Chapter Eleven
Alexei woke before the sun rose. Usually, Natalia was already awake by the time he opened his eyes. Sometimes he found her in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, sometimes standing by the window, sometimes simply sitting in silence as though she were listening to the house breathe.
This morning, however, something was different. Alexei opened his eyes and found her asleep beside him. For several seconds, he simply stared.
Natalia was tucked against his side, one hand resting loosely against his chest, her face nestled near his shoulder. Her dark hair had escaped whatever arrangement she'd attempted before bed, spilling across the pillow and partly across her cheek.
She looked utterly peaceful. It was a sight he wasn't accustomed to seeing. Natalia had spent too many years sleeping like a soldier, ready to wake at the smallest sound. Even now, there were nights when Alexei could feel the tension in her body despite the softness of the mattress beneath her.
Not this morning, however. She had curled toward him without thinking, as though he were home. The realization settled somewhere deep inside his chest. Alexei smiled.
Carefully, he shifted closer and slipped an arm around her waist. Natalia made a quiet sound in her sleep and instinctively moved toward him. That nearly undid him.
He tightened his embrace, drawing her against his chest until there wasn't so much as a breath of space between them. He pressed his face briefly into her hair, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo and skin. His woman. The thought still carried a strange warmth.
A week had passed since Emil had found them in the woods. Seven days since Alexei had watched Natalia fight the man who had trained her, the man who had shaped so much of the person she had become.
Afterward, Alexei had done what he knew best. He had found the man responsible. Natalia's former client had turned out to be the head of a small but ambitious Bratva family, a man apparently convinced that removing Alexei would create an opening for his own rise.
Alexei had hired Natalia to handle the problem herself, and she was happy to do it.
Word had also traveled quickly through the underworld.
Natalia had taken down Emil, considered the greatest assassin of their time.
He also let it be known she was his woman now, and that would fend off assassins for a while.
He wasn't foolish enough to believe it would last forever. There would always be another ambitious rival. That was the nature of their world. For the moment though, there was quiet, and Alexei intended to enjoy every second of it.
He looked down again and smiled. Natalia shifted, and her nose brushed his collarbone.
"Beautiful," he murmured.
Her eyes remained closed. Then her lips curved upward.
“How long have you been watching me sleep?" Natalia asked.
Alexei's eyebrows rose. Her eyes opened slowly. “Perhaps a few minutes.”
"That's creepy."
"I prefer attentive,” he informed her. "I've been admiring what’s mine. That’s all. I have nothing to feel guilty about."
“Arrogant man,” she mumbled.
“Well, I could make it up to you.”
Before she could answer, Alexei kissed her.
The teasing disappeared almost immediately.
Alexei pulled her closer. The kiss deepened, becoming slower and warmer, carrying all the things neither of them needed to say aloud.
Then for a while there was nothing beyond the two of them, enjoying each other.
Later, they lay tangled together beneath the sheets.
Natalia rested against him, her cheek on his chest, while Alexei traced lazy patterns along her back.
The room had grown brighter. Sunlight slipped through the curtains in thin golden lines, illuminating dust motes drifting lazily through the air.
Natalia sighed. "We should probably get up."
Alexei closed his eyes. “Not yet.”
She laughed softly. "We have to eat."
"We could eat later."
"You have a meeting,” she reminded him.
“I’ll cancel it."
"You can't cancel everything,” Natalia pointed out.
"I am the boss."
"That doesn't make you immune to consequences."
He opened one eye. "I've survived worse."
"That's not an argument."
"It is to me.”
Natalia lifted her head and looked at him. "Alexei."
He pulled her closer. "Five more minutes."
"You said that ten minutes ago."
"Then we're already halfway through."
She stared at him. He kissed her forehead. "Five."
Natalia sighed dramatically and settled back against him. "You're impossible."
"And yet you love me."
Her expression softened. “I do,” she said, the words never failing to warm his heart.
Alexei looked down at her. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I can't imagine my life without you anymore.”
“Me neither,” she admitted.
Alexei kissed her temple, then he hesitated. There was something he'd been carrying around with him for days. He took a breath.
"Natalia,” he began.
She looked up. “What is it?”
"Do you love me enough to marry me?" Alexei asked bluntly.
She froze. For a moment, Alexei wondered whether he had managed to terrify the most dangerous woman he'd ever known with six words.
Her eyes widened. "Marry you?"
"That's generally what the question means."
He carefully slipped away from her. Natalia watched him with utter confusion as he reached toward the bedside table. He opened the drawer, and closed his fingers around a small velvet box.
He had kept it there for days, waiting for the right moment.
Alexei even wondered if he ought to make some elaborate arrangement.
Make the proposal at a fancy restaurant perhaps, with candles and music.
Even Dimitri made extravagant suggestions.
In the end, he'd realized none of it felt right, not for them at least.
Alexei turned back toward her. He opened the box, and Natalia stared first at him, then at the diamond ring. It was elegant rather than ostentatious, an old-fashioned design with a central diamond surrounded by smaller stones. Her breath caught.
“It belonged to my mother," Alexei said quietly.
Natalia looked at him. "Your mother?"
He nodded. "She wore it for most of her marriage."
Alexei had inherited it years ago. He'd never known what to do with it. Alexei couldn’t picture himself giving something special to anyone, as he expected to have an arranged marriage like Dimitri. Then Natalia happened.
Alexei lowered himself onto one knee beside the bed. Natalia's hand flew to her mouth.
"Natalia." He took her hand. Alexei kept his voice steady, but his heart was beating hard enough that he was certain she could feel it through his fingers.
"I've spent most of my life believing love was a weakness. Something that could be used against you. Something that made you vulnerable." He looked into her eyes. "Then you came into my life and proved me wrong."
Her eyes glistened. Alexei continued, “You challenge me, irritate me, and, on occasion, terrify me.”
A tiny laugh escaped her, and he smiled. He lifted the ring.
"I don't promise that our life will always be easy. You know better than anyone that it won't be."
Natalia nodded. Alexei went on, “But I promise you this. Whatever comes, you won't face it alone. I love you. I want you beside me for all of it. Natalia, will you marry me?"
She stared at him. For several seconds, she said nothing, but that was fine. Alexei waited. He could negotiate million-dollar deals without blinking. He could face armed men without fear, but waiting for this woman's answer felt infinitely more dangerous.
Then Natalia flashed him a small, beautiful smile that seemed to brighten the entire room.
"Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Alexei exhaled. A laugh escaped him, half relief and half disbelief. He slipped the ring onto her finger, and of course, it fit perfectly. He had it resized. Natalia stared down at it, then she looked at him.
“Did you plan this?” Natalia asked.
“I was waiting for the right moment,” he told her.
She shook her head, laughing softly. Alexei rose and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was warm and unhurried. When they finally parted, Natalia rested her forehead against his.
"So," she murmured, "are we still getting up?"
Alexei looked at the clock. “Five more minutes.”
"You said that before,” she reminded him.
"I've decided to extend it."
She kissed him again, and responded hungrily. There would be time for the day’s meetings later. For now, he had Natalia, his future wife.
The End