16. Phoenix
PHOENIX
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
However, there was no way I’d voice that, because my husband would have us packed and gone in less than a minute. Instead, I paced around the Nikolaevs’ living room, trying to release the tension and this ominous sixth sense that seemed to come packaged with motherhood.
A tap on the shoulder had me yelping from surprise, and I whirled around to find Branka standing with a wide smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
My hand gripped my chest and I released a deep breath before I managed a smile. “ I shouldn’t be startled. After all, I’m in the living room and the house is full .”
“I’m so glad you guys joined,” she said, signing at the same time as she took a seat on a couch. “Are you having a hard time sleeping too?”
My eyes flicked to the clock that showed eleven o’clock, and I realized I’d been pacing for an hour, lost in thought.
“ Probably the jet lag ,” I signed.
She smiled. “I’m surprised Dante let you out of his sight.”
“ He’s on a call with the Omertà .” I waved my hand and took a seat across from her. “ Probably discussing marriage terms .”
“I still can’t believe those two are willing to marry her off”—Branka snapped her fingers with an angry expression—“just like that.”
Maybe it was that which bothered me.
I understood the need for the marriage alliance, but I didn’t like where that left our daughter. I wanted love for her. Anything less was cruel and unfair.
“How do you feel about it, Phoenix?” Branka asked.
I released a heavy sigh before answering. “ I want love and passion for Skye. An arranged marriage with a stranger won’t give her that. She deserves better. ”
Branka nodded; she understood better than anyone.
“ I almost wish Skye would fall madly in love and run away to marry a boy. Anything is better than a cold marriage .”
Branka pursed her lips. “Don’t let Sasha and Dante hear you. They’d skin that poor boy alive, whoever he turns out to be.”
I winced. “ You’re right .”
“I actually hope she takes her time before falling in love,” Branka remarked. “She’s so young.”
“ Agreed, but considering time restraints with this arrangement— ” I pointed out. “ Let’s hope for sooner. ”
Skye was so lucky to have the Nikolaevs in her life.
Sasha and Branka would protect her at all costs, just like Dante and I would.
In fact, Dante and Sasha were so overbearing and overprotective that nobody had ever dared approach her.
Unfortunately, it made it impossible for Skye to experience the things I was sure other twenty-year-olds did.
“ I saw Damien and Skye talking at dinner ,” I pointed out, changing subjects. “ Do you know what they’re up to ?”
“I noticed that too. But you know those two…” Branka shrugged, rolling her eyes playfully. “Thick as thieves.”
“ True siblings .” I leaned over and took her hand in mine. “ We’re lucky they get along so well .”
Guilt passed her expression before she schooled it. “You know, we never talked about…”
I sensed where she was going, and I squeezed her hand. “ Even if I’d known then that I’d miscarry and be unable to have any more, I still would have chosen to carry your and Sasha’s baby .”
“Really?”
“ Absolutely .”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’m so grateful you did, but the guilt has never stopped eating at me.”
I shook my head. “ I truly believe that even if I hadn’t carried Damien, Dante’s and my outcome would have been the same. But I’m glad that we could give you and Sasha a beautiful baby boy. ”
“You're a better person than I am.”
“ Hardly. You two protected our girl until I could find her. ” I chuckled. “ So let’s put it all behind us. Only lightness ahead. ”
When I entered the bedroom, I found Dante seated in the armchair, wrapping up a phone call.
I leaned against the bedpost and admired the man who’d aged like fine wine. His dark hair was streaked with silver around his temples, but other than that, he looked just like he did twenty years ago.
My handsome devil.
My knees still went weak around him, and when he kissed me, the entire world faded into nothing.
We’d endured some obstacles over the years, but I wouldn’t trade my life for anything. I loved it just the way it was. And I loved him more than any words could express.
The only dark cloud that sometimes lurked in a faraway castle was my grandmother who I never reconciled with, much to her dismay.
People said that time cured all wounds and forgiveness came easy.
That was a load of shit. I hated what she’d done and the years we’d lost because of her even more today than I did when I learned of her betrayal.
She cost Dante and me our beginning and years of our lives, and even more unforgivable, those of our daughter.
Dante sighed and threw his phone on the nearby table, crooking his finger to beckon me over, and my grandmother was instantly forgotten.
I smiled, playing coy, and shook my head, knowing exactly where that would lead.
“Wife, when you look at me like that, it should be illegal to deny me.”
I chuckled. “ I’m not denying you. I want to talk first .”
He sighed. “Let me guess. Skye and the arrangement.”
“ I don’t agree with just marrying her off to anyone .”
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. “Amadeo Marchetti isn’t just anyone, my dandelion. And his last name will keep her protected should something happen to me.”
Just the thought of something happening to Dante sent a sharp pain through my chest.
I padded across the room, my feet sinking into the Persian rug, until I reached him. “ The Nikolaevs have our backs. You’re not going anywhere, and neither are they. ”
Dante and Sasha tolerated each other at best. He blamed Sasha—irrationally, which my husband knew—for the fact that we couldn’t have any more children. Dante felt that Sasha—not Branka—stole the one healthy pregnancy that was supposed to be ours.
Emotions were a funny thing, and despite the reason telling him otherwise, my husband couldn’t let it go.
Hence why we continued to go in this circle of the two men bickering like hell to be the number one man in Skye’s life.
Right now, they were just like children, competing for Skye’s affection and trying to be the superior parent.
It was certainly a good problem to have, despite their constant yapping and bickering.
But I knew Dante respected the rest of the Nikolaevs. In fact, I believed my husband respected Sasha too, but the two were too far down the road of bickering all the time to stop. But if push came to shove, in my heart I knew they’d have each other’s backs.
“Their family has their own problems and have to protect their own.” Dante could be so stubborn sometimes. “I don’t want to leave anything to chance when it comes to Skye.”
“ They’ll never stop protecting her, and we’re here too. ”
“I need you protected as well if something happens to me, Nix. If I die?—”
I put my finger to his mouth.
“ Don’t talk like that ,” I scolded him, taking a seat on his lap. “ I wouldn’t survive it .”
“You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
I shook my head. “ You give me more credit than I deserve. Just don’t say that again. You and me… we’ll go together. Like Romeo and Juliet .”
His brows met his hairline. “Baby, those two were a tragedy. We’re a fairy tale.”
My lips curved into a soft smile. “ That’s what I want to talk to you about. ”
“A fairy tale?”
“ Yes, I want a fairy tale for Skye .” His jaw clenched, but he didn’t comment. “ She won’t get all that she deserves marrying a stranger. ”
“I want the same for our daughter, but for that to happen, she needs to live. We already know from the last few raids that the traffickers are targeting children of criminal families . ”
“ We can protect her ,” I reasoned, trying my best not to shudder. If I had to, I would repeat these words until I turned blue. Or until Dante finally caved. “ So can the Nikolaevs. Do we really need to push her into this arranged marriage ?”
Dante let out a tired sigh and guilt flickered in my chest. “I was able to push their wedding by a year. Maybe by that time, the threat will be eliminated.”
I doubted that, and so did he, judging by his tone. Organ trafficking had taken off and was too lucrative to just die down on its own.
“ Marchetti isn’t one for backing down on any deal. Luca DiMauro could attest to that, ” I reminded him softly.
“I know, dandelion. Don’t I fucking know it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I should just kill him.”
“ His wife—who’s my very good friend, in case you forgot—would be heartbroken. ”
“Friends and family,” he muttered. “Sometimes they make even more trouble than enemies.”
I chuckled. “ Maybe, but we love them anyway. If there’s one thing I know for certain, Dante, it’s that you’ll ensure our baby’s happy. ”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I let my fingers brush through his hair before I kissed his forehead. I inhaled his scent deep into my lungs while his hands tightened around my waist.
Taking my throat in a firm grip, he pulled away slightly.
“I love you, Nix. I’d turn this world red for you and our daughter.” All levity had vanished from his tone. “And I promise you this: if the Marchetti boy makes Skye unhappy, I’ll find a way to end him.”
The corners of my lips tipped up. “ That’s an awful thing to say, but I love you even more for it .”
“As long as you love me.”
His lips found mine and I sighed into his mouth.
I loved him so much that I’d paint this world into all shades of red for him too.
It wasn’t sweet or gentle. It was the swelling, hopeful kind of love that had been slowly growing over the years, to the point that it felt like it’d explode in my chest if he didn’t love me too.