Chapter 39 Ivan
IVAN
Two weeks later…
Gabriella’s wedding planning efforts might have been postponed with Raisa handling Konstantin and then my wait to make sure she knew that I wanted her to be my wife for the sake of our being in love, not that I was expected to marry her so she’d be protected, like Luka had with Gabriella.
Yet, it felt like a blur of time before the day was here.
We were back at the church where Raisa had been taken. This time, I knew there wasn’t any way she’d be targeted again.
We doubled the security. Every guest was checked. The entire block was being watched. And my uncle was walking her down the aisle. He’d protect her too, because she really was one of the family now.
Still, being here so soon after she was captured bothered me a little. If it weren’t so hectic and busy to get ready, I would’ve been more nervous.
“Where the hell is he?” Luka paced in the room where I waited with my groomsmen. Luka was walking Raisa down the aisle. Alexsei was here as my best man. But it was Emil who was missing. He was the other groomsman, or he was supposed to be.
“He doesn’t have the dates wrong, does he?” Alexsei asked.
“He’ll be here,” I reasoned, standing up for my cousin as I checked Lev’s tie. He’d be the ring bearer with Misha. They both looked so much older in their little tuxes that I wished we could stop time altogether. They were growing up like I had with my cousins, like best friends.
“He has to be here.” Luka scowled. “He’s a groomsman.”
“But Mommy and Daddy can still get married if he’s not here, right?” Lev asked. “Because you know how Emil is.”
We all laughed.
We sure did know how Emil was. Late. Causal. And quick to try to use his charm to smooth over anyone’s ruffled feathers.
Luka wasn’t going to explain to Lev that Emil was off on an assignment. When Emil said he’d take the hit job, I wondered if he’d planned to make it to the wedding. It was cutting it close. He’d only rolled his eyes and sighed, assuring us all that he’d be here.
It seemed something might have held him up, though.
“Yes, your parents can still get married,” Luka told him. “But my wife will be upset that the number of attendants at the altar are no longer symmetrical.”
“Oh, boy.” Misha made a face. “We don’t want to make Gabriella cry again.”
“She cries a lot,” Lev agreed. He looked up at me. “Will Mommy cry a lot if she has another baby?”
I smiled. “It’ll all be fine.”
I couldn’t wait for the news that she was expecting. It would be a blessing that we’d all enjoy and cherish after the hard times we’d gotten through.
“Let me see what he said.” I unlocked my phone and scrolled through the last texts he had sent.
Emil: Yes, I’ll be there.
Ivan: On time?
Emil: Yes.
Emil: I’ve got four hours to spare.
Ivan: You do not.
Emil: Fuck time zones. Ok. More like one hour. I’ll be there.
“He said he’ll be here,” I reminded the group.
I scrolled on, reading more texts.
Emil: That agent is here again.
Ivan: You’re still at the airport???
Emil: No. I texted that when I was.
Ivan: Where are you now?
Those were from an hour ago.
Emil: On my way.
I sighed. He’d sent that ten minutes ago. “He’s getting back from his trip.” And by trip, I mean a hit he’d been hired to do. “He mentioned something about an agent. Maybe someone was trailing him.”
Now that I thought about it, I recalled how he’d been so amused by an agent following him at the airport when he was supposed to fly back home with me after my break in Italy.
“Only Emil would pull a stunt like that.” Luka shook his head and glanced at the ceiling.
I had to smile, amused by my cousin’s interest in this cat-and-mouse game. I supposed it was a new thrill, a new adventure, to evade the law and tease them off their course.
I couldn’t even begin to guess what this agent could want from him. Emil was our assassin. He had killed so many people, and it was a question mark who he’d be hunted down for.
It didn’t matter, though. This was my wedding. A real one. Not a joke on a drunken night when he was goofing around to officiate my being Raisa’s husband.
“He’ll get here.” Alexsei nodded, backing him up. But when he glanced at me with a smirk and shrugged, I knew that he didn’t really believe that.
A few minutes later, Luka sighed and shook his head. “I hope he gets here. But I’m not going to wait around. I’ve got to go to the other side and get ready.” He smiled at me, looking proud and content. “Ready to walk your long-lost bride down the aisle?”
He hugged me, wishing me luck and also telling me how happy and excited he was for me. Then he was gone.
“Daddy?” Lev got my attention. “If Gabriella will cry because there are more groomsmen than the bridal ladies, could I be a groomsboy in place of Emil? And Misha can bring the rings?”
He was too sweet to offer. “No, it’s okay. I’m sure Emil will—”
There he was, rushing into the room. He was still tugging on his tux jacket, giving us that cocky smile. “Emil will be right there,” he finished for me.
“Damn,” Alexsei said, hurrying to help him with his tie. “Down to the last minute, huh?”
Emil shrugged. “Better late than never.”
“You almost were gonna make Gabriella cry,” Misha accused.
“Nah. Gabs isn’t going to cry. Not until Raisa walks down the aisle.” He looked at me. “You ready?”
I’d been ready for the last eight years. “Are you?” I shot back, slightly annoyed that he was almost too late but glad he was here and all right. In his line of work, he always faced more risks.
“Hey, I’m here. I made it.”
I walked up close, shaking my head, before hugging him. “What took so long?”
“That one agent…” He sighed and smiled a different sort of grin. “It’s, uh, complicated. I’ll explain later.”
Later was right. It was time to go out there and get in place right about now.
Gabriella would be pissed if we didn’t stick to the schedule.
I couldn’t tell if it was pregnancy hormones ruling her or if she was just that into dictating our wedding because she’d been stuck at home for her own.
Her wedding to Luka in the ballroom in the house wasn’t shabby, but I probably wouldn’t understand anyway.
Maybe it was a girl thing. Or maybe the details and décor and schedule didn’t matter.
All I cared about was that when this was over, I’d be walking out of here with Raisa as my wife.
We exited the room as a group. Each step I took that brought me closer to the front of the church felt like one too many. I was impatient and so damn thrilled that we had gotten here.
Past the miscommunication.
Beyond my lie that I’d only used to ensure she stayed away from me to be safe.
Over the years apart, then the stressful reunion when she burst back into my life.
We’d gotten here regardless, ready to be Mr. and Mrs. because we loved each other and always would.
I smiled at the guests as I strode to take my position at the altar.
Most of the guests in the church were Dubinins and associates.
Raisa wasn’t sad that no Petrovs would be there.
She’d truly cut ties with them, and by killing Konstantin, she put a final end to the family’s power.
No one could blame her for shrugging a shoulder when asked about where her family was.
Even though we were about to go through with the wedding, she was already proud to say that her family was with me and Lev, then Luka and Gabriella, Emil and the rest. We were her family and always would be.
I wished she could’ve gotten ahold of that one cousin, though.
A distant relative she’d tried to reach out to when she ran to safety with me.
Kalina had yet to answer any of Raisa’s calls or texts, but I hoped we’d be able to put more resources into searching for her relative.
If she was so distant and more of a relative on Raisa’s mother’s side, then it wouldn’t be a risk, as if we were searching for a Petrov to hurt us.
Standing there as the music began, I let the excitement wash over me.
This was the true realization of kismet.
We were fated to find our way back to each other in matrimony.
I’d dreamed of this day. Fantasies had kept me company of marrying only this woman.
Despite the years we’d spent apart, I never gave up the dream of having her as my wife. As the mother of my children.
She hadn’t protested trying for another son or daughter, but she admitted being too tired for practicing that with all this preparation for the wedding.
With how she’d had to take her time to rest after Konstantin beating her, the recovery to feel complete again, I wouldn’t rush her for anything.
I wanted the rest of her life to be easy and carefree.
I’d make it carefree.
My eagerness to have more children was just one more reason to want this ceremony to start then be over as quickly as possible.
After tonight, I could have her all to myself.
No sharing her with Gabriella as they discussed the wedding.
No more of her meeting with Luka and Emil to fill them in on how they could find more lingering Petrovs.
With my official step back in the organization, a change that was taking a while to kick in, where I’d be more behind-the-scenes than fighting in the field as much, I could really devote my time and energy to being a family man.
It was all about balance. Those eight years when Raisa wasn’t in my life, I was devoted to working for my uncle, not caring about anything else. Now, I could flip those roles and dedicate myself to her and grow a family with her.
She showed up at the other end of the church with Luka.
Moving smoothly, gliding toward me, she looked like a vision of perfection.
Leaving her long blonde hair down, she resembled an angel.
A sweetheart with that easy, confident smile as she met my gaze, knowing that I would always be hers and no one else’s.
God, I love her so fucking much.
Witnessing my uncle escorting her down the long aisle was something else too. I smiled brighter at what his assistance like this meant.
He had been half the reason we’d broken up. The worry that he’d order me to stay away from her was one part of the obstacles we’d faced. That wasn’t a concern now. He looked proud to be the one to walk her down the aisle.
With her brave act of killing Konstantin, no obstacles would ever trouble us again.
I took her hand when they reached us. Luka kissed the top of her head and she hugged him before joining me.
“Ready?” She smiled after she whispered that simple question.
“I’ve been ready forever,” I replied.
Unlike Emil officiating our sham wedding at that party, the real and ordained priest took his time to enunciate the vows Raisa and I would share with each other.
These weren’t raunchy jokes and ad-libbed lines of silliness like that summer wedding we’d pretended to have.
This was the day we professed true promises that neither of us would forget or betray.
In what seemed like eternity, it was time to say our I dos, then to slip our rings on each other’s finger.
At last, I heard the words I’d been waiting for.
“You may kiss the bride.”
I held her close, tugging her in slowly so I wouldn’t miss out on a second of staring into her eyes.
Seeing the wonder and adoration in those clear blue eyes added to the sentimental occasion.
The second I brushed my lips over hers and showed the rest of the world that she was now my wife, now Mrs. Raisa Dubinin, I felt like all my dreams had come true.
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving you,” she whispered softly.
I heard her clearly despite the applause in the church.
I kissed her again, dipping her low as she smiled against my lips and kissed me back. Holding on tight, she giggled when I broke our lip lock.
I’d never drop her. Never let her go.
She was mine, forever, and I couldn’t have been happier.