36. Elena
ELENA
I woke up to another form of a new normalcy.
Adrik’s hard and hot body pressed against me as he slept in next to me.
Spooning me. From head to toe, he was pressed against me, wrapped around me.
Lying on his side but also clutching me close, with one leg over mine and his heavy, toned arm draped over my chest. I was warm and cozy.
Our positions resulted in an enveloping sense of security that I never wanted to give up.
One that I never dared to dream of having at all.
His muscles braced against me, reminding me of how strong and formidable he was even in rest. Yet when I turned slightly to face him, I admitted the serenity on his face that showed he wasn’t only the boss. That he wasn’t only the leader of dangerous criminals.
He was also just a man. My man. The only man I would ever be in love with.
Waking up more fully, I waited for the expected discomfort of nausea.
According to the very compassionate and qualified doctor I’d spoken with earlier this week, a kind old woman who did house calls, this morning sickness wasn’t anything to be concerned about.
My initial checkup had gone well, and I was more relieved after starting my prenatal care.
Tips about how to avoid the worst of the nausea gave me hope.
And I wondered if this would only end up being a fleeting part of my pregnancy, anyway.
I sighed happily, not feeling that urgency to run to the bathroom in case the nausea would turn into actually emptying my stomach.
Unwilling to get up and forfeit the bliss and comfort of snuggling in this massive bed, I tried not to move too much and wake up Adrik.
Instead, I scanned the room with a fresh perspective, seeing what I liked and what I wondered if we could adjust. This wasn’t the first time I’d been in this overly masculine room. Since the day he’d proposed, he’d moved me into the main house, into our house, and into this enormous suite.
He’d acted on that move not only because he wanted to keep me by his side, but we also had to open up the guest house for the people coming in for the wedding. All those associates and Mafia dignitaries—none of whom I knew. Powerful men in tuxes. Elegant wives in gowns.
Among them all, it was hard to feel like I belonged. But it was my wedding day, and seeing Adrik reconfirmed that I could belong. By marrying him, I was choosing to fit in with them all.
Still, there was such a contrast between me and these influential and wealthy members of syndicated crime.
Adrik noticed when I felt shy, though, and he hadn’t let me down once yesterday.
He handled all the small talk and mingling and introductions.
His brothers, especially Maksim and Nikolai, assisted as well.
Even though it might have outwardly seemed pathetic for me to be so quiet and clinging to Adrik’s arm, not speaking much because I didn’t know what to say, I was glad that he gave me the freedom to be this passive until I could be more of an active participant in his circle.
Everything had happened so swiftly for us, but he wasn’t trying to pressure me into changing who I was at heart. He accepted me for the quiet, mild-mannered soul I was.
Eventually, I would learn to grow out of my shell more. I knew I would. I’d never want to let my husband down or be a burden. I had a hunch that the more time I spent with Nikolai and Viktor, I would learn to loosen up and still realize that these people would bow to me as Adrik’s spouse.
I was supposed to be his queen, and that was a heady concept to get used to.
“Please don’t tell me that you’re awake already,” he grumbled sleepily.
I smiled at his raspy voice. He didn’t open his eyes, clinging to the chance to sleep in some more. I stroked my hand over his face. A low growl of pleasure followed, and I smiled at the sound of satisfaction he gave me with my touch pleasing him.
“It’s not like we stayed up late,” I replied.
“We spent all of yesterday being on ,” he argued after he kissed me. “That takes a toll on anyone. Even me.”
“Pretty soon, we’ll need to figure out how to stay up late with a feeding schedule.”
Now he opened his eyes, gifting me with the warm, grounding sensation I felt when he adored me like this.
When he looked at me like this, intensely and like I was the only person in the world, I felt it in my soul.
Now that we’d gotten past the obstacles that stood between us before, he never hid his possession, love, and commitment to me.
“We will handle it as partners,” he said with a reassuring kiss as he settled against me and yawned.
“Are you sure that you don’t regret not having a honeymoon planned?
” He laid his big hand over my stomach, tracing his fingertips back and forth to caress me.
It was such a possessive, protective move, and I loved to see how this big, bad man was so smitten with becoming a father.
I shook my head. He had scolded me about being too much of a people pleaser and not advocating for what I wanted. But that wasn’t the case with my rejection of a honeymoon. I hadn’t told him that I didn’t want a honeymoon just to appease him.
“There’s too much going on right now,” I reminded him. “I really feel like I’m so close to figuring out the origin of that network, or at least the money trail that proves when it started. That one shell company has to be the first one used to?—”
He narrowed his eyes, hugging me closer. “Were you talking business at the wedding reception, wife ? I saw you and Sacha, and that conversation seemed like more than him telling you congratulations.”
I smiled sheepishly. “I can’t help it. I want to get to the bottom of it. Now that I have a family, a real one, and it’s already going to grow, I want to do my part in making sure that we are as safe as possible.”
“There will always be threats,” he reminded me, as if only now lecturing me about what I was signing up for as his wife.
“I know,” I replied. “But I’m not a trophy wife like so many of those women last night. I won’t be one. I’m not going to be a passive woman to keep at home.”
“You do need to take it easy with your pregnancy, though.” He kissed me softly.
“I will.” I kissed him back. “I will follow the doctor’s every order. I’ll take it easy when I need to. I’d never do anything to harm this child.”
He sighed and responded with a deeper kiss, one that suggested we might start our first morning as a married couple with him deep inside me. With him making me come so hard.
He pulled back soon, though, and gave me a smoldering look with so much love that my heart hammered faster.
This is mine. He’s mine.
“You are too good at what you do for anyone to ever dismiss you or put you in a corner.”
He couldn’t be any more perfect. His praise and hearing him say how much he needed me—not only in bed—was the kind of approval that I coveted.
This right here, knowing that I could help him and do my job, mattered to me.
Being productive in the investigation he’d assigned to me was just as rewarding as whatever we did here, naked and alone.
“However, I do have you in my bed right now,” he said slyly, kissing along my jawline toward my neck.
I smiled as he ran his hand lower down my body.
I spread my legs so he could play with me. “I thought it was our bed now.”
“Oh, fuck yeah, this is our bed. I’ve got my wife in our bed, and I’m determined to start the first day of our marriage off right.”
He did.
Or rather, we did.
After I ended up straddling him and riding his dick until we both came, I slumped against him and enjoyed how closely he held me.
We showered together once we’d caught our breath, and together, we headed downstairs for breakfast. That was where all the “work” began. And it was where all the love blossomed in my chest.
Seated at the big table with his brothers and cousins, all of whom conveniently lived on the property or nearby, I felt a sense of real belonging that I’d never experienced before.
I had brothers.
Cousins.
I was sure that with time, they’d all meet someone and there would be more people to call family.
It was such a contrast to how I used to be so alone and never connected to anyone.
It was only part of the changes I was enjoying, too.
Soon, I’d be a mother! I’d have my own little bundle of joy to love always.
This was the family that I never wanted to lose sight of.
I was a Volkov now. I was part of this wonderful group of strong yet dangerous people.
They weren’t just a Mob. While they did orchestrate deals and rule with a mighty fist that meant violence, I saw now that it was no different from if I had met and wanted to marry a politician or cop.
Justice was delivered on both sides of society.
Lawmakers were corrupt the same as Mafia bosses pursued criminals.
From my perspective, I knew that money made the world go round. I’d seen firsthand how it did legally and illegally, and I was more than okay with choosing the Volkovs for my future.
Finished with breakfast and eager to get busy on my computer, I kissed Adrik goodbye and headed to the office that I was calling mine for now.
Adrik was already starting plans for making room for me in this huge house. In our home. There was ample space to work with, too.
We would plan a nursery. And he wanted to designate a custom office for me. I bet if there were any other ideas I had, I only needed the courage to bring them up to him for him to make them reality.
As if I could think of anything to want.
I have it made.
A home. A husband. A family.
I smiled as I entered the office.
For now, I was perfectly content to carry on in the room with the two doors, simply because I was used to it. Sacha and Igor were already in here, and both of them gave me a little hard time about showing up for work this early.
“You don’t want to take the morning off?” Sacha teased.
I shook my head. “We’re too close.” If it mattered so much to the Volkovs to know who the originator of this network was, I wanted to be able to confirm whether it was Gregori or someone else.
I was confident that I was the best one to direct the way to answers.
Tracking receipts and following all the name changes on financial forms was the clearest line of activity we could follow from so long ago.
Aliases had to match up sooner or later.
The investigators down in the computer lab and control room were chasing the leads I’d given them.
Because I wasn’t just talking the talk when I told Adrik that I wanted to contribute to our family’s safety. I meant it.
And if finding the organizer of this network was the start of being prepared, then I was going to do just that.
For long hours, I stayed at the computer. I no longer felt like I was used or stuck in an employment situation I couldn’t get out of. I believed that this was where I really belonged. Doing what I was good at, focusing on the industry I’d trained in.
I was here, able to feel the pride of my hard work, not because I’d been given away.
But because I had chosen to trust my heart and take a leap of faith that Adrik was who I’d been missing out on all my life. His love was the trigger I’d needed to find my place once and for all.
Soon to be a mother.
And currently the mastermind behind rooting out who dared to scheme against my family.