Chapter 29 - Nikolai
Dinner with my family is never quiet, and tonight is no exception.
The private room Roman reserved at one of the older luxury restaurants off the Strip is loud with overlapping conversations, glasses clinking together, and enough opinions exchanged around the table to qualify as a small war.
Sergey is halfway through antagonizing Ivan over something involving inventory routes while Wyatt still looks deeply resigned to the fact that nobody in this family is capable of speaking at a normal volume.
Through all of it, Danielle somehow manages to settle into the chaos with surprising ease, more like she has grown fond of it, and I can’t stop watching her.
She’s seated beside me near the middle of the long table, smiling faintly while Mila shows her pictures of Alexei on her phone for what must be the tenth time tonight. It doesn’t matter how many times they gush over him; she’s still just as happy to participate.
“Don’t be fooled by his cute face,” Ivan says dryly from across the table, feigning irritation. “He screams at night on purpose.”
“He just inherited your spite,” Sergey informs him.
Roman gives Sergey a pointed look. “I think he gets his volume from his uncle. You specifically.”
He throws his hands up in surrender, and laughter breaks out around the table again.
Beside me, Dani laughs too, and the sound calms everything inside me.
There was a time when her more gentle reactions were hard to comedy, and when grief hollowed her out so completely that even smiling looked painful.
Now, she’s relaxed into the evening with loose shoulders and a warm expression beneath the soft restaurant lighting.
She still gets overwhelmed around all of us at times, but she no longer looks like she’s bracing for impact every second she’s here.
Instead, she belongs, and that satisfies me more than I ever would’ve guessed.
Mikhail catches me staring at her at one point and smirks knowingly over the rim of his drink, but I choose to ignore him.
He knows exactly what I’m thinking, and I don’t even want to try hiding it.
The conversation eventually shifts toward business as it always does with my family, though tonight it’s less immediate than usual. The Malenkov situation has come to a close, but there are always other problems simmering beneath the surface. The quiet can only last for so long.
“Any updates from Artem?” Roman asks after a while, reaching for his wine glass.
“Now that Malenkov is out of the way, he’s back to tracking Yuri and Maksim. Artem thinks there are issues in the Balakin ranks.”
“Like what?”
“Split allegiances,” Mikhail continues, looking more serious now. “The rumor is, after Maksim took Yuri’s place, some of their men have aligned themselves with his cause, and Yuri’s trying to claw it back.”
Ivan huffs. “Typical. Maybe they’ll collapse themselves in the background.”
“If only it were that easy,” Roman murmurs, sounding more lost in thought now.
“Artem is a bloodhound,” Sergey says, loaded with confidence in our cousin. “He’ll find them.”
“He always does.”
Dani glances toward me briefly at the mention of Artem and the others, curiosity flickering behind her eyes, but she doesn’t interrupt the conversation. She has learned quickly when to listen around my family, even if some topics don’t seem important.
Smart woman.
Eventually, Elena smoothly redirects everyone away from work entirely before Roman can spiral into another strategy discussion over dinner, and the other wives look relieved.
For once, I’m grateful too, since tonight feels too good to ruin, and I want to sit in that feeling for as long as possible.
By the time dessert arrives, Kat is openly teasing Sergey along with everyone else after he dramatically claims the restaurant’s espresso is ‘insulting to Slavic suffering’, and the look she gives him says everything.
“You’re impossible,” she tells him.
Sergey just grins with an arm draped over her shoulders. “See? You understand me.”
“She definitely did not say that,” Elena replies.
Dani laughs again, and before I can stop myself, my hand settles against the back of her chair almost possessively, more like I want to keep some of that warmth just for me.
She glances at me briefly, catching the movement, and her expression softens instantly.
That one look is enough to shift my mind into places it shouldn’t go right now, and I already know I’m gone for this woman in ways I never anticipated.
Maybe in ways I should’ve seen coming long ago, even if I was still clinging to my pride.
Dinner eventually winds down after another hour of conversation and barely controlled chaos. Then, chairs scrape back from the table while everyone slowly filters toward the valet entrance outside.
The warm night wraps around us immediately, while neon light reflects across polished black vehicles lined up along the curb.
There’s a round of lingering goodbyes as usual, since we can never get out the door without talking even more.
The girls exchange their hugs, showering Dani with the usual compliments. Even Roman gives her a nod of approval that probably qualifies as affection by now, and through all of it, she handles herself beautifully.
Rather than being nervous or hesitant, she lives in the moment, accepting everything that comes with knowing my family. She does it all while being at my side.
By the time we finally slide into the SUV, I feel strangely light despite the exhaustion tugging at my body.
Dani exhales dramatically the second the doors close, murmuring without any real heat, “Your family is intense.”
I snort softly as I start the engine. “You’re only realizing this now?”
“No, but I’ve accepted it. That’s definitely progress.”
A laugh slips out before I can stop it, and she smiles at the sound, settling in as if she has always belonged here with me.
The drive home is quiet in the best way. The Strip is alive with movement and light while soft music hums low through the establishments, and I find myself resenting those oblivious people a little less.
Dani leans her head back against the seat, looking content in a way I still don’t think I’ll ever fully get used to seeing. She’s safe, happy, and more alive than ever.
I almost lost her, and the thought still hits unexpectedly sometimes, sharp enough to ache before relief rushes back in right behind it.
Never again. I swore that to myself and to her, and I mean to keep that promise for as long as I live.
When we finally reach the penthouse, neither of us rushes to move immediately after walking inside. Instead, we move with languid ease while falling into a more typical routine.
In comfortable silence, Dani slips off her heels near the entryway with a quiet groan of relief. “Foot pain is the real reason women become dangerous.”
Instinctively, I want to chuckle at the comment, but I pause instead and watch her for a second too long.
Caught up in her black dress, the way her hair is slightly mussed from the evening, and warmth still lingers in her expression from dinner with my family, all I can do is stare and think about how lucky I am. Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to cover it.
She eventually notices my focus on her while she works her earrings out. “What?”
I move toward her slowly, reaching out to carefully hold her waist. “You looked beautiful tonight.”
Dani’s expression softens immediately, and something shy still moves briefly across her face before she regains her footing. “You clean up well, too, Lukov.”
I hum quietly before pulling her gently against me, and the second her body settles against mine, we both relax completely. Tilting her chin upward carefully and kissing her before I can overthink it, I keep it intentionally slow and deep to savor her.
She melts into it immediately, hands sliding up my chest while mine settle against her waist possessively.
Weeks ago, I held her because I was terrified of losing her, and now, I’m holding her like I genuinely cannot imagine my life without her in it anymore. It’s true, and the realization settles fully into place in my chest.
Before I can stop myself, the words leave my mouth and brush against her lips. “Marry me.”
Dani freezes, and I barely register that I’ve said it until I see her staring at me in stunned silence.
Too late now.
A startled laugh escapes her softly, more like she assumes I’ve said it by accident. “Nikolai—”
“I’m serious.”
The amusement fades from her expression instantly at whatever she sees on my face, because I am serious. Terrifyingly so.
Cupping her jaw gently, my thumb brushes along her cheek while my heart pounds harder than it has in years, feeling capable of standing beneath the pressure I’ve just placed on myself. “I know this isn’t normal, and I know none of this happened the way it should’ve, but I love you.”
The words feel too small for the truth of it, but I continue anyway.
“I love waking up beside you, hearing you laugh in my kitchen, and I love watching you hold your own against my family, even when they overwhelm you. I spent most of my life believing I was too damaged for this,” I admit roughly, forcing it out of me.
“But then you happened anyway, and I won’t let myself take that for granted. ”
Her eyes soften painfully, and even if she doesn’t speak yet, I can feel and see the depth in them.
Silence stretches between us, heavy with feeling, then I exhale shakily through my nose before resting my forehead lightly against hers. “I don’t care how complicated this is. I want you with me, permanently.”
For one terrifying second, she says nothing. Then her fingers slide into my hair gently before brushing down to the nape of my neck, and she smiles. It’s so soft and beautiful on her, and it’s enough to take my breath away.
“Yes.”
That one word nearly knocks the breath from my lungs.
“Yes?” I repeat stupidly, feeling beyond out of my depth, but unwilling to back down.
She laughs through sudden tears, nodding once. “Yes, Nikolai. I love you, too.”
Relief and happiness crash through me so suddenly that I almost feel dizzy from it, and instead of saying anything else, I kiss her again.
This time, when she melts into my arms beneath the soft lights, it finally feels like the beginning of something instead of the aftermath of everything we survived.
She said yes, and that’s all I needed to hear.