Epilogue - Sasha
I don’t even recognize the woman staring back at me in the mirror.
Six months ago, I was running for my life through London warehouses and dodging bullets in Adrian Belmont’s estate.
Today, I’m standing in my childhood bedroom at the compound, wearing a simple white dress and holding a bouquet of wildflowers that Katya picked from the garden this morning.
“You look beautiful,” Mila comments from behind me. She’s holding her daughter on one hip while trying to adjust my veil with her free hand. “Tony is going to lose his mind when he sees you.”
“That’s the goal.” I smooth my hands down the front of my dress and try to calm the butterflies rioting in my stomach.
The dress is nothing fancy. There’s no designer label, no elaborate beading or train.
Just soft white fabric that flows to my ankles and a neckline that shows off my collarbone. Exactly what I wanted.
Katya appears in the doorway with a glass of champagne. “The guests are seated. Dmitri is pacing holes in the carpet downstairs, and Alexei keeps threatening to give Tony one more chance to run.”
“He’s not going to run,” I reply with more confidence than I feel.
“Of course he’s not.” Katya hands me the champagne. “That man would walk through fire for you. Everyone can see it.”
I take a sip and let the bubbles settle my nerves. This is really happening. After everything we’ve been through, all the lies and revelations and near-death experiences, Tony and I are getting married. In less than an hour, he’ll be my husband.
The thought makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
“Are you ready?” Mila asks.
I set down the champagne glass and pick up my bouquet. The wildflowers smell like summer and new beginnings, their colors bright against my white dress.
“I’m ready.”
The ceremony takes place in the garden at Dmitri’s mansion, where someone has arranged white chairs in neat rows and strung flowers through the trees.
It’s small and intimate, just family and the few friends we trust enough to invite into this world.
Boris stands near the back with his arms crossed, looking uncomfortable in a suit but present nonetheless.
Dmitri meets me at the edge of the garden and offers his arm. My eldest brother looks handsome in his dark suit, and his eyes are suspiciously bright as he takes in my appearance.
“You look like Mama,” he mumbles. “She would have been so proud of you today.”
My throat constricts. “Don’t make me cry before I even get down the aisle.”
“I make no promises.” He squeezes my hand against his arm. “Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
The music begins, a soft melody played by a string quartet Katya hired for the occasion. Dmitri and I step onto the flower-lined path, and I see Tony waiting at the end.
He’s wearing a charcoal suit that fits him perfectly, and his hair is neatly combed for once.
But what stops my breath is his face. The moment he sees me, tears start rolling down his cheeks.
He doesn’t try to hide them or wipe them away.
He just stands there with his heart in his eyes, watching me walk toward him like I’m the most precious thing he’s ever seen.
By the time Dmitri places my hand in Tony’s, I’m crying too.
“Take care of her,” Dmitri tells Tony.
“With my life,” Tony replies.
The officiant begins the ceremony, but I barely hear the words. I’m too focused on Tony’s face, on the way he looks at me, on the warmth of his hands wrapped around mine. When it comes time for our vows, I take a shaky breath and speak from my heart.
“Tony, I spent years building walls around myself. Convincing myself that letting someone in would only lead to pain. That keeping my distance was the only way to stay safe. You didn’t just break through those walls.
You showed me they were never protecting me in the first place. They were just keeping me lonely.”
A fresh tear slides down his cheek, and I reach up to brush it away.
“I promise to trust you with my heart, even when it’s scary. To choose vulnerability over safety, and love over fear. To build a life with you that’s worth every battle we fought to get here.” My voice cracks on the last words. “I love you, Tony. More than I ever thought I could love anyone.”
Tony takes a moment to compose himself before speaking. When he does, his voice is rough with emotion.
“Sasha, I walked into your life under false pretenses. I was supposed to be your enemy. I was supposed to destroy everything you loved.” He shakes his head and adds, “Instead, you destroyed everything I thought I knew about myself. You showed me that I was capable of being more than just a weapon. That I could be a partner. A protector. A man worth loving.”
He lifts our joined hands and presses a kiss to my knuckles.
“I promise to choose you every single day for the rest of my life. Not because it’s easy, but because you’re worth every sacrifice.
Every risk. Every terrifying moment.” His eyes lock with mine.
“You gave me a future I didn’t think I deserved.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret it. ”
When the officiant pronounces us husband and wife, Tony kisses me like we’re the only two people in the world. The guests cheer and clap, but I barely register the sound. All I know is the feeling of his lips on mine and the absolute certainty that I made the right choice.
The reception is held inside the mansion, which has been transformed with flowers and candles and white linen.
Food covers every surface, and vodka flows freely.
Dmitri gives a toast that manages to be both threatening and heartfelt, while Alexei’s speech consists mostly of thinly veiled warnings about what will happen to Tony if he ever hurts me.
“Your brothers are terrifying,” Tony mutters as we take the floor for our first dance.
“They’re protective.” I slide my arms around his neck. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Will I?”
“Eventually.” I smile up at him. “Besides, you can handle yourself. I’ve seen you in action.”
Tony pulls me closer as we sway to the music. “This is the happiest I’ve ever been,” I tell him. “Right here, right now, in your arms. I didn’t know it was possible to feel like this.”
He rests his forehead against mine. “You’ve given me a life I didn’t think was possible. A family. A home. A reason to wake up every morning that isn’t just about survival.” He brushes a kiss across my lips. “I love you, Mrs. Volkov.”
“I love you too, Mr. Volkov.”
We dance until my feet ache, then make our rounds thanking guests and accepting congratulations. By the time we finally slip away, the party is still going strong, but neither of us can wait any longer.
Our apartment is quiet when we arrive, a welcome contrast to the celebration we left behind. Tony carries me over the threshold like something out of an old movie, and I laugh as he kicks the door closed behind us.
“That’s very traditional of you,” I tease.
“I can be traditional.” He sets me down gently. “When it matters.”
The bedroom is lit with candles that someone must have set up while we were at the reception. Rose petals cover the bed. It’s romantic and perfect and exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.
Tony stands behind me and slowly unzips my dress. The fabric gathers at my feet, and I step out of it wearing nothing but white lace and my wedding ring.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers against my neck. “Every time I look at you, I can’t believe you’re real. That you’re mine.”
I turn in his arms and start working the buttons of his shirt. “I’ve been yours since the moment you covered my body with yours in that gallery. I just didn’t know it yet.”
His shirt joins my dress on the floor, followed by his pants and my remaining scraps of lace. When we finally tumble onto the bed, there’s nothing between us but skin and promises.
This time is different from all the others.
There’s no desperation driving us, no fear or danger or unresolved conflict.
Just two people who chose each other completely, celebrating that choice with their bodies.
Tony kisses me slowly, taking his time, mapping every inch of my mouth with his tongue.
I arch into him and let my hands explore the planes of his back, the scars that tell stories I now know by heart.
He trails his lips down my throat and between my breasts, worshipping every curve and hollow. When he reaches the apex of my thighs, he looks up at me with eyes full of love.
“I want to taste every part of you,” he says. “I want to memorize how you sound when you come apart for me.”
I spread my legs wider in invitation, and he accepts with a groan. His mouth finds my center, and his tongue flicks and flattens in patterns that make me gasp and writhe against the sheets. He takes his time, building my pleasure in waves that crest and recede until I’m begging him for release.
“Please,” I moan. “Tony, please.”
He slides two fingers inside me while his tongue circles my most sensitive spot. The combination sends me hurtling over the edge with a cry that echoes off the walls. He doesn’t stop, working me through the aftershocks until I’m trembling and oversensitive.
When he finally crawls back up my body, I pull him into a kiss and taste myself on his lips.
“I need you inside me,” I tell him. “I need to feel you.”
Tony positions himself at my entrance and pauses, looking down at me with such tenderness that my eyes well up again.
“My wife,” he whispers like he’s testing out the word. “I’m never going to get tired of saying that.”
He pushes inside me slowly, letting me feel every inch. When he’s fully seated, we both go still, savoring the connection. This is what it feels like to be complete. To have found the missing piece I didn’t know I was looking for.
Then he starts to move.
His thrusts are deep and measured, each one hitting exactly the right spot. I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him closer, wanting to eliminate any remaining distance between us. Our bodies find a rhythm as natural as breathing, give and take, push and pull.
“You feel incredible,” he groans against my neck. “So perfect. Like you were made for me.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders as another climax builds at the base of my spine. “Harder,” I demand. “I want to feel you for days.”
Tony adjusts his angle and picks up the pace. The new position sends sparks shooting through my entire body, and I cry out with each thrust. He captures my mouth in a searing kiss, swallowing my sounds of pleasure as he drives us both toward the edge.
“Come with me,” he pants. “I want to feel you come around me.”
His hand slips between us and finds my clit, where he rubs circles in time with his thrusts. The dual sensation pushes me over the edge, and I shatter with his name on my lips. He follows seconds later with a groan that seems to originate from somewhere deep in his soul.
We collapse together in a tangle of sweaty limbs and satisfied sighs. Tony rolls to the side and pulls me against his chest, and I nestle into his warmth like I was born to fit there.
“I love you,” he murmurs against my hair. “More than I thought I was capable of loving anyone. You’ve changed everything about who I am and what I want from life.”
I tilt my face up to kiss his jaw. “Loving you is the best choice I’ve ever made. The only choice, really. My heart decided before my head had any say in the matter.”
He chuckles and tightens his arms around me. “Get some sleep, Mrs. Volkov. We have the rest of our lives to figure out what comes next.”
I close my eyes and let exhaustion claim me, feeling safer than I’ve ever felt in my life. Wrapped in my husband’s arms, in our home, with our future stretching out before us like an open road.
(Turn the page to grab the bonus epilogue!)