Chapter 32 Raisa
RAISA
That night, Ivan was the most doting and compassionate father. He carried Lev upstairs. He helped him take a bath and get dressed. After he helped him into bed to hopefully sleep off this stomach bug, he lay with him.
I stood at the door to the bedroom, watching him cuddle our son. After the ups and downs of the roller coaster of emotions I experienced earlier, this was just what I needed.
A calm, quiet night of just the three of us.
A chance to witness how deeply Ivan loved our son.
A way to relax and realize how much better of a mother I was when I had support and backup. At first, it felt like a threat and challenge to share Lev with Ivan, but now it was a blessing I’d never take for granted.
We made a team. And we would fight as a team.
As I watched Ivan comfort Lev as he fell asleep, I sighed heavily.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
I shrugged, smiling slightly. “I didn’t realize that I could fall in love with you any more than I already was.”
He met and held my gaze until a slow grin spread over his lips. “Is that right?”
I nodded. I would never tire of seeing him interact with Lev like this. Tears threatened at how I’d deprived him of so many other things with Lev, all those baby and toddler years.
“You’re about to cry.” He slowly stood to come to me despite me shaking my head.
“I’m sad you missed so many things with him from before.”
He took my hand and led me out of the room. Closing the door most of the way so we could still hear him from our room, he smiled at me. Once he framed my face, he kissed me deeply. Tenderly. My heart was going to burst.
“I am sad, too. But I understand that you wanted to protect him how you thought was best.”
I sniffled and nodded. “And I’m sad that you went to such a believable extreme to make me assume you were done with me.”
He kissed me softly. “I will never be done with you.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I know.”
I smirked at his cockiness.
“I love you, too, Raisa. And I want you to have faith in our diplomatic plan.”
“I will.”
He guided me toward the lounge, where we sat and relaxed together. If he kept up that gentle caress of his fingers over my arm, I’d doze off right here.
“Raisa?”
“Hmm?”
“Did you seriously think that Luka would’ve ordered us to split up back then?”
I sighed. “I just didn’t know. I was more afraid of my father’s wrath.”
“Me too,” he admitted. “Deep down, and in hindsight, I think I could’ve counted on Luka to stand with me in choosing you, in making you mine back then.”
I shook my head a little. “I don’t know. My father was stirring up a lot of fights with many people back then. He might have ordered you to steer clear from inviting more trouble.”
It was a moot point now, though. Because the next day, Luka, Ivan, Emil, and Alexsei, as well as a few old-timer spies in the family, headed to the council meeting.
I stayed with Gabriella in the house while Lev, who had bounded right back from his illness, played with Misha.
“So, these council things,” she asked, reminding me that she was still so new to this world. “Are they that big of a deal?”
I nodded. “Yes. But also not. They call them often for stupid crap. For pomp and showing off. When they call a council meeting of the leaders on a short-notice, it’s usually for a dispute that they want settled without violence.”
“Huh.” She continued folding clothes while Andre babbled in the pack and play near us in the kitchen. “Imagine that. Settling something without violence.”
“That doesn’t mean it always works,” I added.
“Do you remember any of these council meetings not working?”
I smiled at her. “Oh, yeah.”
“Often?” she asked with a cringe.
“Sort of. Most of the meetings that failed to resolve an issue diplomatically were usually my father’s fault.”
She sighed. “He really was a shit-stirrer then.”
“He never would’ve won father of the year.”
She snorted. “He ties with my father for worst parent of the century.”
I asked her a little more about her past. Not only to keep her from asking me too many questions that actually made me anxious but also to show her that I valued this budding friendship between us.
But it didn’t work. She steered the topic right back to this meeting. “Are you nervous?” she asked in a conspiratorially quiet tone.
I sighed. Fuck it. “Of course, I’m nervous. I want my father to fuck off.”
She nodded.
“Forever.”
She lifted her face to stare at me.
I shrugged. “I’d kill him in a heartbeat.”
She raised her brows. “Have you… done that often?”
“I killed those Rivera men the day I came here. Other than that, no.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. You just seem like such a badass and all and—”
I laughed. “Me? The woman who hid and tried to stay off the grid for years and failed at it? You’re the one who gave birth in the middle of a damn gunfight.”
She smiled slyly. “I am glad you are here.”
“And I’ll be here to stay.” It felt so good to say that.
Lev and Misha laughed loudly in the other room.
“Wait, was he serious then? Last night was an actual proposal?”
I smiled. “I don’t need anything fancy.”
“Oh, you’ll get fancy. You’d make a gorgeous bride. But I wondered why you couldn’t just do what Luka and I did. He said he’d marry me when he found out I was pregnant. Then I learned that our marriage was like a seal on him making me part of this family. Not the family but the family.”
“I know what you mean. But he’s Luka. He’s the Boss. Ivan isn’t as high up in rank as he is, so having the council accept Lev as his son is a big deal. Yes, us marrying—legally and for real—would further make that claim stick, especially with my father contesting it all.”
He can try whatever he wants, but his death will be coming soon.
It was past time for me to do my part in securing my family.
Gabriella was prevented from gossiping any further. The door opened, and the men returned.
“Daddy!” Lev yelled as he ran through the room to reach Ivan.
“Daddy!” Misha called out as a runner-up, dashing for Alexsei, who caught him.
“What about me?” Emil joked. He stopped and turned to Luka, holding his arms out. “Daddy?”
Luka rolled his eyes and shoved him to the side. I caught the smile he tried to hide.
“Okay, y’all seem too chill to come here with bad news…” Gabriella said as Luka hugged her.
“Lev?” Ivan asked as he held him and carried him toward me.
“What, Daddy?”
“How would you feel about changing your name to Lev Dubinin?”
He grinned, but stopped quickly to pout. “Only if Mama gets to, too.”
Oh, thank God.
The council voted to accept Lev as a Dubinin heir. It was a clear mark against anything my father could try next.
“You want me to be named Lev Dubinin too?” I teased.
“No, Mama!” He laughed as Ivan hugged me, making it a group hug.
“You need to be Raisa Dubinin,” he declared, not really getting the meaning of what Ivan and his family were telling us.
“Really?” I asked, keeping my tone playfully skeptical.
“Yes, Mama!” He grinned.
“Yeah,” Ivan said, smiling at me like he’d just won the world’s greatest reward.
He leaned lower to kiss me, sealing this kind-of proposal even further. I sighed, reveling in the perfection of his lips on mine.
When we parted, Lev wiggled to get down. “You are always kissing,” he whined mildly, making everyone else laugh.
“They do that before a baby comes,” Misha stated.
We all froze, then burst into laughter.
“Alexsei,” Gabriella scolded. “What kind of education are you letting that boy have?”
“Hey,” he shot back from the kitchen. “Don’t look at me.’ He pointed at her and Luka together. “This is your fault.” Then he spotted Ivan still hugging me, keeping his arms loosely around me. “And yours now, too.”
“Um, excuse me.” I set my hand on my hip since both boys had run off to play in the other room. “No one here has seen me pregnant. I’m an exception to this idea of being a live demonstration of what comes before a baby.”
“No one here has seen you pregnant yet,” Gabriella teased, bumping her hip against mine as she passed to pick up Andre.
I swore that kid would be the center of attention when he grew up. He always fussed when there was a crowd and he wasn’t held.
Later that night, Ivan and I had a family picnic with just the three of us. Lev chased butterflies in the twilight, making me smile at the innocence he still had.
It seemed like we were celebrating, and we really were. But I couldn’t wait to celebrate with Ivan. Alone.
“The second the vote came in and the family heads decreed that Lev was officially a Dubinin heir was one of the best feelings ever.”
I smiled at him. I could see it. His soft smiles of pride and joy. But then as I envisioned how happy he was at the news from this meeting, I imagined how furious my father would’ve looked. “Was he there?”
“Konstantine?” He shook his head. “We wondered.”
“I bet he wouldn’t risk it. Luka can’t be his only enemy. That’s why I was surprised when it sounded like Luka figured he could have some support.”
Ivan smirked. “Konstantin would only have allies in other enemies of ours, and we all know a new rival or enemy can pop up at any time. But you’re right.
Many grumbled about Konstantin. A ‘representative’ from the Petrov family appeared in Konstantin’s place.
But even that caused drama. Many are mad about the fights and feuds he was behind.
Some blamed him for damages from that last big war with the Cartel, the one where he let everyone think he was dead. ”
“He must really be pissed that we have a child,” I replied. “It was the trigger to pull him out of hiding.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Emil’s been working along the lines that Konstantin might’ve been trying to find you and follow you for a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he put the Riveras up to grabbing you outside Paris.”
I shrugged, crawling over the blanket to sit closer to him.
I don’t care.
I had my family now. Or I soon would. Ivan’s “proposals” would stick once I had a ring on my finger, but I knew I wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
Even if I wasn’t welcomed to be a Dubinin, it would be the end of my father.
I’d kill him before letting him threaten my son or lover.
I kissed Ivan’s smile right off his lips, excited that I could be this much closer to the dream of a family I’d longed for.
With you.
I kissed him again, and he grinned.
“Are you impatient to go to bed?” he teased.
“I’m impatient for the rest of my life to start—again—with you.”
He took hold of me with his hand on my neck, gently tugging me closer until he could kiss me. Then kiss me some more.
Until Lev sighed. “If you’re going to have a baby, I would like a sister, please.”
I laughed, falling back from Ivan as he chuckled too.
How about we make sure this baby is born when we’re married, though, huh?