Renat
Adrik is waiting behind his massive oak desk, and he's not alone.
My other brother, Dariy stands to his right, arms crossed, his expression carefully neutral.
Adrik looks every inch the leader of our family. Impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, his dark hair swept back, his face unreadable. But I know him well enough to see the fury simmering beneath the surface.
I keep Ava tucked against my side, my hand firm on her hip. She's trembling slightly, but she doesn't pull away.
"Adrik."
"And this must be the girl who's caused so much trouble." His eyes flick to Ava, cold and assessing. "Daughter of the traitor."
Ava flinches, and I feel rage spike through me. I tighten my grip on her waist.
"Careful," I say quietly.
Adrik's eyebrow lifts. "Careful? You shoot two federal agents, start a war with the FBI, and refuse direct orders to bring her to a secure location. And you're telling me to be careful?"
"I'm telling you to watch how you speak about what's mine."
Silence fills the room. Dariy shifts his weight.
"Yours," Adrik repeats slowly. "She's leverage. A tool. Not yours."
"She's both." I pull Ava even closer, making my claim unmistakable. "And if you want my cooperation in drawing out her father, you'll treat her with respect."
"Cooperation?" Adrik stands now, his hands flat on the desk. "You don't get to negotiate, little brother. You follow orders. That's how this works."
"Not anymore."
The words hang in the air like a bomb about to detonate.
Daniy mutters something in Russian with a shake of his head.
Adrik stares at me for a long moment, then laughs. It's not a pleasant sound.
"You've lost your mind," he says. "Completely lost your fucking mind over a piece of ass you've known for less than twenty-four hours."
I'm moving before I think, releasing Ava to plant my hands on his desk, leaning in close enough to see my reflection in his cold eyes.
"Say that again," I growl. "I dare you."
"Renat." Dairy’s voice cuts through the tension. "Stand down. It would do us all well to remember that you and I were in similar positions not all that long ago, Adrik."
I don't move. Don't break eye contact with my brother.
"She's not just a piece of ass," I say, low and dangerous. "She's mine. My woman. And if you can't accept that, then we have a problem."
Adrik doesn't flinch. "We already have a problem. You've gone rogue. Compromised an operation. Put the family at risk. All for a girl you don't even know."
"I know enough."
"Do you?" He leans back in his chair, regarding me with something like pity.
"You know she chose to get in your car. But do you know if it was because she wanted to, or because she had no other choice?
You know she let you fuck her. But do you know if it was because she desired you, or because she's smart enough to manipulate her captor? "
The words hit like physical blows. I want to deny them, want to rage at him for even suggesting Ava would—
But doubt creeps in. Cold and insidious.
Did she choose me? Or did she just choose survival?
"Renat."
Ava's voice, soft but steady. I turn to find her standing straighter now, her fear replaced by something that looks like anger.
"Can I speak now?" she asks.
"Ava—"
"Please." She meets my eyes. "Let me speak."
Every instinct screams at me to say no. To keep her silent and safe. But something in her expression makes me nod.
She turns to face Adrik, and I see her hands shaking even as she lifts her chin.
"You're right," she says. "About most of it. I got in the car because I didn't have a choice. Not really. Stay and rot in that apartment, or worse, or go with the Devil and hope for the best. That's not a choice. That's survival."
My chest tightens. Adrik looks vindicated.
"But," Ava continues, "what happened after that? That was my choice. He gave me every opportunity to run. To scream. To fight. And I didn't. Not because I was manipulating him. Because..."
She trails off, looking back at me. Her blue eyes are bright with unshed tears.
"Because what?" I ask hoarsely.
"Because I believe in what he is doing. Finding my father.
Making him pay. But also because you looked at me like I mattered," she whispers.
"Not like leverage. Not like a tool. Like I was someone worth protecting.
Worth... keeping. And I haven't felt that in so long that when you offered it, even if it came with conditions, I took it. "
She turns back to Adrik.
"So yes, I'm the daughter of a traitor. Yes, I'm leverage or bait or whatever you want call it. Yes, I'm scared out of my mind. But when it mattered, I chose him. Not because I had to but because I wanted to."
The silence that follows is deafening.
Adrik studies her for a long moment, then looks at me. "Is she pregnant?"
The question catches me off guard. "What?"
"Is. She. Pregnant." He enunciates each word. "Because the way you're hovering over her, the way you're acting like she's already carrying your child, makes me think you've done something incredibly stupid."
I feel my jaw clench. "That's none of your business."
"It's absolutely my business. If you've knocked up the leverage, you've just complicated this entire operation exponentially."
"She's not just leverage anymore," I bite out.
"Then what is she?"
I look at Ava. At this brave, stubborn woman who just stood up to one of the most dangerous men in Vegas to defend our... whatever this is.
"She's mine," I say simply. "My woman. My responsibility. And if she's carrying my child, that only makes it more permanent."
"Jesus Christ." Dariy runs a hand through his hair. "You really have lost it."
"Maybe." I don't deny it. "But I'm not giving her up. Not to you, not to anyone. So we can either figure out how to work together, or you can find someone else to hunt her father. There are plenty of Bratva soldiers who could work on this. Dariy and Yakov would be just as effective."
Adrik is silent for a long moment, his fingers steepled beneath his chin as he considers my words. Then he sighs.
"You're putting me in an impossible position, Renat."
"I know."
"Fine," he says with a sigh. "Keep her. But there are conditions."
My body tenses. "What conditions?"
"First, you still complete the mission. You find her father. You eliminate him. No mercy, no delays."
I nod. That was always the plan.
"Second, she stays with you at all times.
I don't want her out and about while the men of the families who were killed because of her father are still hunting for blood. Literally her blood Renat.” He thrusts his hands through his hair, the only outward sign of him despairing at the situation.
“She's your responsibility entirely. If she becomes a liability, if she leaks information, if she causes any problems, it's on you and you will both pay. "
"Understood."
"Third." He leans forward. "When this is over, when her father is dead and the debt is paid, you marry her.
Properly. Make it legal in the eyes of the state, the country, the Bratva and the fucking church.
Make it binding. If you're going to claim her as yours, make it official.
Give the Bratva a reason to accept her."
"Agreed," I say without hesitation.
Ava makes a small sound beside me. I don't look at her. Can't risk seeing doubt or fear in her eyes.
"Then we're done here." Adrik waves a dismissive hand. "Get her out of my office. And Renat?"
"Yes?"
"I hope she's worth it. Because you've just bet everything on her. Your position in this family. Your future. Everything."
I finally look at Ava. At her wide blue eyes and trembling lips. At the woman who chose me despite having every reason not to.
"She is," I say. "She's worth everything."
We leave Adrik's office in silence. The elevator ride back to my suite feels like it takes hours. Ava doesn't speak, doesn't look at me, just stands rigid at my side.
It's not until we're back in the suite that she finally breaks.
"Marriage?" Her voice is high, shaking. "You agreed to marry me?"
"Yes."
"You can't just— We can't— This is insane!"
"You're right." I keep my eyes on her, enjoying the way her face is flushed with shock and confusion. "It's completely insane. But it’s the way things are done in my world. You’ll get used to it."
"You didn't even ask me!"
"I know." I glance at her. "Would you have said no?"
She opens her mouth to answer, then closes it. Opens it again. Closes it.
"I don't know," she finally whispers, her shoulders dropping an inch.
"Then it's better I didn't ask." I reach over and take her hand, threading our fingers together.
"But marriage— That's forever. That's—"
"Exactly what I want." I bring her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Forever with you, milaya. Waking up next to you every morning. Protecting you. Providing for you. Watching you grow round with my children. Building a family together, a future, a legacy."
"This is crazy," she breathes.
"Yes."
"We barely know each other."
"We'll learn."
"Your brother could change his mind. Could decide I'm too much trouble."
"Then I'll burn down his empire and build you a new one." I squeeze her hand. "I told you, Ava. You're mine. Forever. Nothing changes that. Not my family. Not your doubts. Nothing."
She's quiet for a long moment, staring at our joined hands. Then she says, so softly I almost miss it:
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay." She looks up at me, and there are tears on her cheeks. "I'll marry you. I'll be yours. Forever."
The relief that crashes through me is so intense it's painful.
"Say it again," I demand.
"I'll marry you, Renat Korolyov." A small smile crosses her lips. "Even though everything."
I pull her to me and kiss her. Hard and claiming and possessive.
When I pull back, we're both breathing hard.
"Even though everything," I tell her, the depth of what that really means sinking in.
Because now I have to find her father, and she has to help me.