by Harper West
“Go ahead and sign it, sweetie. I promise that we’ll have a happy, long life together. And like I said earlier, don’t worry about my porn addiction.” He winked at me and then burst out laughing.
“Are you seriously going to let this guy talk to your daughter like that, Daddy?!” My father shrugged, then smiled back at Michael.
“You know how guys talk,” he said. “Don’t be so uptight, Michelle. You’re getting everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“The sooner you sign, sweetheart, the sooner you can get to work on all of the girl stuff that guys don’t give a shit about,” Michael said. “You know, like planning the actual wedding. Although I do like the idea of an out of town wedding. Maybe at one of those castles.”
“They have a few old castle-like homes in the Hamptons,” my father said. “I’m sure we could work something out. Plus, that would look great for the company. I could get a lot of celebrities to attend the wedding, too. Affinity Finance is already a top company, but you two getting married--at a castle in the Hamptons--well, that’s gonna be like American royalty.”
“That’d be great. I mean, Michelle can decide on everything else, but that’ll look great on my social media.”
“I like how you think,” my father said. “Everyone’s involved in social media now, and a castle wedding is sure to bring in new clients!”
I put a hand over my stomach while my pen hovered over the signature box. Even if all of this worked out in the end, and I was able to run an amazing real estate company, would it all be worth it?
Just then, the doors swung open, and I felt the pen yanked out of my hand. I looked up and into the eyes of Nico. His soft, curly hair framed his face, and he was smiling directly into my eyes. Tears formed in mine as I stood up and kissed him, running my hand through that gorgeous hair.
“Nico! Oh, my God! What are you doing here? I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you when I left Russia! I never thought I’d see you again!” After I kissed him on the lips, I looked up and saw Hugo.
He came running over to me, picked me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist, and pulled me in for a deep, passionate kiss. His hands wandered all over my body as we made out, pulling away every few seconds to say how much we loved each other. When he put me down, Nico got behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. Once again, I was sandwiched between my two favorite men in the world.
“What the fuck are you guys doing here,” my father screamed. “I made it very clear that she was done with you two. Done! Do you hear me? Now look, I’ve known your father for a very long time, and I’d hate to see you boys get in trouble, but I can end your careers with one phone call. Understand me? I’m a very powerful man, and Erect-it Corporation wants to do business with Affinity Finance, right?”
Hugo pulled away from me, then leaned across the table and got into my father’s face.
“Just who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, buddy? First of all, you haven’t spoken to our father in years.” My father closed his mouth and shrugged, admitting that it was true. He hadn’t spoken with Alexander Stepanov in quite a long time. “Second of all, perhaps you’ve forgotten about our family’s side businesses.” Hugo held up his left hand, which had a gold ring and the symbol of the Stepanov mafia family: a large ’S’ with two knives going through the middle.
“Look, I’m a very powerful man. I know plenty of New York City cops who would love to get their hands on you boys, especially since there’s been a string of robberies that are supposedly connected to your family.” Nico burst out laughing, then stepped out from behind me.
“Are you out of your fucking mind? What on earth would the Stepanov mafia want with some New Yorkers? Do you know how much money we have, Chase? The only reason you’re still in business is because Michelle knows how to get shit done, as opposed to this loser.” He pointed to Michael, who had been sitting in his seat the whole time with his mouth wide open.
“Chase, you didn’t say that your daughter had two boyfriends.”
“She doesn’t,” my father yelled. “Look, you guys have a minute to leave before I call the cops.”
“And say what,” Hugo asked, “that you’re about to marry your daughter off as a business deal? Trust me. American cops know better than to fuck with the Russian mafia. Besides, Michelle doesn’t have to marry this douchebag anymore.”
“What do you mean, Hugo?” I stepped forward, curious as to what he was talking about. He handed me a large envelope, and I quickly opened it up.
“It’s the deed to three different companies,” Nico said. “This should help get your business up and running, that way you don’t need your father’s money or to have to marry this piece of shit loser.”
Michael stood up from his seat. “If I may take a minute to defend myself, boys, I’m not a loser. I’ll have you know that I graduated at the top of my class from Harvard Business School. You guys might be rich, but it’s probably illegal money, whereas all of mine is legal. So trust me. Michelle is better off marrying me than going with you two and ending up in prison.”
“I think Michelle will be the deciding factor on that,” Hugo said and then looked at me.
“Oh my God,” I said. “I was just about to sign my life away. I don’t even know what to say, guys.” I wrapped my arms around Nico, and he held me so tightly that I never wanted to let go.
“We love you,” Nico said.
“More than you know,” Hugo followed that up with.
“I love you guys, too!”
“So, you’ll be with us instead of this clown?” I pulled away from Nico, looked Hugo in the eyes, and smiled.
“Of course, but I just have to do something.” I turned around, grabbed the contract, and ripped it up right in front of my father and Michael’s faces. “Guess what, assholes? All sales are done. You won’t be getting your way today!”
Michael put his finger up to speak, but Hugo reached over and pushed it down.
“I think it’s time that you and Daddy left.” Both Michael and my father stormed out of the conference room, and I smiled from ear to ear as Nico and Hugo embraced me. I had never felt so invigorated.
They say that happy endings only exist in fairy tales, but that wasn’t the case for me.
Epilogue
One Year Later,
Michelle
Exactly one year after Nico and Hugo saved me from an arranged marriage, I was finally happy and in a committed relationship with both of them.
Michael Anderson tried to sue Affinity Finance after my father’s failed attempt to marry me off, but the courts laughed in his face. He was arrested several months later for money laundering, and the last time I checked, he was still doing time in federal prison.
Life with the Stepanov brothers was beyond rewarding. We had crazy, passionate sex almost every night, and none of us ever got jealous. Hugo was still the more mature one, while Nico was still a goofy boy at heart. I often watched them workout in our home gym, too.
Everything had been running smoothly with my real estate company. I had made connections in seven countries and sold private properties to both residential and commercial buyers. It was more rewarding than my career working for Affinity Finance. Real estate had been my true calling all along, and I was glad to be done with my father’s company. If I had gotten married to Michael Anderson, then I knew my company wouldn’t have been nearly as profitable as it was.
I also started doing whatever I could for the Stepanov family. They took me in with open wings and quickly considered me to be part of the tribe. Hugo and Nico showed me all of the ropes of working for Erect-it Corporation, and I even helped renovate an old factory into a set of luxury apartments. Nico helped, of course, since he had done the same for his own building.
We also had sex in just about every new apartment in that building, and Hugo joined us on several occasions.
Moving to Russia was a huge change for me, but luckily Elaina came too. She had yet to settle down, though. Elaina was ha
ving far too much fun with a few different Russian men to choose just one. They loved her spunky personality, and I had walked in on her having a few threesomes of her own. If I hadn’t been in love with Nico and Hugo, I might have even joined her in a few. I was trying to find her someone in the Stepanov family to settle down with, though.
I couldn't justify living in the United States anymore. It might have been different if my mother were still alive, but I needed to be with Nico and Hugo. We were a family, and a family can’t be that happy when they’re apart all of the time. We had tried the long-distance thing for a few months, with me traveling there and vice versa, but it was evidently clear that one of us would have to move to the other country.
The Stepanov family was so prominent in Russia that it just made sense for me to move there. The climate was significantly colder, but I stayed warm with all of the faux furs that Nico and Hugo bought for me. Every week one of them spoiled me with some new items of clothing. Even though the business they gave me helped launch my real estate company, they insisted on buying just about everything for me.
The only connections that I had in the United States were overseeing some of Affinity Finance. My heart and soul were finance, but my father had started making bad business decisions. I had to buy it just to help the employees who had worked there all of those years, plus the locations they owned. I would have loved to see my father file for bankruptcy, but the people who worked for the company had my compassion.
My father was finally able to retire, and we were able to reconcile our differences. He ended up apologizing for the way that he treated me and blamed it all on his own upbringing. He was, in fact, from a very different generation that didn’t see a problem with arranged marriages. While he had yet to visit us in Russia, he often did a video chat with all three of us and was no longer a target of the Stepanov mafia family.
Nico and Hugo were now head of Erect-it Corporation, and they started to take over major family issues. They thrived in that position, and I loved to watch the two of them work together all of the time. Hugo was always looking out for his little brother, and Nico would forever look up to him. Their father was technically retired, but he was known to get involved in some deals from time to time. He also stopped having people killed, after much begging from Hugo and Nico.
I became close with their mother, Ivana, who I finally met shortly after moving to Russia. It was cute watching her and her husband bicker over little things, now that he was also retired. She taught me all about Russian culture, told me funny stories about Hugo and Nico from when they were kids, and even helped me with some accounting work in my real estate company.
I once hated working with family, but now I loved it.
All three of us were having dinner in the condo that we bought. I had it styled like my one back in New York City, which Hugo loved. Nico was a bit more modern, though, so we styled his office with modern furnishings. We shared a massive California king bed, that was technically big enough for about eight people. It was great for nights when we all wanted some space from each other.
Even though I was busy running my company, helping the guys with Erect-it Corporation, still doing some odds and ends with Affinity Finance, and occasionally helping the Russian mafia, I somehow found more time for my personal interests and hobbies. One of the first things that I learned to do was cook, which I had never been that good at. I learned a handful of Russian dishes, but Nico and Hugo were still partial to Italian food.
I made us spaghetti and meatballs that night, which the guys said was their favorite, and even made the pasta from scratch. Hugo and Nico had even helped me make the dough with our new pasta machine. Our kitchen had all of the latest appliances, including a refrigerator and stove that could speak, but my favorite was making pasta. That night we had angel hair with homemade tomato sauce.
Nico had picked the tomatoes from our garden on one of our balconies, then made the sauce himself. Hugo had baked a loaf of bread and then turned it into garlic bread, although he used pre-mince garlic since he didn’t want his hands to smell bad.
The meal was delicious, and both Hugo and Nico helped themselves to two more servings. I got up and put my plate in the dishwasher, cleaned up a little bit, and then sat back down.
“Babe,” Hugo said, “this is the best pasta you have ever made.”
“Damn straight,” Nico said. “Can you make this more often?” I smiled and nodded, then sat back and closed my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so content and happy.
Nico stood up to clear the plates and made his way into the kitchen. “Can you tell me if there’s something in the oven?”
Hugo tilted his head at me, then smiled and said, “Did you make a pie for dessert?”
“Oh, hell, yes,” Nico said. “I fucking love pie!”
“You love all food, Nico. Relax. You just had three servings of spaghetti and garlic bread. You can wait a little bit for pie.”
I burst out laughing and shook my head. “No, I think there’s something else in the oven.”
Nico raised his eyebrows and opened the oven door. “Well, there’s a bun in the oven. That’s weird, though. Why would you put a single bun in the oven, Michelle? The garlic bread was pretty filling, and Hugo is right. I should wait for a little bit to eat. I don’t know why I just wolfed down three servings of pasta.”
He put his hands on his stomach, sat down, and unzipped his pants.
Hugo’s mouth fell open, and I smiled, then Nico’s shot open.
“Wait,” Nico said. “Isn’t that slang for someone’s pregnant?”
Hugo jokingly hit him in the back of the head. “How you ever became a successful businessman is beyond me,” he said, then came over to me and said, “Are you pregnant?” I nodded at Hugo, and then Nico scooped me up. Both of them kept kissing and hugging me, repeatedly saying how much they loved me.
“But I didn’t even know that we were trying,” Nico said. Hugo looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
“Dude, do you even know how pregnancy works?”
“Alright, enough with the mean jokes, bro! So I’m a little slow at figuring things out!”
Hugo burst out laughing, and we all hugged each other.
It was true that we never used protection, and I wasn’t on the birth control pill, so it really was just a matter of time. Nico finally understood what Hugo was getting at, and we all had a good laugh about it. Even though we had never discussed having children, we never said that it was off the table.
“I know you guys are going to be amazing fathers,” I said as each of them put a hand on my belly. I was secretly hoping for twins or triplets, but I didn’t want to say that out loud. Something told me they’d feel overwhelmed at the thought of having more than one newborn in the house, but I had also heard of maternal instinct, and I suspected there was more than one baking inside of me.
“I’ve heard that women can get sick when they’re pregnant,” Hugo said, “so do you plan on still working? Because you know that we’re more than happy to let you rest.”
“Yes,” Nico said while stroking my hair. “Maybe you should consider taking a year off. Our family is big enough to help with your real estate company, and you deserve some time off.” I shook my head and burst out laughing.
“Are you guys kidding me? You know what I’m like! You couldn’t pay me not to work! Well, unless we find out it’s twins or triplets, since I’ve heard those pregnancies can be much harder.”
Hugo and Nico just stared at me, with their eyes bugging out.
“Whatever you’re pregnant with,” Hugo said, “we’ll be here with you every step of the way!”
“Yes,” Nico said, “although please don’t let it be triplets. I need my sleep, please, dear God!”
“You sleep enough as it is, brother,” Hugo said while laughing.
All three of us finished cleaning up the kitchen. I put the leftovers in the fridge, Nico and Hugo wiped down the counters, and then I sat on the cou
ch while they tidied up some more. As I put my hand over my stomach, I realized that no matter how many babies we had, that we would all be one big family. We were destined to be together, all of us, raising a family in Russia while running several businesses.
I watched Nico and Hugo joking with each other, and I pictured two little boys, one with Nico’s light curly hair and the other looking a bit more like Hugo. They would have their personalities, too. Hopefully, after twin boys, I’d get pregnant with a little girl. Three would be the ideal number of babies for our family, but of course, I’d take however many I got pregnant with.
Hugo brought me a cup of tea, and all three of us sat on the couch while overlooking Moscow. I never thought I’d say it, but the Moscow skyline that night looked prettier than New York City. I may not have had a drop of Russian blood in me, but I felt every bit a Russian as the Stepanov family. And hopefully, one day, Elaina would marry into our family, and I could legally refer to her as a family member.
“How about we celebrate?” I turned to Hugo and took a sip of my tea.
“That sounds great,” Nico said. “What did you have in mind? I’m not really hungry yet, man, but I could go for some champagne.”
“Not every celebration has to do with food, Nico. How many times do I have to tell you!”
All of us burst out laughing, and Hugo began to massage my legs. I put my tea on the coffee table, leaned back, and spread them apart for him. He lowered them to between my legs, and that’s when Nico’s eyes lit up.
Hugo stood up, scooped me up off of the couch, and then carried me into the bedroom. I looked back to see Nico following us with a big smile on his face.
“So this is what you mean by ‘celebrate,’” Nico said as we made our way into the bedroom. Hugo placed me onto the bed and said, “Now, we really celebrate.”
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