Epilogue Mara #3
"You're living with Ilya Sorokov," Annie says, and it's not a question. "Mara, what the hell is going on? You've been avoiding me for months, making excuses, and now I find out you're—what? Dating him? Living with him?"
"It's complicated," I start, but she cuts me off.
"Complicated? Mara, do you know who he is? What he does?"
"Yes," I say quietly. "I know exactly who he is. And I know what he does. I'm part of it now, Annie. I've been part of it for months."
She stares at me like she’s never seen me before. "Tell me," she says finally. "Everything… and I do mean everything.”
So I do. I tell her all of it… where I saw Ilya for the first time, that he was the man in Boston—Alexander Volkov—and how he followed me to New York.
I tell her about him watching me, about Sergei, about the time in his penthouse and how we eventually found a life that works for both of us.
How much I know he loves me, even if he went about it all wrong at first, and how much I love him.
I show her the ring, and I sit there, waiting for her to tell me how wrong all this is.
When I finish, she's quiet for a long time. And then her mouth twitches, a strange look of both amusement and guilt on her face.
“If I’d known you were going to end up with a Bratva boss, Mara, and how fine you’d end up being with all of it, I’d have told you the truth about my family years ago.”
I stare at her, not understanding. "What are you talking about?"
Annie winces. “My brother, Ronan? He’s the leader of the Irish mob in Boston, Mara.
I do their finances. I’ve been working their books since I graduated college, keeping my family out of trouble with that part of the law.
My father was the leader before him. I’m part of a generational Irish mafia family, and I never told you because I wanted to keep you safe from it.
” She laughs. “I guess it came home to roost, after all.”
It takes me a moment to fully process what she’s just said.
Annie, my best friend, the person I thought I knew better than anyone, has been keeping the same secrets I have.
We've been living parallel lives, both of us hiding who we really are, both of us afraid of losing each other if the truth came out.
"What about Elio?” I ask, and Annie bites her lip.
“He’s the don of the Italian mafia. He inherited it after my brother killed Rocco de Luca.”
I press my hand to my mouth, bursting into laughter. Annie looks shocked, and then she starts to laugh too, both of us letting out all of the pent-up emotions and the secrets she’s been carrying for even longer than I have.
“Your family is mafia. Your husband is a mob boss. And I was worried about telling you about Ilya!”
"I'm sorry," she says, her eyes glossy from laughing so hard. "I'm so sorry, Mara. I should have trusted you. I should have known you'd understand..
"We're idiots," I tell her. "Both of us, keeping secrets, thinking we were protecting each other."
"Complete idiots," Annie agrees. "But we don't have to anymore. No more secrets, Mara. We're part of the same world now. We can be honest with each other."
The relief is immediate and complete, and within moments, it’s like the last six months have never happened.
I tell her about what I’m doing with the art gallery for Ilya, and she gives me advice.
We talk about her pregnancy and my engagement, scouring the Internet for wedding ideas until Annie finally leaves to go back to her hotel, the pregnancy making her tired.
Ilya returns that evening to find me in the living room, curled up on the couch with a book I'm not really reading, a smile on my face that I can't seem to shake.
"It went well," he observes, sitting beside me and pulling me against him.
“You knew.” I shake my head at him. “You knew all about Annie’s family and her husband. That’s why you were sure it was going to be fine.”
“Yes,” Ilya admits. “She needed to tell you, though. But of course. I knew she might be concerned about who I am at first, but the two of you would work it out. She can hardly judge.”
“I’m so happy we… wait.” I glare at him. "How did you know it went well?"
He has the grace to look slightly guilty. "I may have been monitoring the security feed," he admits.
I should be annoyed, but instead I find myself laughing. "I might have to start spying on you too," I tease. "See how you like it."
"I'll give you a show anytime you want," he promises, his hand sliding up my thigh. "In fact, I could start right now."
I tackle him back onto the couch, leaning in to kiss him. "I love you," I murmur, straddling him as I start to unbutton his shirt.
"I love you too," he murmurs against my mouth. "You're everything to me, Mara. I'd burn the world down to keep you safe and happy."
I kiss him again, harder this time. He strips off my shirt and I get his pants open, kicking off my jeans and pulling my panties aside as I free his hard cock. I can’t wait any longer, and I sink into him, riding him hard as his hand slips between my thighs to find my clit.
I fuck him hard and fast, riding him until he loses control and spills into me, and then he carries me upstairs to the bedroom, already hard again by the time we reach the bed.
This time he lays me over it on my stomach, teasing me to two more climaxes with his fingers and tongue and the head of his cock before he fucks me again, slowly, to another mutual orgasm.
Afterward, as I'm drifting off to sleep wearing his collar and his ring, I think about the how we got here, about the woman I was and the woman I've become.
Six months ago, Ilya was hunting me, obsessed with making me his, willing to destroy anything that stood between us.
Now I am his, but he's equally mine, and somehow that makes everything more perfect than I ever imagined.
I've found my place in the darkness, found a partner who matches my intensity, who knows me the way I always craved being known, who wants me with the depth I always dreamed of.
It’s fierce and dangerous and sometimes difficult, but this is what I wanted. And I can’t imagine ever being anywhere else.
I’ve found my paradise. And it’s here, high above the city lights, in the arms of the most possessive, dangerous man I’ve ever known.
I’ll keep him, and he can keep me.
Forever.
Thank you for reading!