Chapter 32 – Mike
You chose love over power. Let’s see how long it lasts.
I stare at the message on Ellie’s phone that evening and roll my eyes.
Of course it’s her.
For a moment, the words sit there between us, glowing on the screen like they’re supposed to mean something—like they’re supposed to push us into a spiral.
Months ago, they might have.
Now?
Not so much.
I’ve learned something through all of this. Some enemies don’t exist as people anymore. They exist as ideas. As philosophies.
I hand the phone back to Ellie.
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her calmly. “She’s bluffing.”
Ellie leans against the kitchen counter, crossing her arms as she reads the message again.
“If she resurfaces properly,” I continue, “she’ll end up in prison before she even gets close to us. The investigations are still ongoing. The authorities are already dismantling what’s left of her network.”
Ellie scoffs softly. “I’m not afraid of her.”
There’s steel in her voice when she says it.
And I believe her.
This woman faced down an entire criminal syndicate and walked away with her mind—and her brilliance—intact.
Fear doesn’t own her anymore.
I step closer and tilt her chin up gently.
“Good,” I murmur.
Then I kiss her.
Soft.
Certain.
Because if Katerina is watching somewhere out there in the dark…then she should see this too.
She was wrong.
Ellie didn’t choose weakness.
She chose something stronger.
I reach up and cradle Ellie’s face in my hands, my thumbs brushing lightly along her jaw. She looks up at me with that curious little smile she gets when she knows I’m about to say something ridiculous.
“Do you know the moment I fell in love with you?” I ask.
Her eyes sparkle immediately.
She giggles. “The moment you read my paper?”
I shake my head slowly.
“I was already gone by then,” I admit. “But I wasn’t fully in love yet.”
Her eyebrows lift.
“Oh?” she says, tilting her head. “Then when did it happen?”
I think about it for a moment.
“In a cumulation of moments,” I say finally.
She waits.
“The moment you challenged me without a single ounce of fear,” I continue. “When everyone else in the room was practically bowing to me, and you were looking at me like I was just another man with a bad argument.”
She laughs under her breath.
“And the moment you stood up to Anya,” I add, shaking my head with amusement. “Right in front of everyone. Claimed me like you owned me.”
Ellie’s cheeks turn pink.
“That,” I say, grinning, “was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
She swats my chest lightly. “You’re impossible.”
“When you’re possessive of me like that, it drives me insane.”
She laughs, the sound loud and genuine. “You think I’m the possessive one? You have no idea how possessive I can be.”
My eyes narrow playfully.
“Oh, really?”
She leans closer, lowering her voice. “Really.”
“Fuck.”
She studies me for a second, then suddenly bursts into laughter.
“Now you’re turned on,” she says, pointing at me accusingly. “When I talk like that, it turns you on.”
I grin shamelessly. “Absolutely.”
Ellie shakes her head and pushes me away with both hands, still laughing. “You’re ridiculous.”
Maybe I am.
But as she walks away toward the living room, smiling and shaking her head, I follow her anyway.
Because ridiculous or not…she’s still the best thing that ever happened to me.
A few steps later, she glances over her shoulder and catches me trailing behind her.
She groans dramatically. “Stop following me.”
“No,” I reply without hesitation. “I want a piece of you.”
She spins around, eyes wide in mock offense. “I’m not meat.”
I shrug lazily. “That’s debatable.”
For a second, she just stares at me.
Then she bursts into laughter.
The sound fills the house, bright and carefree, and before I can say another word, she turns and bolts down the hallway.
“Ellie!” I shout, already chasing after her.
Her laughter echoes through the house as she runs, barefoot on the wooden floors, glancing back at me with a grin that’s half challenge, half pure joy.
I catch up to her near the staircase, grabbing her around the waist just as she squeals in protest.
We stumble together, laughing like idiots, the sound of it bouncing off the walls.
And in that moment—no enemies, no shadows, no looming threats. Just us.
Running through our home like two people who finally, finally, get to live.