Epilogue
I’m standing at the altar, waiting for Kesera, with Sasha at my side. I look over at Nona, who stands next to my old Moscow friends Dima and Marat. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.
“Have you got the rings?” I whisper to Sasha, who stands glowering next to me.
“I have. But it’s not too late to back out. Are you sure about this?” he says under his breath in Russian.
Nona gives him a dark look. He’s not particularly subtle, and she probably heard him.
“God, you’re an asshole,” I say. “Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“Well, it’s a big commitment.” He shuffles from foot to foot, his discomfort visible.
“What? And two children aren’t?” This family is everything I’ve ever dreamed of.
“Well, you ignored the first one for a decade. I don’t see what’s changed now that you’re expecting another kid.” There’s a strange edge of desperation in his voice.
“You’re a hopeless case, Sasha. Don’t try to drag us all down with you.”
He looks at me seriously for a moment and then reaches into his pocket for the rings, holding them out to me in his palm. “It’ll make you vulnerable,” he adds.
“I’m already vulnerable. The minute everyone knew I had a daughter, the pretense was over. My family makes life worth living.”
He throws out a last-ditch idea. “You could make an alliance. Marry Alessandra Spataro instead.”
I shake my head at him. He’s scared he’s losing me, but he wouldn’t dream of saying it. “I’ll always be your brother, but I won’t marry a teenager to widen our smuggling routes. Kai shouldn’t be contemplating it.”
Sasha gives me a wolfish grin. “I don’t think he’ll be complaining. Nineteen. Well connected. I can see the attraction.”
I shudder. “If you’re so in favor of arranged marriages, why don’t you marry her?”
“Because I’ve got bigger fish to fry. I’m moving beyond the mafia. When I get married, I’ll control the real levers of power.”
I stare at my friend. “Have you gone mad?”
“No. Stalin was a gangster, and he controlled the state. Why shouldn’t I get someone at the top of society to wield like a weapon?”
“You’re going to wield your wife like a weapon?” My face must betray my incredulity. I can imagine him using his wife, but I didn’t think he’d ever want to tie his fate to someone else’s since he seems so dead set against me doing so.
“Maybe.” He grins. “Everyone has a price. It’s not just mafia dons who sell their daughters. When I get married, I’ll sell my soul for something bigger. That senator’s daughter. The one whose fiancé was banging some film star. She’s ripe for the picking.”
“And why would she marry you if she’s nursing a broken heart?”
“Because I’ll ruin her father or hurt someone she loves. Everyone has a price. Love makes you vulnerable, Vadim. You would do well to remember that.”
At that moment, everything Sasha says fades into the background as the doors of the little church open.
My bride stands against the light. Her hair is a bright halo, and she’s dressed head to toe in gold, not white.
My breath catches as I stare at her walking slowly toward me, the candlelight glinting off the Japanese print on her full skirt. The glittering bodice pushes up her full tits, which have grown rounder since she told me we’re going to have another child. A thin gold veil obscures her face, but her golden curls halo her head like a Russian icon.
She looks otherworldly, like something from a fairy tale.
Behind her, Nadia carries her full skirt, holding it off the floor. I catch my daughter’s eye and blow her a kiss, and she grins at me as they walk closer and closer, bringing my very own happy ending toward me, step by step.
When Kesera stands before me, I reach out to lift the veil and pull it over her curls, looking down into her smiling green eyes.
“My love. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I say.
She doesn’t say a word. Just reaches to clasp my hands and squeeze them, all while smiling at me. And before I’ve said a vow or made a single promise, I know that wherever she is, I’m home.
THE END