Epilogue
LEV
One Year Later
The morning light spills across the terrace of our estate. Before Mari, this place felt too big and too quiet. I came here only when I needed to get out of the city, and I dreaded it. Then I met her.
Now it’s full of the good kind of noise. Usually it’s our son, Alex, crying or laughing, making his little baby sounds. Sometimes it’s Mari laughing or blowing kisses at Alex. The two of them have brought so much joy into this old house, and today is no exception.
Mari is standing near the glass doors with our son in her arms. He’s six months old now, already reaching for everything, grumpy if he isn’t within sight of me, Mari, or his uncle Yuri. He gets into everything he can reach, and screams his head off when he hears the word “no.”
He has her eyes and my scowl. Her fire and my ice. God help us all.
I watch them from the doorway for a moment, taking in the sight. She looks radiant in the soft sunlight, her hair pulled back, wearing one of my shirts. My wife-to-be. My queen.
“Lev,” she says when she sees me, that smile curving her mouth. “You’re supposed to be getting dressed.”
“I am dressed,” I tell her, even though I’m in nothing but black slacks and an unbuttoned shirt. “I’m the groom. They can’t start without me.”
She laughs softly, a sound that still knocks the air out of me. Our son squeals like he’s in on the joke.
“You’re impossible,” she says. “If you hold up my wedding day, I’m going to murder you. You realize that, right?”
“Maybe you should leave the killing to me,” I tease, and she simply rolls her eyes.
It’s strange to joke like this with her. But she accepts all of me, even the darkest parts. She hasn’t run away yet. In fact, in a couple of hours, she’ll be pledging herself to me for the rest of her life. She’s either crazy or she really, really loves me. Possibly both.
“Besides,” I say, “you’re the one who hired a whole glam team for today!”
As if on cue, her phone rings. It’s Susie, calling to tell her to get to the bridal suite ASAP. She picks it up from the nightstand and reluctantly hands Alex to me. He starts crying the second he’s in my arms, and I have to bounce him up and down for a moment to get him to stop.
“What can I say?” she teases. “He likes me better.”
“I don’t blame him,” I say, and I mean it.
He fits against me easily, his tiny fingers grabbing the chain around my neck. I kiss the top of his head and breathe in his baby smell. He’s so perfect and growing up so fast. I already know I want more babies. Lots more. But we need to get through the ceremony before that happens.
Mari quickly changes into her bridal robe and grabs her phone, heading out to get glammed up for the day. Yuri comes in a moment later, looking almost respectable.
“Is the wedding still happening today, or did Mari finally wise up?”
I roll my eyes and flip him off behind Alex’s back. Of course, the moment he hears his uncle Yuri’s voice, my boy turns and reaches for him. For some unknown reason, he loves Yuri. That makes one of us right now.
“I have to get dressed.” I sigh, passing Alex to him.
“He better not spit up on this suit,” Yuri jokes. “I killed a guy for it.”
“And that makes it different from any other suit, how?” I shoot back, heading into my closet to pull out the freshly pressed tux hanging there.
It takes a while to put on, and I’m surprised by how nervous I feel. This isn’t my first wedding. I was just as nervous the first time, I suppose. I shake it off and work through the tux piece by piece, slowly tying the bow tie and fiddling with it until it’s perfectly straight.
I go back out to the bedroom where Yuri and Alex are waiting. The moment he sees me, Alex laughs. Hopefully that isn’t a sign the tux is overkill.
The ceremony is small by Bratva standards but still fairly extravagant.
I’ve managed to keep it out of the press at Mari’s request. After everything she went through, she wants to keep our lives much quieter and low-key.
She’s become the financial guru for both Levcon and the Bratva, but she wants our personal lives to remain personal, and I can’t blame her for that.
When she walks down the aisle, I forget anyone else exists. She’s a vision in white, almost floating. Next to her, Susie holds her arm, since she has no family left to be here.
Her dress is simple yet elegant, silk that clings to her like it was made for her alone.
She radiates confidence, grace, and strength.
The sun catches her hair, and it’s like she’s an angel coming to me.
In a way, she is. She’s saved me in a lot of ways, and today we commit to saving each other for the rest of time.
Yuri stands as my best man, smirking because he knows I never expected to be doing this again. Susie sits near the front after she gives Mari away. During the ceremony, I catch her watching Yuri more than the vows. And he’s staring back just as much.
Our vows are simple. Neither of us is a poet. When I speak, I keep it real.
“I’ve done a lot of terrible things in my life,” I tell her, my voice rougher than I’d like.
“But you’ve accepted every part of me. I never expected to find someone who loves me unconditionally, even when I’m not the man I wish I were.
I promise to love you with that same loyalty, to protect you always, to put you and Alex first so that you never have to wonder where my priorities lie. ”
She’s crying by the time I finish.
When it’s her turn, her voice trembles at first, then steadies.
“You say you don’t love easily. But you do, Lev.
You just love in ways no one else could understand.
You protect, you fight, you endure. And that’s what I love about you.
It’s such an honor to be loved by you, to see the way your eyes light up when you see me and Alex, to be let into every part of your life. I will never take it for granted.”
I kiss her before the officiant finishes the sentence.
Yuri hoots, Susie cheers, and Alex babbles like he’s part of the celebration. For the first time in my life, everything feels right.
The reception stretches long into the evening. There’s laughter, music, and more toasts than I can count. Even the most hardened men in my organization soften when they look at Mari holding our son.
She’s wearing a different dress now, lighter and easier to move in.
She dances with Yuri at one point, and he spins her like they’ve known each other forever.
I’m not sure when exactly that happened, but they’ve become close friends.
Most days I think he likes her more than he likes me, and that’s saying a lot.
I cut in just to remind him that she’s my wife.
“She’s glowing,” Yuri says, leaning in just enough for me to hear. “You’re a lucky man.”
“I am,” I say.
He raises his glass. “You did good, brother. I’m proud of you.”
Susie joins him a minute later, and I catch the look she gives him. It’s curious and assessing, with a spark that’s going to be trouble later.
I wrap an arm around Mari’s waist as we sway to the music. She leans her head against my chest.
“We actually did it,” she whispers, slumping against me with exhaustion.
“We did,” I say. “Now the real adventure starts.”
“That’s romantic,” she says with a small laugh.
“It’s true.” I smirk. “Marriage isn’t always as perfect as the wedding day.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she hums thoughtfully. “The last year has been pretty perfect. But I’d take one bad day with you over a perfect day without you.”
I lean in and kiss her hard, a chorus of cheers bursting out around us.
It’s well past midnight when the last of the guests leave. The estate finally goes quiet, except for the faint hum of the city beyond the hills. Our son is asleep in the nursery.
Mari slips out of her dress in the low light of the bedroom, wearing only white silk underneath. My breath catches. I’ve seen her every day for over a year, but she still steals it.
“Lev,” she says softly, standing by the edge of the bed. “Come here.”
The sound of her voice undoes me.
I cross the room slowly, never breaking eye contact. When I reach her, I cup her face in my hands and kiss her like it’s the first time all over again, deep, hungry, and reverent. She melts into me, her hands sliding beneath my shirt.
“I love you,” I whisper against her skin. “You, our son, this life. I never expected this the first night I met you in that club. I’m so glad our story didn’t end there.”
Her fingers trace the scars on my chest.
“I don’t think I could ever have forgotten you,” she says softly. “Even if you weren’t my boss, I don’t think I ever would have forgotten that night. Maybe this is where we were always meant to end up.”
I kiss her again, harder this time. The kiss deepens, turning a little rough and needy. She pulls me closer, and the soft and breathy sound she makes snaps what’s left of my restraint.
I lift her, carry her to the bed, and lay her down. She reaches for me as I undress, her eyes never leaving mine. The air between us hums with heat. I slowly climb on top of her, kissing every inch of her skin I can reach. She gasps and shudders every time I uncover a new spot of pleasure.
Then I’m sliding my fingers inside her, my cock throbbing as I hear her whimper in pleasure.
There are a million things I want to do to her, and I wish I could do them all at once, but I know we have time.
We have the rest of our lives for that. So I take my time.
I taste her, savor her, and go as slow as I dare so that we’re both on the edge of shattering.
“Lev,” she cries as her hands tangle into my hair. “Please.”
That single word is enough to make the world tilt. I cover her body with mine, pressing a kiss to her throat before claiming her mouth again.
She meets me with the same fire, pulling me down until we fit together perfectly.
Then I’m sinking into her, so slowly and carefully that I’m sure we’re both going to break.
I move slowly at first, savoring the feel of her.
Her breath stutters, her nails drag lightly down my back, and when I finally thrust deeper, she gasps, clutching at me.
Every sound she makes burns through me. Every whisper, every breath.
She wraps her arms around my neck and holds me close, our bodies moving in perfect rhythm.
Then I lose all control, focused on nothing but the way her walls clench around my cock and how she gasps my name.
My hand reaches between us so I can stroke her in the way I know makes her fall apart.
“I love you,” she breathes, the words breaking on a moan.
I press my forehead to hers, so close to the edge myself. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
Her voice trembles, but there’s nothing fragile about her.
She’s completely in control of this situation, and we both know it.
I kiss her again, swallowing the sound of her sigh.
Then she’s clenching hard, shaking, screaming as loud as she dares with our son sleeping just a few doors down.
It’s all I can do to hold it together before she pulls my release from me.
As we both come down from our pleasure, her hand finds mine, her fingers tangle with mine.
“Thank God you’re so good at making me come, or this marriage would be really awful,” she teases, a little breathlessly.
I can’t help but nip at her shoulder, burying my laugh against her neck.
“There’s no going back now,” I murmur into her skin. “You’re stuck with me for life.”
“I guess that’s all right.” She sighs. “As long as you always love me this well.”
“I promise.” I sigh back, burying my face against her as I start to feel sleep coming for me.
For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like I’m fighting the world. I’ve already won.
The End