35. Adrik
ADRIK
A lot could happen in a week. Seven days could seem like a long wait or a quick rush. It didn’t seem like nearly enough time for me and Elena, though. There was no way we could stay sane and accomplish all the tasks that were ahead of us in one measly week.
“You don’t have to rush through it,” Maksim told me, oh, so wisely. “It’s not like she’s going to go into labor now .”
He’d taken the news of my engagement and the baby on the way quite well.
All of my brothers and cousins had. Lev already had the head’s up, since he’d overheard me asking the doctor for the test kit, but he’d managed to keep his mouth shut and didn’t tell the others.
His surprise was slightly less, but like the others, he had been happy and congratulated me when I told them all at lunch that I was marrying Elena and that we’d be welcoming a child soon.
While I was the first of our generation to find a woman to keep and to start a family, they would all be in my shoes someday soon too. For now, though, they were rallying behind me and Elena and ready to officially welcome her to the family.
“She doesn’t want to wait,” I reminded my brother, raising my brows.
“Okay. She doesn’t want to. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a say in it.” He shrugged. “There doesn’t need to be a rush with this if you don’t want it like that. Planning an appropriate wedding in four days is a lot.”
I frowned at him as we walked through the garden and outdoor patio and entertainment space behind the main house.
“But she does want to get married this week.” Even though my proposal to her was hasty, and catalyzed by the idea of her carrying my child, there was no outer influence that meant I had to bind her to me legally.
Sure, it was ideal to be married before the baby was born, but we had months.
“And I’m past due in giving her what she wants,” I added.
When I proposed, I meant it when I vowed to give her whatever she desired in life.
Anything. Nothing was off the table because while I could compromise with her and give her an avenue to continue being a people pleaser—with me—I wanted to ensure she never had to feel obligated to earn anything.
After Morovov belittling her for probably her whole life, I intended to provide for her and our child in any way I could. I planned to spoil her, pamper her, and always reward her for what she wished for.
And if that meant marrying this week, sooner than later, that was what we were going to do.
“Pussy whipped already,” Alexei said from my left, piping up for the first time as he walked with us. He shot me an amused smirk, but it fell from his face when I punched his shoulder.
“Just you wait.”
He laughed a dry bark of laughter. “Fuck that.”
He’d no doubt be the last of us to meet a woman who’d want to put up with him long enough to marry him, but I could see it happening.
Mark my words, asshole. You’ll know what this is like sooner or later.
This freedom to know your other half could complete you and ground you—no matter where she came from.
Never in a million years would I have imagined meeting my future wife and the mother of my children from a financier selling her to me as a way out of his punishment, but here we were.
Elena was it.
This was it.
This time tomorrow, I’d be one half of a couple forever.
After all the distance I’d put between us and all the head-scratching I had to wade through to find my peace in loving her, I never wanted a moment away from her again.
This whirlwind of a week was testing that, with how many things we’d crammed into the schedule, but I knew it would be worth the headache, stress, and wait.
“But why does she want to hurry through it all?” Maksim asked. “A wedding for the heir of the Volkov Bratva shouldn’t be an afterthought or an event to shoo in with as few details decided as possible.”
“I bet she doesn’t want a crowd,” Alexei commented while we walked back to the house after meeting with the security team who’d been planning the logistics of the ceremony that we’d have here the next morning.
“I know she doesn’t want a crowd,” I corrected him.
She’d told me flat out that she would prefer to go to the courthouse.
My shocked expression had her retreating.
She backed up and apologized and told me that she’d do whatever I wanted, and that prompted me to start the campaign of righting that wrong.
We’d be together as a legally bound couple. We were joined in love. And if she kept pandering to what she thought I wanted over what she desired, I’d need to start spanking her fine ass.
After I asked her, point blank, what she wanted, she was honest.
“I’ve never really thought about it. I never had these dream ideas or fantasies.” She shrugged. “And now that I’ve met you, all that matters is that it’s you whom I’ll marry.”
That appeased me, but over a long conversation, she explained more.
First and foremost, she didn’t like being the center of attention.
I knew that already, but that preference was heightened with the concept of a wedding.
The bride was supposed to be the center of attention, but I wouldn’t make her suffer for one second.
Secondly, she didn’t want to dwell on guests and invitations and a whole production of a reception because she didn’t have anyone to invite or include.
Her father wasn’t alive to give her away.
No family of her own was left. Not even any friends.
It emphasized how much of a homebody she truly was, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
“I respect that,” I told her with a kiss on the back of her hand. I couldn’t stop admiring the ring—my ring—on her finger. The blue of the main gemstone rivaled the brilliance of her eyes that sparkled at me with excitement.
“But I do need to make sure certain guests will be in attendance. Members of the distant family. Allies and figures of other organizations we need to keep in mind.”
She didn’t protest, listening carefully.
“Our wedding isn’t just the start of our new lives together, sweetheart. It will also serve as a political signal to the rest of the world.”
“Meaning… you are off the market?” she guessed.
I chuckled, kissing her. “Yes, I suppose. But I mean it more as a way of showing allies and enemies alike that our family is growing. Expanding. Strengthening.”
She sighed, snuggling closer to me. “I hope that this is a good thing, that our having a baby and getting married are an appropriate counter to how your father is dying.”
I kissed the top of her head and smiled.
“It is. Nothing stays the same, the good or the bad.” Losing my father was hard, but not unexpected.
He wouldn’t have lived forever. Ushering in a new phase of our rule with a queen by my side was something brighter to focus on.
“Letting everyone see how secure the Volkov family line is will be a show of power.”
“I understand.”
For a second, I worried that she would assume I was only marrying her to build on the bloodlines and use our child as a token of future stability.
I also, after talking with Viktor and Nikolai last night, when they wondered aloud if Elena thought I was only marrying her because she was pregnant, worried if she’d think that.
That if she wasn’t pregnant, I wouldn’t have proposed or made such a drastic decision about her.
I would have. I might have fumbled and dragged my feet while I handled taking the throne.
If anything, her unexpected pregnancy forced me to quit dicking around and act.
To lead.
To lead us toward the future we deserved.
I reached the house with Maksim and Alexei, knowing they’d be busy after this.
I doubted I’d see them for the rest of the day.
“Elena wants a small and simple wedding, and I will do my best to give her that. You know her. She’s not about appearances and superficial crap.
She does understand that we need guests present, specific ones, and she’s not opposed to that part of the plans. ”
They both nodded, delegated to receive the guests and smooth out any details that needed to be addressed. Multiple distant relatives would be staying on the property here, and others would be lodging at our hotels on the Strip.
While it was all sudden, no one was against coming for the event at a last moment’s notice this week.
When the next morning arrived, I was too excited for the day to be through to stress about any last-minute details. Too many things had been happening at once, and if I didn’t stick with the mindset of going with the flow and rolling with it, then I would’ve struggled.
My brothers and cousins and I had been keeping tabs on developments with the nearby Garcia Cartel and the Konstantin family.
Elena was distracted with the chance of following a specific lead that she wanted to follow about this network.
She’d met my father, who was unaware that she’d be his daughter-in-law and that he’d have a grandson on the way.
A doctor appointment had taken time, too, with her being checked for any issues.
A blood panel was done and she’d been given specific vitamins and supplements.
But as I finally stood at the end of the aisle, waiting for her to walk toward me so I could take her hand in marriage, I knew that this was how it was meant to be.
Hectic as the leader, but stronger in the knowledge that she was with me, fighting for us.
Life would pull me in many different ways, as I dreaded my father’s death as much as I looked forward to my wife and I welcoming our first child.
I hadn’t expected to become the Pakhan this soon.
As Elena showed up at the other end of the carpeted path over the patio stones, radiant and gorgeous with the simple white bridal gown that accentuated her sweet curves and showed off her rosy cheeks, I realized that I hadn’t been expecting to become a husband or father this soon, either.