Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Romeo – Four Days Later
I smile as I watch my wife from where I’m sitting near the window, as she gently rubs her hands over our son’s belly.
Our son is eleven days old and fucking perfect, and seeing him in my wife’s arms….
Fuck, I can’t wait to knock her up again and again.
Luca coos, making El smile wide, her white-blonde hair up in a messy bun, and her face makeup free. She’s wearing my shirt from yesterday, demanding it from right off my back, and a pair of sweats.
She’s beautiful and doesn’t even need to try….
“Are you just going to sit there and stare?” she questions as she grabs a diaper.
I smile. “Pretty much, farfalla .”
She hums, wiping our son’s bottom, and then replacing the diaper. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
I press my lips in a firm line, the image of her lying on the floor in her classroom always at the front of my mind.
“Five weeks, El…” I rasp, and she looks my way. I admit, “I let the monster out after a week. Seeing you lying there, blood near your head, it was too much.”
Her eyes soften before she looks at our son again, gently getting him dressed in another onesie, this one dark green.
Mamma had gone out and got all the things we needed, knowing I wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the time.
I’m just glad his nursery was already set up.
“You’ve still got to work, though, Rome,” she says. “Antonio can only take over for so long, and we both know he never wanted your position, and he still doesn’t.” Gently, she picks up our son, placing him over her shoulder as she gently rubs his back, and looks at me. "He’s called several times this morning alone.”
I shrug. “I don’t care, farfalla . I spent four weeks unleashing my monster, ensuring our family was safe and that the men’s livelihoods weren’t taken from them by our enemies. If I want a few weeks break to spend with my family, then so be it.”
I stand, and walk over to her, never breaking eye contact.
I lean down and gently peck our son’s head, then press my lips against hers before admitting, “I always need my eyes on you. I can’t get you lying there on the classroom floor out of my head, El, and it’s killing me.”
Her eyes tear up, and she kisses me, before pulling back and maneuvering our son. She gently passes him over to me, and I take him willingly. I smile as he sleeps in my arms.
He’s been so content since El woke up. Beforehand, he’d cry endlessly; he needed his mamma.
“He needs you, Rome,” she whispers, and I look back at her. Slowly, she stands, and I go to move to help her, knowing she’s unsteady on her legs, but she puts her hand up, smiles a little, and adds, “ I need you.”
I tilt my head. “You’ve got me, farfalla , you both do.”
She nods. “But you’re not sleeping; you're constantly watching over us. If he makes a sound, you’re on him instantly. I wince, you're there. You need to rest; you need to work to help steady you again.”
I lick my lips, “ Farfalla ….”
She cuts me off and butts in, “I know you are worried, I do, and I love you so much for it, but I don’t want you to lose yourself. You’ve gone from emotion to emotion since I woke up, and I would like the man I fell in love with back. We’re okay, Rome, we’re here.”
Sighing, I round the bed and gently cup her cheek, my eyes taking in every little detail.
“I just want one more week…” I admit, and it's not a lie, but I do. I want a week at home with them, just the three of us. Papa stated he’d help Antonio this morning, as did Leonardo.
She softens, leaning against my touch, and agrees, “One week, then your butt is going to work, but I want you home on weekends and by five in the evenings….”
I grin and fold instantly. “Your wish is my command.”
She smiles, and I lean down, kissing her lips, gently caressing them. Then I sigh and whisper, “Five weeks and three days to go….”
She giggles, already knowing what I mean, and demands, “No more babies for at least two years, Romeo.”
I smirk, knowing Luca’s sibling will be inside her within the next four months, even if I have to make her think her birth control pills are working for the first few.
Kissing her again, I admit, “I don’t want you to go back to work….”
Her eyes go to Luca. “I kind of don’t want to, either, because I don’t want to leave him, but I-I just….”
I smile gently, rubbing my thumb along her jaw. “You love teaching….”
She nods. “Your mamma said she’d be on grandmother duty, and bring him to the school on lunch breaks….”
I nod, proud that she’s willing to return to that school, especially after the principal promised to move her room. Placing my nose to the top of her head, I inhale. She smells like a hospital, and I fucking hate it.
“I’m glad you're being discharged today,” I admit after a few minutes of holding her. She snorts as the door to the room opens, and we pull apart to see her parents walking in.
Anastasia’s eyes go to my son, and the want in them is as clear as day.
I still haven’t allowed anyone else to hold him, much to everyone’s dismay. And Anastasia, well, I don’t see why she should ever hold him after everything she’s done.
Although Maxim nearly got to hold him yesterday while he was napping.
He and his wife visited, and my wife tried to distract me, but I caught him before he could lift Luca.
He growled while the women laughed their asses off, and then I proceeded to chew him out.
“Hey, printsessa ,” Mikhail rasps as he walks over to us and kisses my girl’s head before his eyes go to Luca, then me, pleading.
I shake my head, and he pouts, making me smirk.
“Rome,” El says sternly, and I snort before gently handing him over to his dedushka , who instantly grins and takes him from me.
I glare at my wife, but she pats my chest, and gently sits on the bed.
“Elena…” Anastasia says, hurt in her tone.
My wife shakes her head. “If you want to rehash the past, Mama, you may as well leave. I’m still tired because, shockingly enough, being in a coma for five weeks tires you out. I haven’t got it in me to argue, and Papa, don’t tell his Nonna you held him first. It doesn’t matter if you used to be Pakhan or that you're my father, she’ll skin you alive.”
I chuckle at her words as Anastasia looks down.
“Don’t worry, printsessa , I haven’t got a death wish.” He looks down at my son as I sit on the edge of the bed, my hand going to my wife’s calf as she leans against the back of the raised end of the bed. Mikhail gloats, “I have the best-looking grandson in the world. He’s perfect….”
I grin at his words before looking toward his wife, whose eyes are on her daughter instead of her grandson. I sigh, counting back in my head.
Three….
Two….
One….
“Liliya wasn’t biologically mine,” she exclaims, and I wince, looking at my wife. Her eyes are wide in shock, and her mouth opens a little.
Mikhail groans, “Anastasia, now isn’t the time!”
She snaps back at her husband, “Now is the time. I need her to understand my actions, your actions!”
He winces and looks at his daughter, who is now glaring at her father. She is already coming to the realization of who Liliya’s true parents are.
Mikhail clears his throat and rasps, “You can’t hurt me; I’m holding your son.”
I snort, causing El to kick me, and I have to clear my throat to hide my chuckle before she accuses, “You fucked your wife’s sister? Seriously?”
He winces again while Anastasia asks, “How did you?—”
El cuts her off, “I remember hearing Agy when I was in a coma. She said something about needing to defend her daughter, which confused me because she doesn’t have a daughter.” She sneers at her father, “I always thought she looked like Mama, but Agy and Mama were nearly identical.”
Mikhail flinches, and Anastasia rasps, “I am your mother though, Elena….”
El rolls her eyes and snorts. “I know, Mama. I did a DNA test years ago. Liliya kept saying how I was conceived through an affair. I tested both of you.” I squeeze her calf as she furrows her brow and speaks more to herself, “Guess that’s why she hit me when I accused her of being adopted….”
Anastasia gasps. “I thought you banged it….”
El snorts. “Mama, most of my bruises came from her; you and Papa just looked the other way, and now I know why. She knew about Agy, didn’t she?” They both nod, and El chuckles darkly. “You overcompensated with her all because Papa couldn’t keep it in his pants….”
Anastasia speaks up, defending her husband, “He had a weak moment, Elena. I was told we may not be able to conceive, and he got drunk. Agy wanted his title; she wanted to be the Pakhan's wife. When that failed, she relinquished all parental rights, and I really wanted a child no matter how it was conceived, and then I got pregnant with you?—”
El sneers, interrupting her, “And I was another girl , huh. I always thought it was because you wanted a boy, an heir. I mean, that’s what you kept shouting at me when you belted me.” Her mother flinches. “But that’s not the case is it, Mama? No, you didn’t want Liliya to believe she wasn’t your favorite; you didn’t want her to feel unloved and in doing so, you caused her to believe she could do whatever she wanted, whenever.” El scoffs, “She used you and your fears, and you let her….”
Anastasia lets a few tears fall as Mikhail sighs, passing me my son. I take him willingly, smiling down at him.
“Of course, you’re going to comfort her,” El says with disappointment, and I look up to see Mikhail glare at his daughter as he wraps his arm around his wife.
I snap, “Do not look at my wife that way; she has every right to be upset. She was shot because of the stipulations in that stupid contract, she nearly lost our son, and nearly lost her life all because of your daughter. Not to mention the years of unearned punishment because your wife is a guilty bitch who can’t stand being wrong.” Mikhail looks down, but I’m not done. “My wife has fucking belt scars on her back, Mikhail. If she wants to get this shit off her chest, then you both are going to stand there, and you’re going to fucking take it whether you like it or not, or you can kiss our alliance goodbye!”
Mikhail's eyes widen, but I just glare at him, meaning every word.
I’ve put him, his wife, and that bitch first for too fucking long just so that I could keep my marriage. Enough is enough now.
“I-I’m sorry,” Anastasia sobs, and we look her way. “I-I was hoping Elena would leave you. I was hoping she’d divorce you and leave this life, and be happy. I, oh God, I knew you’d kill Liliya eventually, Romeo.” Mikhail looks at her sharply, and she winces. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t be around her anymore. She stopped being my daughter years ago when she admitted to calling Agy ‘mama.’ She became mean-spirited, and I-I couldn’t deal with the pain any longer….”
Mikhail hugs her to him while El looks down. I squeeze her calf to get her attention. She looks up, tears coating her cheeks, and instantly, I want to kill someone.
She sees the look in my eyes and smiles a little before she says, “I don’t know how I can forgive you, Mama, and I don’t know if I ever will.” I soften at the hurt shining back at me. She’s refusing to look at her mother. She looks down and continues, “All the hurt, the pain. I was your daughter, too, I needed you, too, and you let me down.” She furrows her brows, her eyes going to our son, and I smile, knowing exactly what she’s about to say, proving to everyone what kind of heart she really has. She whispers, “I just hope you can be a better babushka than you were a mother….”
Anastasia gasps at her words as I slowly stand and walk over to her. Tears coat her cheeks as I gently lay my son in her arms, and I rasp, “My wife has a pure heart, and I can guarantee she’ll forgive you at some point, even though we all know you don’t deserve it.” She looks at me, and I warn, “Don’t let her down.”
She nods frantically, then looks down at her grandson. I return to my wife, this time sitting beside her. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her head, rasping, “I’m so fucking in love with you,” making her giggle a little.
Our eyes go to her parents, who’re fawning over our son as she rasps, “Ditto, but if you ever make a mistake , I’ll kill you.”
I laugh, pressing my lips to her forehead.
Fuck, I’m one lucky motherfucker that she was willing to give me another chance, a chance I’ll never take for granted.