I push through the conference room doors and watch all the jaws drop.
“Meeting adjourned.”
The other members, some of whom I recognize, although I know they don’t recognize the man in the shadows, look at Julie’s dad, John Jarvis with a sense of disbelief.
“Gentleman, if you could just please give me--”
“Out!” I roar and the room clears out quickly. “Except you,” I say grabbing John by the lapels.
Once the room is cleared except for me and John I just stare down at him.
“Why are you being so aggressive?”
I slap him like the little bitch he’s being and he reaches for his jaw.
“Ow!”
“Quit being a sissy.” I pause. “I should have really hit you so you know what pain feels like.”
“What do you want?”
“I am not here for anything. I am here to tell you the way things are going to be from now on. I am out. This operation is over.”
“But…you are the man on the street. You will sink the entire operation.”
“My plan exactly. It is time to go legitimate, not to mention it is not working anyways. There is no point in staying on this horse when it is leading nowhere. People are only more and more suspicious of Russians and our sources of funding. It is a lost cause at this point so there is only one way to really make this work.” I exhale hard. “It is time to make a real change, to roll up our sleeves and help the next generation of Russian-Americans so in five years, ten years, hell maybe even twenty years they can make a difference…a real difference. We cannot keep forcing this. It has to happen naturally, which is why I am going to funnel my portion of the money we have made into the community. Teach these kids more than theories and pointless garbage. It is time to show them how this country really runs, and you are going to help me.”
“Says who?”
I lean over the table and put my forehead inches from his. “Says me, motherfucker. You got a problem with that you say it now.”
Dead silence.
“Good. So we are on the same page.”
I back my head away and just stare down at him. This guy needs a lot of work…a lot. And he just won the lottery because I’m going to show him how to be a real man. It’s gonna take a whole lot of time and reprogramming his brain, but I’ll keep him close by my side so he can learn the best way possible…by watching me.
“Why the change, Vladimir?”
“You know why.”
“Julie?”
“She is my future, our future. And I am not going to be running around doing shady shit anymore, not with her in my life. And more importantly what example will that set for our children.”
“Children?”
“Yeah, you heard me right. She is mine and we are going to start a family together real soon. We are going to get the ball rolling real quick.”
“But.”
I raise a hand letting him know I’m not afraid to backhand him again if he tries to give me any lip.
“You asked me to watch out for her and that is exactly what I did. As a matter of fact I watched her real close.”
He says nothing.
“So now you know.”
I turn to leave and walk toward the double doors. “Vladimir.”
I stop, pivot on my foot and turn only halfway back around. I give him a “now what” look and say nothing.
“What about that Chechen’s body?”
“I do not know what you’re talking about,” I smirk, looking up in the corners of the room knowing he’s got the fucking place wired. “And if you were doing your homework, instead of sitting in here on your ass collecting big checks instead of keeping your ear to the street you would have known the guy was a week away from attempting a major terrorist attack, so if anything you can put my name in for a fucking Medal of Honor.” So I slipped up there and maybe said too much, but I’ve still got enough guys on the police force and in the legal system that would help me out, not to mention John technically is my unofficial partner so he’d probably be in as deep shit as I would be. I didn’t admit anything anyways, so I’m not stressing it.
“Oh, and just to let you know I am marrying your daughter.”
“You’re—”
“That is right. I am telling you, not asking you. If you play your cards right from here on out you just might get invited to the wedding, unless I take her to some far off tropical beach and marry her next weekend that is.”
My body squares back up to the door and I push through, exiting the conference room.
“He’s all yours, guys,” I say to the stunned men in suits.
I can’t help but smirk at what just happened, and the best part is I’ve saved my biggest, most stunning act, for tonight.
CHAPTER 23
Julie
“Vladimir, it’s cold out here,” I say, as our rented boat cruises down the Hudson River towards the Upper Bay. The bite of the wind on the open water is a bit much this time of year, leading me to wonder why he’s taking me out here.
“Sorry, my Yulia. I am Russian, I forget these things.”
“Yulia?”
“Your Russian name.”
“I’m not Russian, silly,” I say, pulling myself in close to his coat. “Let’s come back this summer and we can stare at the Statue of Liberty all afternoon.”
“I can not wait that long.”
“Wait?”
“Because you may not be Russian now, but soon you will be.”
“Huh?” What in the world is up with these cryptic messages? Vlad has been smiling way more than normal since he picked me up, but he seems like he’s holding back a secret or something that he’s waiting to tell me.
“You see her?” he asks pointing towards the Statue of Liberty.
“How can I miss her? She’s beautiful.”
“Unfortunately for her, for the first time in her existence she is not the most beautiful woman in the Upper Bay, or for that matter the world.”
He leans down and kisses me on the top of my head and I get a tingling sensation all over my body from his romantic words.
“The Statue of Liberty represents exactly that…liberty. I remember when I first came to this country how much I loved that statue, and how I still do today. It represents things that most Americans can probably never understand…a lack of class systems, upward mobility with hard work, and the chance to live the best possible life on this earth…with fifty different states to choose from.”
“I thought you were proud of your country?” I tease.
“I am and I always will be, but nothing compares to here. That is why we will have our child here, to give him or her the chance to move forward in this life free of corruption and achieve anything she or he sets their mind to.”
“Yes. I love the sound of that.”
“And that is why we are here today. For years that statue meant liberty to me and encapsulated so many things, but now another woman has taken her place. A far more important woman for me, the most important in all my life. It is she who has shown me the light and helped me to see that there really is no one other person in this world for me. She’s set me free of my way of thinking and showed me to pursue a path of righteousness and justice. These ideas never would have entered my mind, if it were not for her. And thanks to her I feel my future will be even better, and I can be proud of what I am doing for both of us, for our family, and for our community.”
“Family first,” I say.
“Always. And that starts with making our child, our child. We need to bring that child into a world with two parents that love each other and are completely committed to each other in a way that the whole world sees.”
My mind searches for where he’s going with this. I think I have an idea, but I can’t believe it…until…
Vladimir drops to a knee, our bodies rocking slightly on the open water as he takes my hand, and not for balance.
“Julie, my Julie, you are the woman who is truly the light of my lif
He pulls a small black box from his black leather jacket and pops the top open, holding it open for me to ooh and aah over.
A tear immediately falls down my face and I truly can’t believe how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.
And the best part?
How much further we have to go…together.
I nod.
“Yes!” I say.
Vladimir slides the ring on my finger and the first thing I do with it is press it against his cheek, as I grab his face and pull him back up to me, kissing him with everything I’ve got.
“I love you,” I say.
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Julie
One month later
It’s a race to get undressed the minute we walk through the door.
Watching Vladimir march into the school and grab my professor by the shirt collar and bring his head down to the desk got me wet as fuck.
I’d just mentioned, in passing, that my teacher was kind of creepy and I thought maybe he was looking at me and some of the other girls in an unprofessional manner.
That’s all it took to set Vlad loose.
The best part was normally I’d be embarrassed by my fiancé acting like a reckless animal, but of course he wasn’t reckless at all.
In the middle of the night, he somehow managed to sneak out of my grasp and go online. Not only that, he made some calls.
Seems this professor had a history of being a bit too touchy and forward at his last university, but he’d managed to get those reports expunged so when he interviewed for his next job there was no knowledge of his actions.
And now he was up to his old tricks.
But my man had a trick up his own sleeve, if you can call it that.
Vladimir isn’t one to resort to childish games. He called some of his policeman pals and got all his ducks in a line knowing that once he had an unshakable case of history against this guy then he could do what he really wanted to do.
Publicly humiliate him and call him out for his behavior.
After he had his face pinned to the desk and his knee in his back he made him grunt out an apology to the entire class for his actions.
But that wasn’t all.
He personally dragged him out of the building, like a caveman, and to the curb where he tossed him into the street and yelled at him not to set foot on campus ever again or he’d see what real Russian aggression looked like.
My entire class, men and women, watched with jaws touching the ground from the window.
I turned to the side and without even trying I could see I wasn’t the only woman whose nipples were hard as rocks and who had a flushed look on her face.
The guys started high-fiving each other and the other girls started rumbling about how hot he was and how they’d never even seen a real man like that before.
I felt jealousy streak through me and I walked out of class and kissed Vladimir hard right in the grass where he stood, looking back at the window to a bunch of sour looks from the girls.
That’s right. He’s mine.
And from there it was a race to get home and into bed, if we can even make it that far.
“I need you to fuck me,” I moan as he scoops me up like I weigh nothing and carries me into the bedroom, tossing me flat on my back before he’s quickly on top of me, mounting me.
I’m so damn wet his cock slides right in, filling me completely as I feel all the air leave my lungs.
“Harder,” I moan, having had a month to get used to his girth and length and after the display he put on an hour ago I’m really ready to feel all of his power.
He grunts and moans as he thrusts into me, the legs of the bed coming off the ground with each thrust.
The headboard slams into the wall as his cock slams into me.
“Oh fuck, Vlad. I’m right there. Don’t stop.”
“Never,” he rumbles as he shows me who’s boss, his need to possess me in full view.
My eyes rake across his taut muscles, his gritted teeth, and a look of rage on his face.
He growls deeper and it pushes me over the top, my whole world spinning as my body is tossed around the bed like a rag doll.
“Ahhh!” he moans and I feel his eruption fill me, but he doesn’t stop thrusting. If anything it’s like he somehow found another gear.
The headboard sounds like a cannon as it pounds against the wall, until suddenly there’s a loud cracking sound and I feel my head slide backwards.
Vlad’s hands grab my waist as he pulls me back to him, one hand coming off as he quickly grabs the side of the bed, bracing us.
I’m suddenly at a forty-five degree angle, the headboard of the bed having snapped completely in half.
The hand he has on my waist scoops me up and he steps off the bed, his cock still inside me, my legs wrapped around his waist as he carries me into the shower.
Seconds later I feel the warm water wash over my body as my back presses against the wall. His dick has painted a Picasso inside my womb and I know he’s dying to do a Jackson Pollock next.
But first I have to tell him about the true work of art we created together.
“Vlad,” I begin as he suds up some shampoo and runs his fingertips along my scalp.
My eyes close from the sensation. Damn, he’s making it hard to concentrate.
“Yes, my Yulia,” he says. He’s really taken to my new “Russian name” and I have to say I love it. It’s fun and kind of makes me feel like a spy or someone more interesting than who I am, even though he hangs onto every word I ever say like it’s truly the most interesting thing he’s ever heard.
“Thank you for fucking me proper like that. You know how much I love it now.”
“You know how much of a wild man you turn me into, beautiful.”
“We have to talk about that.”
“What is wrong?” he says, his eyes narrowing and I know what he’s thinking. His protector instinct always kicks in the second I voice, or even show, any expression of worry.
“Absolutely nothing. There’s something beautiful I have to tell you.”
His eyes open wide and his mouth opens slight. I love how he can be so calm and calculated at times, but also so in the moment.
“Tell me, woman.”
“I’m pregnant.”
His mouth closes like a steel trap and his nostrils flare.
His eyes close and his hands leave my scalp as he pumps his fists, and his hips keeping my ass pinned to the wall.
Suddenly his eyes come flying open and he takes my face in his shampoo filled hands and kisses me hard before wiping a single shampoo bubble off my nose.
“You have just made me the happiest man to ever walk the face of the earth…again,” he says as he interlaces his big fingers in mine, on my ring hand.
He twists my wrist over and looks at my ring, before kissing it.
“It is a boy.”
“It’s a girl,” I say.
“The has doctor told you?”
“It’s too early to know, silly!” I say slapping him.
“I do not need a doctor to tell me that you are having my first born son. I already know.”
“How do you know that?” I say shrugging my shoulders and putting my hands on my hips.
“Because you have always given me everything I ever wanted in this life, and I know that is not about to stop now.”
“You know what else isn’t about to stop?”
“Me loving you,” he states as confidently as ever.
“Nor me loving you,” I say and we kiss underneath our own little “waterfall.”
Okay, it’s just a shower, but when I close my eyes and his lips touch mine it’s always paradise…always has been and always will be.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Vladimir
Five years later
“Good news,” I say to my woman as soon as I walk in the front door.
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