Epilogue #2
The undertone in her words gave me pause.
Her disapproval. A sadness. Couldn’t say I didn’t understand her.
Theo needed to remember that he had a family.
He’d been gone more than he’d been around his bride.
If he didn’t pull his head out of his ass, I was going to give him a talking-to.
Although I had a feeling the guys would get dibs on him first.
“Well, go on inside. We can have wine, and Kolya is giving us the house tour.” I winked at Irina.
Before I closed the door, an anchor lifted from my heart, and I stared briefly at the trees again, tall like sentinels guarding the house, their leaves rustling delicately and blanketing the air with the invigorating tranquility of evergreens and woodsy spice.
Today was full of new beginnings. My thoughts went to Amber and Sasha.
Strangers before today, but in them I saw a familiar past. That little girl waiting for Papa Ivan to come home was gone.
That little girl had grown up and found so much more.
A family and a home.
Kolya
“I can go to Dubai,” I told Kirill. “Put Theo on a plane and remind him he has a wife waiting for him.”
I was showing Kirill the room I was going to turn into a home office for bratva meetings. Home office sounded hilarious and several one-eighties from my torture room.
“Lower your voice,” my pakhan hissed. “Maks said he’s taking care of it.”
“Maks? He has his own shit with Ophelia to fix.”
Kirill sighed, but there was an amused slant to his mouth. “Since when did we become experts in relationships?”
I shot him a smug smile. “Love of a good woman.” And I was pretty damn smug. And lucky. Chloe was mine. Every day I woke up and watched her sleep, admiring her long lashes, knowing she was the only woman who could bring me peace and not think of bloodshed by just that calming effect in her eyes.
“I sure hope you two are talking about us,” Lucy said, walking in with Chloe.
“Of course, Lusenka.” Kirill dragged Lucy into his arms. “I have eyes only for you.”
In another life, I would have snorted and laughed my head off, but wrapping my arms around Chloe, I couldn’t agree more. “How’s Sebastian?”
“Asleep in the stroller.”
“Beautiful house, guys,” Lucy told us before turning to Kirill. “Aralina and Gage are ready to go.”
“It’s only nine, and it’s the weekend,” I said.
Chloe had another week before she started her classes, but grade school began mid-August. That much I knew, given I’d researched and planned Sebastian’s educational development.
I didn’t graduate from college. I didn’t last past the second year.
Everything I learned was through reading and practical application, but education was important to Chloe, and I was finding out, everything my wife wanted, I made sure she fucking got.
Lucy rolled her lips, trying to control a grin. “Apparently Aralina and Gage are trying to make friends with a crow, and they wanted to be up early.”
“A crow?” Kirill repeated in bafflement.
Aralina and Gage appeared at the door. She pointed to her wrist.
“All right, we’re coming,” Kirill muttered and glanced at Chloe. “Your brother better pull his act together. I’m tired of acting as a chauffeur for family gatherings.”
Because I hadn’t installed security around the property yet, I limited the people who knew about it and put a ban on King employees, including their drivers and bodyguards.
“She just wants her big brother,” Lucy answered.
That seemed to appease Kirill, but I knew exactly what Aralina was doing.
The bodyguards would have had to clear it with Theo.
Or Aralina had cleared it with Theo herself.
And he couldn’t argue with his wife much, could he?
Especially when he was being neglectful.
Kirill suspected Ivan knew something or had done something that had pissed Theo off.
I sensed a breaking point. And it was coming soon.
When they left, I turned to Chloe. “Want to sleep here?”
“We could,” she said. “We have everything Sebastian needs, including his octopus. And you said you have a sleeping bag in the Escalade.”
The bedrooms weren’t furnished, but I told Chloe to take Sebastian to the one she liked and I would take care of hauling in the rest.
The house had seven rooms and with the same number of bathrooms, and three half-baths. Not unusually large by any means, and I figured once we had more children and outgrew the house, I’d worry about that later.
For now…
Chloe picked the biggest room. She opened the French doors to the balcony, sliding the screen to prevent night creatures from creeping in.
Besides the sound of the crickets and the breeze taunting the trees, the evening was peaceful.
Moments like this I reflected how the drive to do my job had shifted and I wasn’t complaining.
I didn’t see my job in shades of red anymore.
I saw it in every second I spent with my family assured of their security.
I considered their happiness my biggest achievement.
“Sure this is okay?” I asked fluffing the sleeping bag on the wood floor. “We don’t have pillows.” We had used the ones in the car for Sebastian.
“You can be my pillow,” Chloe said.
The sultry huskiness of her voice made my dick jump. I once wondered if Chloe and I would develop a secret language, and it appeared we had. And that was when we wanted to sneak in sex while Sebastian slept.
I glanced at our son. He was snoring lightly.
Fuck. My fingers flew to my zipper and grappled to unzip myself while my erection hardened painfully. That was how rapidly my wife turned me on with just the right words and inflection.
Chloe laughed breathlessly while lowering herself to the sleeping bag and wiggling herself out of her jeans.
I yanked off her sneakers to help her along and fumbled with her underwear.
In seconds, I was buried deep inside her.
Fuuckkk!
I gritted my teeth against her shoulder. She felt incredible. So snug. We just fit.
Sebastian made a tiny sound.
We froze.
We watched our son with bated breath. He resumed snoring.
Chloe and I locked eyes.
Hers crinkled at the corners and she giggled adorably.
“Oh my God, life with a toddler,” she breathed.
“I love it,” I said. “It’s thrilling.”
“You and your thrills.”
I cupped her face between my palms. “I love you.”
“Oh, Nikolai. I love you, too. Thank you for this house.” She circled her hips. “But now, please move.”
Ah, my perfect wife.
Giving me a perfect son.
And maybe a perfect daughter.
My perfect family.
Thank you for reading!