Epilogue - Emily
Fast-forward a year later…
“This is a very proud moment for me. It’s our first event under the Hope Orphanage House, an initiative very, very close to my heart. You see, I was an orphan at the Darcy Home for Boys and Girls, and if I didn’t have that place, I might have ended up on the streets of Chicago as a young child, or worse trafficked or dead.” I stand on the podium behind the lectern giving my inauguration ceremony speech for my new orphanage house under my name. “It’s a dream come true to be able to change the course of history and the lives of young orphans from all around the world. Not just Chicago. It’s been a labor of love, and not one I take lightly. This is important work that has to be done. Thank you, and welcome to the first chapter of Hope Orphanage with many more to come.”
Loud applause rings out from the crowd as dignitaries, volunteers, important government officials, and powerful people stand. Even Chicago’s mayor is here. Overwhelmed by the huge amount of support, I hold back my tears not wanting to ruin my makeup. Stacy, Kiara, and Laura are all in the front row cheering and supporting me.
Jackson, Milton, and Brady are in the crowd too, and it’s a miracle they’re here today. I never thought I would see them again. Or that Jackson would want anything to do with me, but as I stare out at their faces and see the pride they have in me, I know I didn’t lose anything when I left the department, and married. I enriched my life and gained everything.
Finding Lucy, my orphan mate from Darcy’s Girls and Boys Home was the icing on the cake, and she looks better than ever working in not-for-profit. Ms. Jenkins eyes sparkle in the crowd as she sits beside her. God bless her. She’s the one who helped me locate her in the first place.
My life has truly come full circle in the best possible way despite all the bumpy roller-coaster ride it’s been.
I’ve done it. I’ve changed things in the world for the better, bringing my own form of justice and peace. Those nasty memories of going hungry in the orphanage and not being able to sleep at night and the gross negligence and mistreatment from the nuns, all of it’s been transformed. I couldn’t go back to the police department, and after Arabelle, I didn’t want to. The job was too dangerous and my motivations to be a part of it in the first place weren’t of pure intent. But the Hope Orphanage is.
Ryurik was in full support of me when I mentioned the lofty dream, not long after Arabelle’s birth when we were snuggled in on the couch one night. “I want to save children from all around the world, giving them a safe haven. Right here in Chicago. I don’t want them to grow up like I did. It would be amazing if I could start my own orphanage.”
“There’s nothing stopping you from doing that. I have the connections and the money to help you do it. You would be the perfect person to lead it. Tell me when you’re ready and we can make that happen.” Stunned that he would consider it, I almost backed down from it, but Ryurik kept dropping hints about the venture, and providing me with information for real estate available around Chicago. Next came the volunteers I got involved, rebuilding and restructuring an old warehouse on the outskirts of a good neighborhood in Chicago.
When I saw the space, I was hooked, and right away, as I stood on the building’s foundation, I knew I’d found my purpose and what I wanted to work on for the rest of my life. That’s when the dream grew wings and the intensive discussions, and international flights to meet with government officials began.
Reams of paperwork had to be filed, and to this day I know Ryurik pulled strings on the back end to make this happen so fast. Doing something like this without his help would likely have taken more than five to ten years.
And as I step off the stage, I see my husband, Ryurik, holding Arabelle in his arms, lightly rocking her back and forth, melting my heart. He looks like the same Bratva man I met, only better with his tousled hair, sex appeal, and hot green eyes, but I know different—he’s changed and stepped into fatherhood in a major way.
He’s softer with me, kinder, and more compassionate. I’m under no false pretenses about his occupation, and I’ve come to accept it comes part and parcel with all that Ryurik is. I grin as I stretch out my arms looking at Arabelle’s chubby cheeks. Her cute smile lights me up on the inside.
Her hair is blonde, full of ringlets, but so was mine when I was a little older than her, then it changed and became increasingly darker as I got older. I wonder if Arabelle’s hair is going to do that as she becomes older. All I know is, I look forward to seeing all her changes along the way, guiding her with every step. Between Ryurik and me, she’s in good hands.
Arabelle giggles, clapping her tiny hands together and I gasp.
“Arabelle, are you clapping for me?” Ryurik grins, shaking his head, pride shining in his eyes.
“You were a natural up there. Well done. I’m so proud of you.” I kiss him lightly as Arabelle coos and I take her, putting her on my hip. She can walk, but I like to have her in my arms from time to time. She twirls her finger in my styled hair, grinning and scrunching up her cute boopable nose. I kiss it, my heart full to the brim.
“Thank you. I can’t believe this day has arrived. I’m so happy, Ryurik.” Elated, he gives my hand a squeeze as we head down the auditorium stairs as a family. Arabelle grows too heavy, so I gently put her down as she holds both our hands, and we reach the bottom of the stairs. She’s a fast learner and has been on her feet walking around unassisted from ten months old.
“I’m glad you saw it through,” Ryurik says as I see Arabelle look up at Ryurik with love in her eyes. Every time I see her with him, it does something to me, healing me in some way because I was robbed of the fatherly love I was supposed to receive.
“Me too.” Ryurik kept to his word, dismantling Paul’s business, disbanding the syndicate he was a part of. Some of those men work for Ryurik now. He’s branching out into casinos and gaining more business than ever. He’s gone sometimes a little more than I would like, but again, I’ve had to come to terms with all that he is, and I have.
Bratva is in his blood, and I can’t lie and say I wasn’t attracted to the darkness of him in the first place. Maybe it’s because of my father, who I don’t communicate with anymore, either way, Paul Butcher’s name is mud in Chicago. The last I heard was he’s had to start over in a new state. I don’t know where exactly, and don’t care. All I care about is the loving family I’ve now built.
After all the meeting and greeting with people for the event, I’m ready to retire home.
“Wow, what a day,” I tell Ryurik as we drive home.
“Wow is right. It’s going to be fantastic for you, and I’m happy you’ll be able to take Arabelle to work with you every day.”
“Yes, I can. Would you like to meet all the children, Arabelle?”
Arabelle laughs, but nods. “Yes.” I blow her a kiss, and soon we are home, sweet home. Putting her to bed, Ryurik and I sit in the kitchen rehashing all the highlights from the event.
“Do you think fifty rooms is enough to start with?” I ask, my mind thinking I might not have done enough.
Ryurik narrows his eyes at me, finishing up his water. “Can you stop stressing? It’s enough to start with. You have twenty-five children arriving in the next few weeks. It’s the perfect start. No need to rush. You can’t save the whole world, Emily,” he advises, his eyebrow shifting upwards with a sweet smile.
Electricity sparkles between us, as our eyes meet. “I hear you, and I wish.” Ryurik is a sexy man, and I have to pinch myself in reminder that I’m the one who’s married to him.
“Now can you get over here? You’re too far away for my liking. Get over here,” he commands, scooting his chair back and lightly grabbing my wrist and bringing me towards his lap.
I bring my face down to kiss him. There’s so much desire rushing through me. Ryurik’s eyes darken, his mouth growing more insistent as I whimper against his lips, wanting him badly. I’m only sitting on one side of his lap, but he quickly changes that, grabbing my ass and moving my leg over, so I’m straddled across him and facing him in the chair.
He gently unclips the hairpins keeping the front part of my hair in place, dropping my locks around my face. “That’s better,” he proclaims, cupping my ass and inhaling into my neck. “Damn you smell fucking good, and you look even better. I wanted to take you off the stage so many times,” Ryurik growls possessively, a light throb pulsing between my legs.
This man turns me on, and always has. Draping my arms around his neck, I reposition myself, the hard length of his cock present. Ryurik groans as I rotate my hips, pressing his eyes shut.
“Don’t start anything you can’t finish, Mrs. Utkin,” he warns, taking over my mouth in hot possession, our tongues diving together in the fury of our blatant need for each other. I can’t stop once I’ve started, the steam of our love heating up the room.
“I won’t. Believe me,” I whisper with a light pant as I gyrate on him in a pleasurable torture. I keep my eyes open, watching him, his hands moving all over my body. I want more and more of him. “I want you inside me,” I tell him with a deep craving in my voice. Ryurik’s eye fly open, his green eyes sinking into mine, making me want to sail away.
“Your wish is my command. Maybe we can get started on baby number two,” he replies huskily with a counteroffer of his own. He fingers the fabric of my silk shirt deftly slipping it up and over my head, revealing the swell of my bosom and a lacy lavender bra.
He runs his fingers over the top of my breasts from one to the other as I shiver in delight. Closing my eyes, he replaces his fingers with his mouth sprinkling light kisses and quick flicks of his tongue against my hot skin.
Considering the idea, I murmur, “I think that’s a good idea Mr. Utkin. Especially the part about getting started.”
“Say no more,” he replies croakily, his manhood paying even more attention now, but he’s taking his time, and I like it when we’re like this—slow in our lovemaking and enjoying each other. He kisses my neck, and I tilt backwards allowing Ryurik to run a line of kisses from under my chin down my throat.
“Hmm,” I murmur as he lands a kiss on my collarbone. I start to move my hips unconsciously on him, barely able to control all the sensations in my body.
This slow-burn, sensual foreplay is making us both groan way too much. “Come on. Let’s take this to the bedroom,” Ryurik suggests as he slides me off him and I rise up, walking forward into the darkness of the long passageway to our bedroom.
The room feels cool, as I’d been running the air-conditioning earlier and it paid off. I flick on the bedside lamp for an amber glow, wanting to take in the masculine force that Ryurik is. My mouth parts as I stand shifting my hair from my face, waiting for his next move, partially naked.
Ryurik’s hair hangs low over his eyes, his muscles twitching as he tugs his shirt all the way off, discarding it onto the floor, the familiar smell of his favorite cologne breezing into the air with it.
God, I love that smell of him. I crave Ryurik like never before. Wiggling out of my panties in front of him, Ryurik gobbles me up with his eyes, finishing the job by unclasping my bra and freeing my breasts.
“Fucking beautiful,” he rasps under the hazy bed lamp’s glow, my heart pulsing wildly in my chest. The unquenchable desire we have for each other has reached its peak for as Ryurik swivels me back on the bed. I land gently, my hair spreading out everywhere.
Ryurik slowly moves south to pleasure me, and he might know most of my body by now, but he still has a playbook of moves I’ve never experienced before. When he hits the right spot, I feel the waves of my body rippling in ecstasy.
“Ryurik,” I whisper as he trails kisses up the side of my flesh, his hair tickling my skin as his body hovers over mine. I reach for his chest, biting my lip. “Get inside me,” I beg, insatiable for him tonight. It might be the promise of another baby sending me into horny overdrive.
Ryurik grins. “You taste sooo good,” he replies in a hoarse tone. Sweat from our lovemaking starts to form on my body as Ryurik gives me what I want, slowly opening me up, slipping in and out. I feel the second coming of an orgasm, the rising ache building throughout about to burst free again. I match Ryurik’s fast pace, pressing harder against him as he picks up speed, exploding as I let go, crying out.
“ Ry! Ohh, Ry.” Panting, he doesn’t hold on any longer either, climaxing in union with me.
Spent and happy, we lay beside each other, our chests expanding and contracting from the exertion. He kisses me one more time with a grin, falling back. “You are incredible, Mrs. Utkin, but you’re trying to kill me in here,” Ryurik jokes.
I turn on my side to face him, my long locks falling between the curves of my breasts. I wrinkle my nose at him. “You are too, Mr. Utkin. You had me at the staircase of Blindside.” I smile, feeling playful, staring at Ryurik’s abdominals, feeling the urge for more.
He stares at me with curiosity, running a finger down the middle of my body. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
“You know why. I’m feeling frisky. Can we go a second round?” I ask seductively.
“Right. That’s it. I’m convinced you’re trying to kill me.”
“No. Just want to make good on this second baby.”
Ryurik grins, putting a finger to my lips. “I’m joking. I can’t get enough of you, Mrs. Utkin.”
Ryurik coming into my life has twisted it inside out and upside down in ways I would never believe, but in the end, we’re just two sides of the same coin. We belong together. Forever.
*****
THE END