plan."
Zora glances at me, and I squeeze her hand and she turns back to Mila. "Late spring, I think."
"You think?" Mila repeats, grinning. "You two are getting a proper appointment this week. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow."
"Mila—" Roman starts.
"Not negotiable, Rome."
He holds up his hands in surrender as the women start chatting about pregnancy and life in general. All I can do is sit there holding Zora's hand feeling awestruck by how things worked out. Roman's choice upset Stepan. I can still see it on his forehead, but whether he likes it or not, it's done. I'm the new leader of the fight club and I get a second chance to prove myself.
And better than that, I get a chance to prove to Stepan and Timur that Zora really is everything I always knew she was, and more.
30
EPILOGUE
ZORA
I'm halfway up the stairs when the baby rolls over and sits on my bladder. I have to stop and breathe and shift the sandwich bag to my other hand. This kid has terrible timing. I've been telling Kaz that for weeks and he laughs every time because he thinks it's funny. It is funny, but it's also my bladder, so…
The new headquarters doesn't look like anything from the street. Kaz picked the building because it's forgettable—gray walls, no sign, the kind of place you'd walk past a thousand times without wondering what's inside. It's perfect and nondescript the way a good illegal fight ring should be. But upstairs, the paint is fresh and the floors are done and the conference table is surrounded by family.
When I push through the door with the bag on my hip, the whole room perks up because they can see I'm carrying food.
"Finally," Stepan says, already on his feet.
I toss him a sandwich and start passing the rest down the table. Everyone's here for the first real planning session since therebuild started, and the energy in the room is good. It feels like the beginning of a new chapter, and I've been around this family long enough now to really feel like a part of it.
Kaz is at the far end of the table with a pencil behind his ear and his tablet in front of him with floor plans for the new gym. He's really in his element and I'm so turned on when he gets so focused like this. I walk up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder. He reaches up without looking and covers my hand with his.
"Brought you the one with the peppers," I say, setting his sandwich next to his tablet. The layout he has planned looks incredible. It's better than anything I could come up with.
"You're my favorite person." He turns in his chair and pulls me in by the waist and kisses me. Somebody at the table makes a noise pretending to gag, and it sounds like Stepan. He's good at picking on Kaz all the time, and it makes Kazimir grin against my lips.
When I straighten, I feel the baby kick hard. It's so much, I wince and squirm because I feel like I might pee myself. Kazimir smirks at me and says, "Baby?"
"Right here," I tell him, pointing at my lower belly.
He puts his palm flat against the curve of my stomach and waits, and the baby kicks again right into Kaz's hand. His face breaks into a grin that makes him look like a kid at Christmas.
"That's my kid," he says.
"That's your kid standing on my organs."
He laughs and keeps his hand where it is. The baby kicks a third time and he shakes his head, still grinning, still amazed by iteven though he's felt it dozens of times by now. I don't think that goes away. I hope it doesn't.
Then he stands and wraps his arms around me, kissing me slowly. His lips drag over mine gently, then pull back as his eyes open. "I've been thinking about something," he says.
