50. Marla
MARLA
I nearly choke on air. My face floods with heat so fast I feel dizzy, and I want the floor to open up beneath me and swallow me whole. My mouth opens, but no sound comes out. I just stand there frozen, staring at Ekaterina like she's grown a second head.
Russ looks stunned for perhaps the first time in his life. His arm is still around my waist, but his entire body has gone rigid. His mouth opens slightly, then closes again. He blinks once, twice, like he's trying to process what his mother just said.
Nick is completely still near the counter, his coffee mug frozen halfway to his mouth. His green eyes are locked on Ekaterina with an expression I can't quite read. Not angry. Not shocked. Just... still.
Alex stands near the stove with his own mug, and while his expression doesn't change much, I catch the slight widening of his eyes. The only sign he's as caught off guard as the rest of us.
Ekaterina, meanwhile, continues sipping her coffee like she's just asked about the weather. Her dark eyes move calmly between the four of us, waiting for an answer with the patience of someone who has all the time in the world.
The silence stretches.
And stretches.
Nobody says anything.
The only sound in the massive kitchen is the faint hum of the refrigerator and my own heart pounding so loudly I'm sure everyone can hear it.
My embarrassment intensifies with every passing second. I want to run. I want to hide. I want to disappear into thin air and never come back. But Russ's arm is still around me, grounding me in place, and I can't move even if I wanted to.
"Ma," Russ finally says, his voice strained. "What the hell?"
"It's a simple question, Rustik," Ekaterina replies calmly, setting her mug down on the counter. "There's a baby coming. The four of you already live together. Everyone on this estate clearly treats Marla like she belongs to all three of you anyway. Marriage is simply the next logical step."
She says it so matter-of-factly, like she's discussing grocery lists or dinner plans. Like asking which of three Russian mafia bosses plans to marry the woman they're all sleeping with is a perfectly normal breakfast conversation.
I feel like I'm going to pass out. My knees feel rubbery, and if Russ wasn't holding me, I might actually collapse. This can't be happening. This cannot actually be happening right now.
"Ma, we haven't even..." Russ trails off, clearly struggling to find words. "We're not... it's complicated."
"It doesn't seem complicated to me," Ekaterina says.
She picks up her mug again and takes another sip, completely unbothered by the chaos she's just created.
"You're all living together. You're all raising this baby together.
You're all clearly in love with her. So which one of you is going to make it official first? "
The words "in love with her" hang in the air like a bomb that just detonated. My chest tightens so much I can barely breathe. Nobody denies it. Nobody argues. The silence that follows is deafening.
Then Alex speaks, his voice calm and steady like he's discussing a business deal. "We'll all marry her at the same time."
The room goes dead silent.
I whip my head around to stare at him, my eyes wide. He can't be serious. He can't possibly be serious right now. But Alex's expression is completely neutral, his brown eyes steady as he looks back at me. He's not joking. He's not teasing. He means it.
"What?" I manage to choke out.
"You heard me," Alex says simply. He sets his coffee mug down on the counter and crosses his arms over his chest. "We'll all marry you. At the same time."
My brain short-circuits. The words don't compute. Marry all three. At the same time! The sentence fragments scatter through my mind like broken glass, refusing to form any coherent meaning. My hands grip the edge of the counter so hard my knuckles turn white.
I can't process what he just said. It doesn't make sense.
People don't do that. You can't just marry three people at once.
That's not how marriage works. That's not how anything works.
There are laws. Legal documents. Witnesses.
Vows that specifically say ‘forsaking all others.’ The entire institution is built on the premise of one person, one commitment, one ring.
But nobody in the room looks shocked by the suggestion.
Nobody laughs or tells Alex he's insane.
Instead, Nick slowly lowers his coffee mug and studies Alex for a long moment, his green eyes thoughtful.
The deliberation in his gaze, like he's actually considering this, actually weighing the logistics of marrying me alongside two other men, sends a shock of electricity through my entire body.
"I don't hate the idea," Nick says quietly.
My head snaps toward him. "What?"
The word comes out as nearly a shout and echoes through the kitchen like a scream. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat, my temples, and even in the tips of my fingers. This can't be happening. This is not happening.
Nick's gaze shifts to me, and there's something intense in his expression that makes my breath catch. Something possessive and certain and absolutely terrifying. "You're ours, Marla. All of ours. Why the fuck would only one of us marry you?"
The question lands like a physical blow. Because he's right. They've already claimed me in every way that matters. They've already decided I belong to all three of them. The marriage would just be making it official. But it still isn't right. Is it? It can't be. Won't we be breaking laws?
"Because that's how marriage works!" I say, my voice coming out higher than I intended, almost hysterical. "You can't just... I can't marry three men!"
The absurdity of the situation crashes over me. I'm standing in a kitchen in a mansion owned by Russian mafia bosses, six months pregnant with a baby that could belong to any one of them, and they're casually discussing a polygamous marriage like it's a reasonable solution to a scheduling conflict.
"Why not?" Russ asks from beside me. I turn to look at him and find him leaning back slightly, his expression more amused than unsettled. There's a lightness to him that contrasts sharply with the weight of what's being discussed.
His casual acceptance of the impossible makes my stomach flip. He's not treating this like a crazy idea. He's treating it like the natural next step. Like of course they would all marry me. Like there was never any other option.
"Because it's illegal!" I sputter, grasping for any logical argument that might make sense of this insanity.
"So is half the shit we do," Russ points out with a grin. "Hasn't stopped us yet."
The grin. God, that grin. It's the same one that made me relax around him in the first place, the same one that's been slowly dismantling my defenses for months.
I stare at him, then at Nick, then at Alex. They're all looking at me with varying degrees of seriousness and possession. This isn't a joke to them. They're not humoring some fantasy or testing my reaction. They're actually considering this while Russ's mom looks on with a satisfied smile.
If I didn't like the woman so much, consider her like a mother to me, I'd probably strangle her right now. My vision blurs slightly. The kitchen tilts and I grip the counter harder, needing something solid to anchor me to reality because reality has just become completely unmoored.
Ekaterina makes a small sound of approval from across the kitchen. "Good. That's settled then."
"Nothing is settled!" I say, my voice cracking slightly. "You can't just decide something like this over breakfast!"
"Why not?" Ekaterina asks, raising an eyebrow. "It makes sense. You love all three of them, don't you?"
The question sends a fresh wave of heat across my cheeks.
My throat tightens, and I can't find words to respond.
Because she's right. I do love all three of them.
I've been trying not to think about it, trying not to acknowledge it, but it's true.
I'm in love with Russ. I'm in love with Nick.
And I'm in love with Alex. Completely and hopelessly.
"I..." I start, but my voice fails me.
"You do," Ekaterina says gently, like she's stating a fact rather than asking a question. "And they love you. So what's the problem?"
"The problem is that this is insane," I say weakly. "People don't do this."
"We're not most people," Alex says. His voice is calm and steady, grounding me even as my world spins out of control. "We've never been conventional, Marla. Why start now?"
I look at him, then at Nick, then at Russ. All three of them are watching me with expressions that make my heart ache.
"This is crazy," I whisper.
"Yeah," Russ agrees, his arm tightening around my waist. "But so is everything else about us. Hasn't stopped us yet."
Nick steps closer, his green eyes locked on mine. "We're not asking you to decide right now. But we're serious about this, Marla. All of us."
"Dead serious," Alex adds.
I feel like I'm drowning. Like the air in the kitchen has become too thick to breathe.
What started as an absurd breakfast conversation has become startlingly, terrifyingly serious.
For the first time since this whole insane situation began, the four of us are openly discussing an actual future together.
Not just surviving the next threat. Not just making it through the next crisis.
An actual future. Marriage. Family. Forever.
I look at Russ, with his easy smile and protective touch. I look at Nick, with his quiet intensity and unwavering loyalty. I look at Alex, with his controlled strength and unexpected gentleness. These three dangerous, complicated, impossible men have somehow become my entire world.
And I love them. God help me, I love all three of them.
Ekaterina watches me with knowing eyes, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. She knew. She knew exactly what she was doing when she asked that question. She wasn't trying to embarrass me or create chaos. She was forcing us to confront what we've all been dancing around for weeks.
"I need to sit down," I say faintly.
Russ immediately guides me to one of the stools at the island, his hand steady on my back. I sink onto it gratefully, my legs shaking. Nick moves closer, standing beside me with one hand resting on the counter near my arm. Alex stays where he is, but his eyes never leave my face.
I look down at my hands, trying to process everything that just happened. My life has become completely insane. But as I sit there, surrounded by these three men who have somehow become everything to me, I realize something that makes my chest tighten and my eyes burn with unshed tears.
I'm actually going to agree.