Page 74 of The Bratva's Innocent Forbidden Bride
I swatted his arm. “Don’t you dare say something you don’t mean.”
Ignoring his suddenly teasing mood, I took a bite of croissant, reminding Kon that he was cooking eggs. He got up, grimacing as he tilted the pan toward me. Burned to the bottom of it.
“I’ll make more,” he said, reaching into the fridge.
“No, come and sit with me instead. It feels like I haven’t talked to you in days.”
It really had been days, with only his sturdy presence always nearby to reassure me. I wanted that now, even if he was only ten feet away by the stove.
He was at my side in an instant, like the times I woke up screaming from nightmares of a past that was dead and buried. No one could hurt me now as long as I let Kon do his thing and protect me.
I leaned over and rested my head against his shoulder, looking out the big picture window to the manicured grounds outside. He scooted his chair closer and put his arm around me, and we sat in silence while I finished my pastry. I wanted to hear him say he loved me some more, and cast my mind back to whenhe first told me. Everything after was a blur, but I didn’t think I said it back.
Tipping up my chin, I waited for him to look down at me. When his gray eyes met mine, I saw everything I needed to know, right there.
“I love you,” I said, my cheeks warming with the rush of it.
He kissed me softly, then turned, his mouth more urgent. If it felt like days that we hadn’t spoken, it seemed more like years since we kissed like this. I needed it as much as I needed all that healing sleep.
His tongue swept along my lower lip, and his fingers smoothed over my tangled hair. Before I knew it, I was on his lap, nestled against him as he teased my lips apart. I opened them eagerly, wrapping my arms around his neck, feeling his strength and warmth flow into me.
I finally leaned back, weak from more than just the kiss. There was still so much between us. “Did you ever find Riku?”
He shook his head, and I apologized. Maybe if I did something different, this would all be over now. Kon ran his hands down my arms and shook his head, as if he read my thoughts and disagreed with them.
“It doesn’t matter because we’ve pretty much decimated his forces here. He can have Tokyo as long as he stays far away from LA, or wherever we decide to settle down.”
“We?” I asked. “You’d let me stay here?”
“Did I forget to tell you that I can’t live without you in the last five minutes? I love you, Tati. You said it yourself, and you were right. We’re a great team.”
His eyebrows shot up as if he forgot something, and he reached into his jeans pocket, holding something in his closedfist. He held it out to me and then opened his hand, a smile on his face and a glint in his charcoal eyes.
A diamond ring lay in his palm, shiny platinum and fiery sparkle. The stone was round and as big as my thumbnail, the facets throwing off the sunlight as he moved his hand.
“What do you say? Partners for life? Will you marry me, Tati?”
“Partners for life,” I repeated, happy tears welling up.
“There’d be no stopping us. A true family business,” he said, his heart rate kicking up a notch as I rested against his chest, mesmerized by the beautiful ring, and by the visions of what we could get up to together.
No more sheltered life for me, but one of infinite happiness and no lack of excitement.
“Yes,” I told him with a joyous sob.
There was nothing else to say, no need for any more words.
Epilogue - Konstantin
Two months later
It was a long road to get here, but now I stood in the bedroom of my nephew Aleks’s home, straightening the buttons on my tuxedo. There was a flurry of activity down the hall, and a virtual hive of workers downstairs and outside in the garden, putting the finishing touches on the flowered arch and mile long buffet.
There was never a doubt in my mind that this day would happen, but I didn’t think it would arrive so soon. I was willing to wait for much longer to be able to call Tati my wife and have it be true, but my nieces swore they could work a miracle and they did.
Tati swore she was recovered enough to participate when Nat and Mila converged on the apartment in LA we first returned to, and she seemed to take great delight in choosing flowers and fabrics and everything else that was involved in planning a huge family wedding on short notice.
My oldest sons popped their head in, a bottle of champagne in their hands. “Need anything?” Mikhail asked.
