Chapter 7
Chloe
It’s all too much. First, I find out I’m pregnant, and then, almost in the same breath, I find out my boyfriend doesn’t actually own and run a laundromat like he made me believe.
Okay, I’ve had my doubts. There were things about Kazimir that never quite added up, but I always found some way to explain them away.
I never imagined the truth was this big.
I never imagined the man I loved was part of the Bratva, with an entire world of wealth, power, and danger that I knew nothing about.
And now he’s telling me my life is in danger, and I have to marry him, whoa! I look at the man sitting in front of me, and despite everything I’ve just learned, one truth remains painfully clear, I love him.
God, I love this man. I love him so much that I would walk through fire if it meant walking through it with him.
Nothing would make me happier than being Kazimir’s wife.
I’ve already imagined what it would be like to build a life with him, to wake up beside him every morning and fall asleep in his arms every night.
But I want him to marry me because he loves me, because he wants me, because he sees a future with me. Not just because I’m carrying his baby. I let out a slow breath. “So being married is the only way you can guarantee my safety?” I ask.
“It’s the safest way,” he says. “If we’re married, you’re under my protection. You carry my name. Everyone knows exactly who you belong to, and they’ll know better than to come after you.”
“But the person who’s coming after you, he’ll come after me regardless, won’t he?”
Kazimir’s jaw tightens. “Yes. But if you’re living under my roof, you’re not alone anymore.
You’ll have my men watching over you, you’ll have my protection, and because you’re my wife, everyone in my organization will know you’re someone they need to protect.
I need to make sure that you and the baby are always protected. ”
“Wow. So… is this proposal just because of the baby?”
His brows pull together.
“Is that why you want to marry me now? Because I’m pregnant?” My voice cracks slightly, and I hate that he can hear the hurt in it. “I know you said you were going to tell me the truth about yourself, but if I wasn’t pregnant, would you still want to marry me?”
Kazimir looks at me like I’ve just asked him the strangest question in the world. “No. Of course not.”
My heart sinks when I hear his answer, and then he leans closer. “I mean, of course I’d still want to marry you.”
“Kazimir—”
“I’m marrying you because I care about you, Chloe.” His voice is firm, almost offended that I could think otherwise.
“I’m marrying you because I love you. Because there isn’t another woman in this world I want to spend my life with. There is no one else I would choose to do this life with but you.”
Before I can say anything, he reaches into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a small velvet box.
My breath catches as he opens it, revealing the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.
An oval-cut diamond sits in the center, surrounded by smaller stones that catch the light.
Even with my limited knowledge of jewelry, I can tell it must have cost a fortune.
“I was going to do this tonight,” he says quietly. “Before we found out about the baby.”
The stone catches the light, sending little flashes across the room, and I stare at it in disbelief. “Kazimir…”
He was really going to do this. Even before we found out about the pregnancy, he had already planned to marry me because he wanted to spend his life with me, not because I was carrying his child.
I stare at him for another second, still trying to wrap my head around it. “Well…” I glance at the ring, then back at him. “Ask me.”
His eyebrow lifts. “Chloe, marry me.”
“That’s not a question.” I laugh despite the tears already gathering in my eyes. “Do it properly.”
His smirk widens as he stands, then lowers himself onto one knee in front of me. My heart gives a hard, painful thump as he takes my hand, his fingers warm around mine. He takes a deep breath before finally speaking.
“Chloe, these past few months with you have been the best months of my life.”
My eyes sting. “I wake up every morning looking forward to hearing your voice, to seeing you, talking to you. Even the little things I never thought would matter to me, matter when they come from you.”
His thumb brushes over the back of my hand. “You’ve changed my life in ways I never expected. Before you, I was content with what I had, I never thought I needed anything else.”
He pauses, his eyes never leaving mine. “Then you came into my life, and suddenly, all I can think about is having you in it.”
A tear slips down my cheek. “I want to wake up with you beside me every morning, come home to you, know how your day went, hear you complain about your patients, watch you fall asleep while watching your favorite TV show.” I let out a shaky laugh through my tears.
His voice softens. “I want all of it, I don’t want there to be a day when you’re not a part of my life, I don’t want us to be apart anymore. I love you Chloe, more than I knew I was capable of loving anyone.”
He lifts the ring slightly. “Chloe Sokolov doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”
A laugh escapes me, mixed with a sob. He smiles. “Will you marry me?”
I don’t even have to think about it, I nod, smiling through the tears streaming down my face. “Yes. Yes, Kazimir. I’ll marry you.”
He slides the ring onto my finger, and it fits perfectly. I barely look at it before pulling him into a kiss. He rises from his knee and wraps his arms around me, lifting me off the floor, I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist, laughing against his mouth as he carries me.
The kiss turns hungry, my hands are in his hair, then down his back, pulling him closer as he lays me down on the bed beneath him. I rock up against him and feel him harden between my thighs as he breaks the kiss only long enough to sit me up and drag my dress over my head.
I return the favor, shoving his shirt off his shoulders, then his belt, and the rest. He unhooks my bra, my panties follow, and then there is nothing left between us.
He slides a hand between my legs and pushes a finger into me, then a second, I’m already wet.
He curls them, fucking me slowly at first, then deeper, and I roll my hips to meet every stroke.
“Kazimir…” his name breaks out of my mouth.
He pulls his fingers out and brings them to my mouth.
“Taste yourself, baby.” I lick them clean, tasting myself, and his eyes go darker before he lines himself up and sinks into me in one slow, complete thrust, bottoming out.
I gasp as he groans, his hands moving over me while he starts to move, deep and unhurried at first, then harder when I pull him closer.
“I love you,” I whisper against his mouth.
He kisses me, not breaking rhythm. “I love you too. You’re mine, both of you.”
The words, angle and the stretch of him send me over, and I come with my face buried in his throat, shaking around him. “Oh…Kazimir!”
He follows almost immediately, burying himself to the hilt and spilling inside me with a rough sound that I feel in every part of my body.
?????
With Kazimir’s enemies already knowing about me, we can’t afford to wait, so when Kazimir suggests we get married at the courthouse that weekend, I agree.
There’s no reason to delay when I love him and already know I want to spend my life with him.
I don’t mind keeping the wedding simple.
I don’t have a big family to invite anyway.
“Girl you look so beautiful,” Bea gushes as the makeup artist finishes up with my makeup and leaves.
She’s already dressed in her maid of honor’s dress, a blush sequin dress. I stare at myself in the mirror, I indeed look beautiful, my dark hair falls down my back in soft, glossy waves, framing my face and making the makeup stand out even more.
“Kazimir is going to do a double take when he sees you in your dress,” Bea says, coming to stand behind me.
“It’s just a simple dress, nothing special.” With the limited time we had, we couldn’t find a designer who could create my dream wedding dress, so I had to settle for something close from a bridal store.
“No, it’s not.” Bea types on her phone as she speaks, and a moment later, there is a knock on the front door. She smiles and heads out to answer it.
“Who was that?” I ask when she returns to the bedroom, struggling to carry a large garment bag. “And what is that?”
“This is your wedding dress.”
“But I already—”
The word dies in my mouth when Bea unzips the bag to reveal a stunning white wedding dress. Exactly like the one I always told her I’d like to wear on my wedding day. “Oh my…” I reach out and run my fingers over the fabric, barely believing it is real.
The bodice is fitted through the waist, with delicate lace tracing the neckline and continuing down the sheer sleeves. Tiny crystals are scattered across the lace, while the skirt falls into a soft, flowing train that trails several feet behind it.
I look at Bea, who is grinning from ear to ear. “How?”
“Well, after we couldn’t find your dream wedding dress in any of the stores, I reached out to Kazimir. I described exactly what you wanted, and he contacted Pierre Glamz and demanded he designed it for you.”
“Wait, did you just say Pierre Glamz?”
Pierre Glamz is it when it comes to bridal splendor, and you usually have to book him months in advance before he will design a dress for you. He is based all the way in Paris, which makes this even more unbelievable.
I stare at Bea in disbelief. “How did you manage to get him to work on it at such short notice?”
“Not me, your fiancé,” Bea says with so much pride.
Ever since I told her about his life in the Bratva, she has come to respect him even more.
She is fascinated by the fact that her best friend is about to marry into the Bratva.
Trust Bea to be the only person who could hear something like that and somehow find it exciting.