35. Konstantin #2
“I love you, moya luna ,” I murmured softly.
I had to tell her now. Maybe she’d hear me, wherever she was, and she’d come back.
For me. “I have loved you from the first moment I saw you. I’ll give you the moon.
The stars. The fucking world. Anything you ask, it’s yours. I’m yours. I’ve always been yours.”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The memory flashed in my mind. That naughty smile on her lips. The way her eyes twinkled with mischief even as those two boys were escorted out of the house. But the deal was sealed the second I touched her soft skin.
“Your note was a temptation I couldn’t resist.” It led to a chain reaction. Adrian hid her identity from me for years. A chance meeting with Tatiana’s brother brought her my way. I should have snatched her right then and there. Married her. Instead, I focused on Maxim’s mess and Adrian married her.
“Your moan was game over for me. I dreamt of you. I stalked you. I waited for our time because I knew deep down, you were mine. You were always meant to be mine.” I brushed my lips over her skin, the scent of roses filling my nostrils.
“Don’t you fucking leave me.” I put my hand on her stomach. “Don’t leave us,” I rasped.
I released a long, harsh breath. Years wasted. What I wouldn’t give to get them back? Once I learned who Adrian was, everything I’d done was to protect her.
“I thought you were happy,” I murmured. “Not a day went by where you didn’t cross my mind since the moment I spotted you at that party.
Then when I finally learned your identity, Adrian snatched you away from me.
You looked so fucking happy, so goddamn in love that I convinced myself you were better off. ”
It fucking hurt to think of it, never mind say it. I didn’t know who Adrian really was. I didn’t recognize the boy who had become the man. “But make no mistake, Tatiana, I would have ended him a long time ago if I’d known who he was. If I knew his intentions weren’t pure.”
Skimming my lips over her cheek, I murmured against her ear. “I love you. I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you. Just come back to me.”
The door opened and Boris came in. My second-in-command.
My eyes darted his way with the unspoken question. I couldn’t leave Tatiana, otherwise I would have done it myself. “She’s in the dungeon,” he spoke softly, his eyes flickering over Tatiana. “How is she? Babies?”
I trusted Boris. He had proven his loyalty. Over and over again. Nikita’s traitorous ass at least didn’t destroy that.
“She’ll pull through,” I said. She has to. “Babies are healthy.”
He nodded, then turned around, his hand on the door. “I’ll keep Jane Ford alive until you can deal with her.”
I nodded. She was the last link to my mother’s side of the family. The last threat to be eliminated. No more loose ends.
Boys grow up to become men. They come back to find you, and suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted.
There were no more boys left to haunt us. But there was one aunt, Jane Ford. My mother’s sister; Nikita’s mother.
Then when all threats were eliminated, Tatiana and I would write our story. Our future.
A shift of the hospital bed pulled my attention. Tatiana’s fingers twitched in my hand and her eyelids opened.
“Tatiana?” She blinked, her gaze disoriented. I leaned forward, stroking her chin and cheeks. Her brows scrunched and our gazes met.
“Hey,” I whispered, emotion thick in my voice. I stroked her cheek. “You gave us a scare. How are you feeling?”
She stared at me, blinking slowly. I watched life slowly creeping back into her gaze, as if she was trying to process everything. Seconds turned into minutes. My heart rate slowed as I waited to hear her voice like my life depended on it.
“ Moya luna ,” I called, worry creeping into my expression.
“I’m okay,” she rasped and a relieved breath instantly filled my lungs. The tightness in my chest eased just a fraction. “I thought I was dreaming but I wasn’t.”
I frowned “Dreaming what?”
“All the crap with–” Adrian . The name remained unspoken.
My mood blackened, worried about her feelings for my half-brother.
I fucking hated that word. Half-brother.
He had stolen her, taken years from our lives and for what.
In some pursuit of revenge for something I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to.
There was nothing nobody could say or do to stop him from bestowing revenge on our mother and her lover. Nothing short of his own death before he killed them.
“Is he dead?” Her voice was soft. I nodded and her brows knitted for a fraction before determination entered her expression. “Good.”
I studied her expression, worried maybe she didn’t mean it. Or blamed herself. There was one thing Adrian was right about. She had known him for most of her life. She had loved him for most of her life. It wasn’t something that could be switched off.
It was the only reason I was willing to spare Adrian’s life. If she’d asked me not to kill him, I’d have thrown him in one of the dungeons and kept him there.
Thankfully, she didn’t ask for his life to be spared. No reincarnations. It reflected my wife’s strength. She’d always come through and do what needs to be done. For her family. For our family.
“I heard what you said,” she murmured. “I heard my brothers. Isla.”
Tension rippled through my shoulders. How long has she been awake exactly?
“You were awake the whole time?” I asked.
“Not fully awake.” Her palm came to rest on her lower belly and I put my own over her hand. I’d always keep them all safe. “The babies are safe,” she said, relief coloring her voice.
“They are,” I confirmed. “Healthy and strong.”
She smiled, her expression softening. I knew, right there and then, she’d be the most amazing mother. Protective and fierce. The queen would tear down this world to protect our prince and princess.
My hand over hers, I squeezed it softly. “They’re fighters like their mama.”
A smile cracked on her face. Her eyes twinkled. “Really? I was gonna say, like their papa. Stubborn, too.”
I snorted dryly. “My stubbornness doesn’t scratch the surface of yours.”
A full-blown grin stretched her lips. “Remember that the next time you keep shit from me.” Fuck, I was so in love with her. I loved every single part of her - stubbornness, poutiness, sassiness, her bravery.
“Duly noted.”
She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Somehow I have a feeling you’ll always try to hide bad shit from me.”
She glanced at me through her thick, pale lashes and I couldn’t resist leaning over and pressing my lips against hers. Her mouth parted slightly and she moaned in my mouth. Fuck, I loved that sound. I loved everything about her.
She pulled back, ending the kiss way too soon as a small, satisfying sigh left her lips. Thank heavens nobody was in the room, because I’d have to kill them for hearing that sound. It was mine, and mine alone.
“Then you remind me to tell you everything,” I said, keeping my face close to hers.
“Partners then?” That glimmer in her eyes fascinated me. It was the same one I saw in her eyes that first night I saw her. Full of mischief and trouble. “Because that’s the only way this is going to work, Illias. No hiding shit from me. You can hide it from our kids, but not me.”
“Partners, moya luna.”
She stared at me, seemingly shocked by my easy acceptance. But she couldn’t hide her grin. “So does that make me a Pakhan?” she asked sassily.
I bit my lip, tempted to take her even in her condition. But I didn’t. Her health and our babies were more important than my hard dick.
“Give them a finger and they’ll take the whole hand,” I remarked with a sound of abhorrence but I couldn’t keep a smile off my face.
She groaned and shoved me, and I laughed. For the first time in years, my chest felt lighter. I loved the playful side of my wife. Our start was rocky but we’d pull through and we’d be even stronger for it.
She took my face in her palms, her eyes turning the deepest shade of blue that would pull me into their depths and I would happily drown in them.
“I love you, Illias,” she murmured softly, our gazes locked. Three simple words and the world stopped turning. Three words and they had the power to change our lives. “Adrian wasn’t who I thought he was. He was a figment of my imagination. I didn’t know him. But I know you and I love you .”
Fuck, my head buzzed with adrenaline that rushed through me.
She loves me.
My heart had been lost to her seven years ago. I had felt empty without it. Without her. But life had blown her my way again. Life had given us another chance, and she had kept my heart safe.
“Say it again,” I demanded. I could never tire hearing those words leave her lips. For the remainder of my days.
“I love you, Illias Konstantin.” The certainty in her voice and her eyes had my heart racing. She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought me closer. “You realize we’ll probably drive each other bananas. Possibly even kill each other.” Her smile was weak but it was there.
My breaths turned harsh and my lungs burned. But it was a good kind of burn. It was a good kind of pain.
“Never,” I scolded her softly. “I’ll let you kill me before I’d ever lay a finger on you.” Her lips tugged up more, and I couldn’t help but to cup her face. “My moon. My entire world. It’s all wrapped up in you.”
“I’ll kill and burn the world down for you, Illias,” she murmured softly. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it.”
“It’s my job to burn down this world for you, moya luna.” I stroked a stray lock of hair out of her face, her hair like a soft glow around my fingers. “It’s my job to protect you and our family.”
“Our job,” she murmured, brushing the tip of her nose against mine. “We’ll do it together.”