Page 157 of The Bratva Sinner

He laughs and then gives a short whistle.

Gus appears from around the corner. He’s leading a horse I’ve never seen.

She’s snowy white with a regal walk that makes it appear like she’s floating. She’s so beautiful. Like something out of a fantasy movie. A unicorn without the horn.

“What?” I’m unable to take my eyes off her.

“Lipizzan,” Maksim says. “Six years old. She’s got an attitude, and the breeder doesn’t want to deal with her.”

Gus brings her forward. Where he sees attitude, I see curiosity. Her ears are forward, and her dark eyes sweep the stable.

“Her name is Snow,” Maksim says.

I hand him the envelope and walk toward her. She watches me come. I stop a few feet away and let her read me. She takes her time. Her nostrils flare, and her head flicks, swishing her glorious mane. I reach out with my palm up and wait. She stretches her neck and presses her nose against my palm.

“Hi,” I whisper.

She blinks at me with long eyelashes that are impossibly black against her white coat. I step closer and put my hand along her jaw, then her neck. She doesn’t pull away.

I think I might be crying.

“She’s mine?” I ask.

“She’s yours.”

I turn to look at him. He’s watching me with so much love in his gaze that it hurts. How could he have ever thought I could live without him?

“Maksim.” I have no words.

He hands Gus the envelope and walks toward me.

And then he goes down on one knee.

The air leaves my body.

“What are you doing?”

“I think it’s obvious,” he says.

“We’re already married.”

He looks up at me. “I didn’t ask you the first time. I made a decision, I put a ring on your finger, and I called you my wife. It served a purpose. But now, you have a choice.”

My throat is so tight that I can’t swallow.

“I don’t have another ring. What I’m giving you is a horse, because you are a woman who would rather have a horse than a diamond.”

Snow shifts behind me, and I feel her warm breath against the back of my neck.

"Marry me. Not because of a debt or a contract or a war. Not because it solves a problem. As soon as I pulled you out of that club, I knew I wasn't giving you back. I didn't understand it then. I do now. Choose me because you love me. And because I love you. You are the bravest, most infuriating woman I have ever known. You ran into a burning building for horses that couldn't save themselves. You came back for me when you should have run. I will never get over you.”

I can’t breathe.

“I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how loved you are."

I look at the man who saved me. The man who willingly chose to give up his life so I could live.

“Yes,” I say. He doesn't move for a second; he just looks at me.

Then he smiles.

I go down to my knees and take his face in my hands. He lets me. I kiss him once, slowly, then pull back just far enough to see his eyes.

“I love you,” I tell him.

“I love you, voinitsa.”