Epilogue - Vera
Two Years Later
“Vera.” I smiled before I even turned around.
Only one person in the world could make my name sound like both a warning and a love letter.
“Yes, my darling husband?”
It had been two years to us being married, and I still enjoyed referring to Nico as husband.
A long-suffering sigh echoed from behind me and I grinned.
Two years. Two whole years. And annoying Nico Romanov never became dull.
Perhaps I enjoyed it even more than I had when we were dating.
I turned away from the balcony and found him standing in the doorway with our daughter balanced on one arm.
My heart immediately melted. It happened every single time.
No exceptions. The man looked exactly as dangerous as he always had.
His shoulders were deliciously broad, and his jawline remained sharp.
The very same eyes that freeze entire rooms were trained at me with an expression that could only be called love.
All of that intimidation in his body disappeared the second he was holding our daughter. She was asleep against his shoulder, one tiny hand fisted in the collar of his black shirt. Her dark curls were slightly messy, and her cheeks were round.
She was perfect. And completely capable of controlling the most feared man in Miami.
“She is asleep?” I asked quietly.
Nico glanced down, and his expression softened immediately.
“Finally.”
I laughed. “That bad?”
He looked personally offended. “She negotiated bedtime.”
“She’s two.”
“Exactly.”
I bit back another smile as he walked into the room and carefully lowered himself onto the couch. Every movement was deliberate and measured, as though he was transporting state secrets instead of a sleeping toddler. Then again, to Nico, there wasn’t much difference.
Sophia Romanov was the center of his universe.
He would never admit it quite so openly, but everyone who saw them together knew it anyway.
Especially me. Our daughter shifted slightly against him, and Nico froze.
Completely. I watched in amusement while he remained motionless for nearly ten seconds.
When she settled again without waking up, he finally relaxed.
“You are ridiculous.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I am just being careful so her sleep doesn’t get disturbed. If she wakes up, you will be the one putting her to bed this time.”
“Mean. When she grows up, I will tell her how terrified you were of her waking up in the middle of a nap.”
He stared at me and then burst out laughing.
Two years ago, I would have never imagined this.
Not the laughter or the teasing or the ease with which life came to us.
Back then, everything had felt fragile. Like happiness could disappear if I looked away for too long, but now it felt different. Not because life had become simple.
It hadn’t.
The Romanov empire still existed and the alliances still existed.
The responsibilities still existed and there were still meetings.
Operations. Security concerns. Threat assessments.
Enough dangerous men to fill several prisons.
Nico was still gone for days at a time and I was always terrified for his life and safety.
The only difference was that none of it controlled us anymore.
Not completely. We had built something stronger than survival.
Something stable. Something real. Something worth protecting.
“I’ll go put her in bed,” Nico whispered and moved towards the nursery.
My gaze drifted toward the city beyond the balcony windows.
Right after the wedding, we had shifted back to Nico’s penthouse.
The place where we had made most of our memories when we had started dating all those years ago.
Miami glittered beneath the evening sky and the water reflected hundreds of lights.
Traffic moved in steady streams and life continued.
Beautifully ordinary. Dangerously normal. I loved it.
Nico followed my gaze as he returned and came to sit down beside me. “What are you thinking about?”
The question was simple, but the answer wasn’t.
“Everything.”
His mouth twitched. “Well, that was certainly helpful.”
I rolled my eyes and sank deeper into the couch. I rested my head against his shoulder; the same way I had done thousands of times over the past two years. Nico adjusted slightly so I fit more comfortably against him.
Another habit. Another instinct. Another thing neither of us questioned anymore.
“I was thinking about how strange life is.”
He considered that. “Once again, that’s not very specific.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be.”
“Fair.”
“Do you remember our first date?” I asked.
Nico groaned instantly, and I laughed.
“What?”
“You thought I worked at the shelter.”
My grin widened. “I did. I don’t know what I was thinking because you definitely didn’t look like you worked there in your expensive ass suit.”
“I was dropping off a donation.”
His expression became suspicious. “How does that support your argument?”
“It doesn’t.”
I laughed before he could continue, and he rolled his eyes.
“But if you think about it, that was just our first meeting. Our first date was when I took you out for coffee; after that, you ended up spilling your entire iced latte on me. That is when I should have walked away.”
“Oh, please,” I laughed at the memory. “You were obsessed with me.”
“I was not.”
“You absolutely were.”
His expression informed me that I was impossible, and I found that incredibly endearing.
I turned to look at him, and we both stared at each other.
There was a slight stir on the baby monitor and both of us froze, wondering if Sophia had woken up, but the sound quickly faded and her soft breathing returned.
“See?” I whispered.
“What?”
“You’re terrified of her.”
His expression immediately became defensive. “I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
“I am exercising caution.”
“That’s fear with better branding.”
Nico looked genuinely offended, and I kissed his cheek.
The offense vanished immediately. This was another thing that had not changed.
Not even a little. He pulled me closer, and I ended up straddling his lap, our lips colliding with one another.
Two years and one child later, my attraction for this man only seemed to grow with every passing day.
“Someone seems desperate,” he whispered as my kisses grew more fervent.
“Shut up and fuck me?” I asked, and that was all it took.
Within seconds, Nico had us stripped naked with his cock lodged deep inside my pussy.
I was on top of him, but he was the one stroking me from below while I simply clung to him like there was no tomorrow.
He began kissing my neck, marking every spot that he knew was sensitive as hell.
No one knew my body better than Nico. Not even me.
“I’m close,” I whispered, and Nico’s thumb immediately shot up to my clit.
“Come for me.”
The command mixed with pleasure was all that I needed, and within seconds I was bursting through my orgasm, right on top of him.
Nico climaxed simultaneously, coming deep inside me.
We hugged each other, waiting for our breathing to slow down, just as the baby monitor twitched again and this time Sophia was actually awake.
“Time to be parents again,” I chuckled and pulled my clothes back on while Nico did the same and ran to get our daughter.
As soon as she was brought out, she demanded snacks. Then refused the snacks she herself had demanded earlier. Then requested a story. Then corrected Nico three separate times while he read it. I sat on the floor watching the entire thing unfold. Thoroughly entertained. Nico was less entertained.
“That’s not how dragons sound.”
Sophia crossed her tiny arms. “It is.”
“No, they don’t.”
“It does in this book.”
Nico stared at the page. Then at her. Then at me as if looking for support, but I offered none. He was on his own for this one.
“You are enjoying this,” he said to me, his tone accusatory.
“Very much.”
“Traitor.”
Sophia climbed into his lap, which was Nico’s equivalent of victory achieved and conflict forgotten.
The negotiation was over. At least until the next one.
Children were apparently tiny dictators, and nobody had warned us about that.
Or perhaps they had, and Nico and I just hadn’t listened.
The evening passed quietly after that between dinner and stories and a minor disagreement regarding vegetables.
Eventually bedtime arrived once again and this time Sophia surrendered without much resistance, which was a historic achievement.
Nico carried her to the nursery and I followed. Together we tucked her in. Together we listened to her insist that she was not tired. Together we watched her fall asleep less than five minutes later. When we finally left the room, the house felt unusually peaceful.
Soft. Quiet. Home.
The hallway lights cast warm shadows across the walls and Nico slipped his hand into mine. The gesture was automatic, as if our hands had always belonged together. I squeezed gently and he squeezed back. Neither of us spoke immediately.
We didn’t need to.
Some silences were easy now. Comfortable.
Earned. Eventually we made our way back toward the balcony.
Back toward the city lights. The night air was warm and the ocean breeze drifted across the property.
Somewhere in the distance, a boat horn echoed and I leaned against the railing.
Nico stepped beside me, close enough that our shoulders touched.
For several minutes we simply stood there, watching and breathing.
Peace wasn’t something I had understood growing up.
Peace had always seemed temporary. Conditional. Fragile.
The sort of thing that disappeared the moment you trusted it.
But now I understand it differently. Peace wasn’t the absence of problems. It wasn’t perfection.
It wasn’t safety guaranteed forever. Peace was knowing where you belonged when difficulties came.
Peace was trust and certainty. Peace was looking beside you and knowing you wouldn’t face life alone. That was what we had.
Not perfection but something better. Something real.
Nico rested his forearms against the railing while his gaze remained on the city.
“You know.” I glanced up. “That’s usually how conversations start.”
His lips twitched. “I never thought I’d end up here.”
The statement caught me off guard. Not because of what he said but because of how honestly he said it.
I studied him quietly. The years had not softened him physically, and he still looked dangerous.
Still carried himself with authority. Still had that unmistakable Romanov presence that made people pay attention the second he entered a room.
But there were differences too.
Small ones. Important ones. The lines around his eyes appeared more often now because he smiled more and laughed more. Because he wasn’t carrying the entire world alone anymore.
“Here?” I asked softly.
His gaze shifted toward me. “I mean, I never thought I would end up being happy.”
The words settled between us, and my throat tightened unexpectedly because I understood exactly what he meant. For so long, happiness had felt impossible, and now it felt like a choice we kept making every day.
Together.
I reached for his hand, and our fingers intertwined immediately.
Naturally. The same way they always did.
“I never thought I’d end up here either.”
His eyes searched mine. “Do you ever regret all the time we lost?”
I laughed because the question was absurd.
“Not even a little bit. Maybe that lost time is what brought us closer.”
I stepped closer and rested my hand against his chest, feeling the steady rhythm beneath.
“I love you, Nico.”
The words came easily now. Not because they mattered less but because they didn’t need protecting anymore. His hand settled at my waist as he held me.
“I know. I am pretty lovable.”
I rolled my eyes immediately. “There he is.”
His grin appeared. “I love you too.”
Much better. The city sparkled beneath us, and the ocean stretched into darkness. The house behind us remained quiet as our future waited somewhere ahead. And for the first time in either of our lives, nothing felt like it was about to be taken away.
Nico pulled me closer, and I went willingly like I always would. And standing there beneath the Miami night, with the city glittering below and our family sleeping safely inside, I realized something that would have seemed impossible once.
This was enough. Not because life was perfect but because it was ours.
And after everything we had survived to get here, that felt like the greatest miracle of all.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
He leaned down, his lips on mine, and it felt like I was home again.
*****
THE END