CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The fire in my office crackles low, casting flickering shadows against the dark-paneled walls. The scent of aged whiskey lingers, mingling with the faint traces of leather and smoke.
It’s the same space where I’ve made decisions that sealed fates with a nod, a signature, or a single pull of a trigger.
And tonight, I’m waiting for her.
The sound of light footsteps, deliberate and steady, tells me she’s approaching.
Finally.
The door swings open, and she steps inside, the soft glow of the fire catching her dark eyes. She wears black, a simple slip of a dress that clings to her like a caress, the hem brushing against her thighs as she moves. There’s no jewelry. No embellishments. Just her, sharp and certain, a woman who no longer plays the role she was given—but the one she’s chosen for herself.
She stops just inside the threshold, one hand still on the doorframe. “You summoned me, sposo ?”
My lips twitch. “I don’t summon you, lyubov moya .” I stand, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the object that has been waiting for this moment. “I ask.”
Her gaze flickers to the ring between my fingers, then back to my face. For a long moment, she says nothing.
I close the distance between us, the space crackling with something unspoken. I take her hand, pressing the weight of the diamond into her palm.
“When I put that first ring on your finger,” I say quietly, “it was an obligation. A necessity.” I glance at the gold band she still wears, the one we exchanged in front of hundreds of watching eyes. “But this one?” I tighten my grip around her fingers. “This is not obligation. This is not necessity.” I hold her gaze, steady and unrelenting. “This is my choice.”
Her fingers curl around the ring, but she doesn’t move to put it on. Instead, she tilts her head slightly, studying me. “And you think that’s enough?”
Something shifts in her tone—not defiance, but something deeper. Something raw.
I step closer. “What do you want from me, Ari?”
She exhales, but there’s no frustration in it—only steel. “I want to know that you won’t try to control me. That you won’t just let me fight when it’s convenient for you, but that you will trust me.” Her voice drops lower, a challenge. “Can you do that, Maxsim?”
A sharp, bitter laugh escapes me. “You ask the impossible.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Do I?”
I reach out, my thumb grazing her jaw, tilting her face toward mine. “I have spent my entire life ensuring I was never vulnerable. Never exposed. Never out of control.” My grip tightens—not enough to hurt, just enough to make sure she’s listening. “And then you happened.”
Her lips part slightly, but she doesn’t pull away.
“You were never supposed to be anything more than an alliance.” I let out a quiet breath, my voice turning rough. “And yet here we are.”
Ari watches me for a long moment, then slowly—deliberately—she uncurls her fingers, revealing the ring resting in her palm. “If I put this on, Maxsim, it’s not because you gave it to me. It’s because I choose to wear it.”
A slow smile tugs at my lips. Of course.
I step closer, watching as she slides the ring onto her own finger. The diamond catches the firelight, sharp and unyielding.
For the first time, I feel something I can’t quite put into words—something that feels like hope.
I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest. “I love you, Ari.”
Her hands tighten around my waist. “I know.”
A low laugh erupts from my chest, and I pull back and stare into her impossibly warm gaze. “Nothing surprises you, does it?”
Tracing my face with her hand, she smiles like a minx. “I am surprised by how much my heart beats in your direction.”
“Is that your way of saying you love me?”
“Perhaps.”
Holding her chin with my thumb, I press our mouths together, accepting that Ari isn’t just my wife.
She’s my equal. My partner. My queen.
And for her, I will fight until my last breath.