Chapter 24
ANDREI
Iwake up slowly, trying to remember exactly where I am.
I know immediately that this isn’t my bed, but it takes several seconds to remember whose bed it is.
Alina’s, of course. The memory comes to me in pieces as my brain and body slowly start to wake up, taking their sweet time.
My eyes open slowly and I take a deep breath.
For a few quiet seconds, I lie completely still beside her, staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft rhythm of her breathing, trying to convince myself that my reluctance to get out of bed is nothing more than exhaustion. That would be a much less complicated answer, wouldn’t it?
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I want to be here, deep in my bones. I want to live in this space with her, always just a breath away. Alina is still asleep, turned slightly toward me. One hand is tucked beneath her cheek, the other resting loosely against the sheet between us.
The early light filtering through the glass paints her skin in pale gray, making her look ethereal. She’s an angel or a mermaid or some other such mythical creature that could easily steal my soul and my heart. She already has in a lot of ways, but I can’t let her know any of that.
I asked her to marry me last night. This morning, I should be overflowing with joy.
She did say yes, after all. It’s all a facade, though.
A way to keep her safe without keeping her caged forever.
Even if it will have all the benefits of marriage, it can never truly be a traditional marriage. How would that even work in my world?
I’ve spent most of my life learning how to leave beds without hesitation. Women were never lingered over. Lingering creates attachment and attachment creates weakness. Weakness gets men killed.
Marriage has never been part of my life plan. Realistically, it’s still not. This is a strategy and nothing more. I can enjoy the benefits of marriage, with the added bonus of offering Alina protection, and still live my life, more or less, the same.
Carefully, I reach out and brush a strand of hair away from her face. The contact is light, nothing more than the ghost of a touch, but it still sends a slow heat through me that has nothing to do with desire. It’s something else, entirely.
“My alinochka,” I murmur quietly, the word slipping free before I can stop it.
She doesn’t wake. She only breathes out softly and turns a fraction closer, as if even her subconscious recognizes my voice.
The small movement makes my chest ache with a feeling that I don’t remotely understand.
I shouldn’t be here, watching her like this.
I shouldn’t be allowing this moment to exist at all.
And yet I lean down anyway, pressing a quiet kiss to her forehead before I can talk myself out of it. The gesture is so gentle it feels unfamiliar.
I am so incredibly fucked.
Reluctantly, I sit up. The absence of her warmth is immediate. By the time my feet touch the floor, the softness of the moment is already beginning to harden into something colder. I can’t let myself be carried away by sentimentality. I have a job to do.
I leave her there to sleep peacefully and step into the living room with my phone in hand. The first person I call is Nicolai, because he’ll be the one who has to help me handle the logistics of it all.
“I need something handled immediately,” I tell him.
“I’m listening,” he answers dutifully.
“I need to get the word out to everyone who matters,” I say, then think deeper. “Even to those who don’t matter. Every rival of mine needs to be made aware that Alina is my wife from this moment on.”
He pauses for a moment, taking it in.
“That’s… wow,” he breathes. “Congratulations?”
“This isn’t a social decision,” I explain carefully. “It’s the only way I know to keep her safe. Obviously, leave that part out of the announcement.”
“Naturally,” he agrees. “Anything else?”
“Any threat to her,” I say evenly, “is a threat to me. And I will answer it accordingly. Not just against the man responsible. Against everyone he’s ever loved.”
“I’ll make sure no one doubts it,” he responds, and I’m glad I called him first. He means what he says. By noon, every rival Bratva in New York will be made aware that an attack on her is worse than an attack on me.
I lower the phone and stand there for a moment in the quiet apartment, aware that I’ve just made an irreversible decision.
I’m not sure Alina even understands what this means for her.
It’s safety, of course, but it’s more than that.
She now bears the overwhelming responsibility of carrying my name.
She will be flanked by security wherever she goes for the rest of her life. I hope she’s up for it.
I go back to my office and comb through reports that Nicolai has been gathering for me while I’ve been in hiding.
The work hasn’t piled up nearly as much as I would have expected, and I know that’s completely due to his diligence.
I’m lucky to have someone so deep in my corner.
Loyalty is everything in this organization.
I decide then and there that he’ll be my best man on the day of the wedding.
Which should probably happen sooner rather than later now that word is spreading.
My phone vibrates urgently on the desk and I look down at it. Petya. This early in the morning, there can only be trouble.
“Tell me,” I demand, already bracing myself for a shit storm.
“Our last delivery was light,” he says gravely, which only means one thing.
Someone has stolen from me.
“I’m coming down there,” I tell him. “Safety protocols be damned, I need to see this for myself.”
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” he hesitates. “We can handle this with just your input.”
“No,” I argue. “The whole point of moving back to the penthouse was to show that I’m not backing down from this threat.”
“Understood,” he says, though I can hear the frustration in his voice. His job would be much easier if I stayed in hiding. “I’ll make the arrangements. A car will be outside your penthouse in five minutes.”
I hang up and go back to my room to quickly dress for the day.
My security team escorts me down to the lobby and flanks me as I get in the car.
I assume we’re still using a decoy protocol on the cars until we’re completely sure that my attacker won’t strike again that way.
They’d be stupid to try, but they have already tried to kill me twice.
When I reach the docks, my men stand at attention, as if I haven’t been gone for weeks. I’m glad to see that, apart from the light shipment, things are still running at the highest level of efficiency.
Petya is there to meet me as soon as I step out of the car.
“It’s over here,” he says, walking me over to a storage container that’s already been emptied. “As you can see, there’s no sign of forced entry.”
I nod, looking at the intact lock.
“I want surveillance increased on every shipment. Let’s make sure this isn’t just one of the workers skimming off the top.”
He nods and we walk through the warehouse, making inspections on other parts of the operation. It seems a few things have, unfortunately, slipped through the cracks after all. Invoices aren’t being paid on time. Vendors are getting frustrated.
This can’t go on any longer. I tell Nicolai to meet me at my midtown office as soon as he’s able. We need to right this ship. He meets me there half an hour later with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“There’s the groom-to-be,” he says, clapping me on the back. “When’s the big day?”
“Soon,” I reply noncommittally. “Until then, let’s focus on this problem, shall we?”
We spend hours going over logistics. In addition to increased surveillance, we also change some of the routes and increase the amount of security. I don’t want to take any more chances. If someone is stealing from me, I want to know exactly who so I can find out exactly why they would be so bold.
I’m feeling more confident about the plans when Petya bursts through the door, looking upset.
“There’s been an ambush,” he tells us gravely. “Three men are down.”
“That’s not possible,” I seethe. “We just changed that route two hours ago. Nobody could have known we were moving it tonight.”
“Someone did,” Nicolai responds, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m getting sick of this shit,” I growl. “We’ve got to flush this bastard out now, or he’s just going to get bolder.”
Nicolai and Petya both agree, and we spend another several hours redoing all of our earlier work.
By the time I return to the penthouse, it’s very late. Exhaustion presses against the backs of my eyes, though I try to push through it. I still have some security footage to go over and some reports to approve. All I want to do is sleep, but it’ll have to wait.
The apartment is so quiet, I almost forget about my guest. No, not my guest anymore.
My fiancé. Soon she’ll be my wife. I go to her room to check on her, but I find it empty and her bed perfectly made.
For a moment I nearly panic, thinking she’s somehow left.
How could that be? I’ve received no security alerts.
Then I go to my own room and see her lying there, curled in the center of the bed, a book resting open against her chest like she fell asleep reading it. Like she was waiting for me to come home and simply couldn’t keep her eyes open for a second longer.
It’s sweet in a way that I don’t expect.
No one’s ever waited up for me before. No one’s ever had the chance.
Alina is the first woman I’ve ever allowed to inhabit my space when I’m not there.
Seeing her like that pulls me in like a magnet.
I don’t even think about it, I just slide into the bed next to her and turn off the lamp.
I don’t try to wake her, as much as I would love to. Instead, I just lie there, telling myself that a few minute delay won’t derail my plans for the night. I can still get all my work done, I just want to soak in this moment while I can.
A few minutes later, I hear her murmur something in her sleep. It sounds an awful lot like my name, though truthfully, it’s too unintelligible to even be called a word. Then her whole body turns into me, and she curls up against my chest. She’s so vulnerable and so trusting.
My arm wraps around her automatically and I hold her as she sleeps. I can’t lie to myself about this in the darkness of my own room. My marriage to her will be anything but fake. In fact, the only thing stronger than my feelings for her is my urge to crush anyone who dares to threaten her.