Chapter 28Zane
28
Zane
“ S ince we’re stuck here for a while, I’d like to know more about the man I’m having a child with,” Monroe says as she joins me out by the pool.
I lower my sunglasses, watching her hips swing in a bright red bikini as she walks toward me. I might not be able to talk much when I’m drooling over her like this. How is it that she can be so beautiful without even having to try?
I put my hands behind my head, leaning back on my recliner as she sits on the one to my left. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know, actually,” she says with a laugh. “But I feel like we don’t really know much about each other’s pasts. What was it like for you growing up?”
“Oh god,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I feel like this isn’t the time to get into this.”
“Why not? It’s the perfect time,” she insists.
“Okay, but you go first,” I say, unwilling to share my troubled childhood before she shares hers. It can’t be nearly as bad.
“I had a nice childhood,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. “A lot of nice summers in that house. You know, the one that burned down.”
“Maksim will pay for that,” I growl, feeling a surge of heat in my chest.
Monroe reaches out and places a cool hand on my arm. “Relax, baby. Let’s not get into that right now. I’m trying to treat our little rendezvous like a mini vacation.”
I exhale my anger, settling back into my recliner. “Okay, go ahead.”
“Thank you. I was just saying that I grew up in that house, which is why I stayed there after my parents died. It was all I had left of them, aside from the memories.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, feeling a pain in my soul that I recognize as empathy. It’s been a while since I felt anything like it.
“It’s okay. I think I was clinging to it for too long, unable to fully let go. I actually feel better now that it’s gone, even though that’s never what I wanted. I guess the universe was telling me it was time to move on.”
I nod. “My parents died in a house fire, but I already mentioned that. We’re not so different.”
“A drunk driver killed mine,” she says. “Killed himself in the process, so there was really nobody to be mad at after that. I was just sad for a long time, unable to let go. I was living life on autopilot until one of your guys dropped off that package at my house.”
“Wasn’t one of my guys,” I say, waving my hand. “Tema made the mistake, but I’m glad he did. I’m sorry about your parents, and about the house. I wish I could do something to bring them back, but I’m just a man, as much as I’d like to be something greater.”
She hits me in the arm. “You are greater, Zane. You’re the most incredible man I’ve met, so don’t say that.”
I rub my arm, but secretly, I love it when she touches me, even if it hurts. I want her all over me every day and night for the rest of my life, and I’m not even scared of it anymore. I’m in love.
“How did you become the man you are?” she asks, her tone shifting to a sweeter one. “I’d like to know. Did you grow up in Russia?”
“Somewhat. Half in Russia, half in the United States,” I reply, thinking back to the cold winters that ultimately brought my family here. “The weather was the main factor, but my father used to talk about money like he cared about such things. In reality, he didn’t mind being poor, and my mother was always telling me that love mattered more than anything.”
“Do you believe that?” she asks.
I sit up, adjusting my sunglasses before looking at her. She’s the very definition of love, and I can’t imagine ever giving her up. I was ready to ditch the insider stock information and risk losing Tema as a business partner just to keep her.
“Yes,” I say slowly. “I see what she was saying now, but I didn’t when I was younger. Love matters more than anything.”
Her lips curl up in a smile, and I swear she could run the world with it. “I agree,” she says. “Our love is the most important thing to me. We need it if we’re to raise the baby right.”
I rub the tips of my fingers against my forehead. “I will warn you, if the baby is anything like me when I was young, they’re going to be a wild child.”
She laughs, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Now I have to know.”
“I was just trouble from day one. Stealing, breaking into places, getting into fights. I couldn’t control myself, and neither could my parents,” I explain with a shrug.
“I’m not surprised, honestly. How else would you end up being a Bratva boss?”
I chuckle. “There are many ways into the industry, but for me, it was a matter of deciding I was sick of being broke, and especially once my parents died, I saw no reason to be a decent human being anymore. There was no love left. It was all about money.”
I take a breath, then add, “That was, until I met you. When I realized how I felt, and what I would do to keep you, I knew I needed to become a better man."
"I think the same thing happened to me, though," she says. "I used to have goals. Dreams. And then my parents died, and I just gave up on them, and everything else. You changed me for the better too, and I know it sounds crazy, but I don't care. I'm in love with you, and I'd follow you anywhere."
"Good," I say, grabbing her arm. "Because I'm not letting you out of my sight."
She laughs, and I pull her onto my lap, her body warm against mine. The sun beats down on us, but I love the way it feels. It's been so long since I was able to lay back and enjoy what nature has to offer. It's so much more satisfying than numbers on a screen. Sure, money is nice, but as they say, the best things in life are free.
"Can I ask you something?" Monroe says, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Of course," I reply.
"When you said you wanted to marry me, was it just a joke?" she asks, and I can hear the fear in her voice. It's the sound of a woman who is secretly terrified that I won't stick with her through her pregnancy, the sound of a woman who has been let down by men int he past.
But I'm not going to let her down. Not now, and not ever.
I reach up and stroke her cheek, gazing into her beautiful brown eyes. "It wasn't a joke, and I meant every word. I want you to be my bride before you have our child."
She gasps, grabbing my hand and pulling it from her cheek. "But that's so soon! Are you sure?"
"Never been more sure of anything in my life," I reply. "But you'll have to wait until I'm ready to propose. A beautiful woman like you deserves a beautiful ring, don't you think?"
She laughs. "Zane, you know you don't have to give me anything crazy. I haven't even said I'll marry you yet."
"Well, I haven't asked," I reply with a wink. I know by now that she's in love with me, and regardless of what happens, I'm never going to let her go. She'll give in eventually, and when the time is right, I'm going to drop to one knee and make her my wife.
She sighs, but a smile spreads across her face. "I love you, Zane," she says, pressing her lips to mine.
"I love you, Monroe," I whisper.