“I think you’ve set a precedent for ‘living a little,’” she remarks, holding up the massive diamond ring I gave her a week ago. I swear she still glows at the look of it as much as she did when I presented it to her.
“That’s fair,” I say, and we look into each other’s eyes for a few moments before she blushes and looks away, stepping around to the car door.
“So, I’m getting to redesign the bedroom tomorrow, right?” she says, raising her eyebrows.
“For heaven’s sakes, yes,” I say, “And don’t mind the expenses. Any price is worth it to improve that gaudy design.”
“Don’t worry,” she says once we’re inside the car, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. “I’ll spare no expense for my pakhan.” I crack a smile and return her kiss, and we drive off to the place my new fiancé and I are quickly turning into a suitable place to call ‘home.’
22
Rosie
“What if they notice we’re missing too long?” I giggle as Konstantin closes the door behind us. We’re in the under-deck suite of our brand new yacht, with a group of our family and friends celebrating on the top deck. The baby, a little girl we called Susanna after my mother, is six and a half months old, and the apple of everyone’s eyes. Especially her young aunts, Daisy and Sunny. Soon after the incident at the hospital almost a year ago, Konstantin and I heard from our private investigator, Ilya, that my father had been arrested for gambling and prostitution once the string of assassinations brought attention to the sex slavery ring. My sisters were about to be placed in separate foster homes when I showed up and immediately demanded that I be given exclusive rights to their guardianship. It didn’t take much for the courts to agree, especially once it came to light that I spent the first eight years of their lives raising them virtually single-handedly. Ever since then, the girls have been living with Konstantin and me.
They warmed up to him slowly at first, suspicious of all men after their lifetime of neglect and abuse at the hands of our father. Plus, I think they still partially blamed Konstantin for taking me away from them. But it didn’t take too long for him to win them over with his gentle affections. It certainly didn’t hurt that he dotes on them like they’re his own children. And once Susie was born, our family was complete. My eleven-year-old sisters, the new baby, the Bull, and me.
It’s far from typical, but it’s as close to perfection as I could ever imagine.
But there’s only one thing missing from our beautiful family portrait — wedding rings. So now that the hubbub surrounding custody and crime has died down, Konstantin and I are planning an elaborate wedding and honeymoon in Europe. Which is why we bought this yacht: to sail around the ocean on a couple little weekend pre-marital voyages while we plan out all the details. Although I adore my three kids, I do miss having one-on-one time with Konstantin, and after everything we’ve been through, we’re excited to finally relax a little and just enjoy each other’s company. Of course, these voyages will be relatively tame and brief for now. After all, we do have a six-month-old baby. But luckily, we have a fantastic support group who are all jumping at the opportunity to fill out our little family.
Our friends Cassie and Andrei, along with a couple of the women from the self-defense classes and their boyfriends, are all babysitting the children right now on the top deck while Konstantin and I tour the bottom deck. And by “tour” I really mean “sneak away for some much-needed alone time.”
“We’ll be quick. And quiet,” Konstantin says softly, giving me that devilish grin he’s perfected just to talk me into things. But I playfully bat his shoulder.
“Be patient,” I tell him, biting my lip. “We’ll have plenty of time alone this weekend, remember? We can finally break in this new bed…” I saunter backward away from him and gesture elaborately toward the en suite bathroom. “…and this fancy shower. And we might just fuck on the top deck, too.”
Konstantin chuckles and steps closer to sweep me into his arms, his once-stony face now brightened with true joy and contentment. I let out a surprised little squeal as he dips me backward, then swoops me back up to kiss me softly on the lips. I can’t help but smile into the kiss, feeling safer and more loved than ever before.
Sometimes I still wake up expecting to find myself back on that ratty futon at the house I shared with my family. My heart sinks and my stomach turns as I open my eyes, preparing to see the rundown house littered with empty booze bottles. But instead, I am greeted by the laughter of Daisy and Sunny, who often wake up before dawn to run around the house playing make believe, or by the sweet, plaintive wails of my baby girl. Or on rare, beautiful mornings, by the soft, rhythmic breathing of the beautiful man beside me.
Instead of seeing the decrepit shotgun house in Jersey, I awaken in the mansion, which has been sufficiently de-mafia-fied. With the help of Cassie, who has turned out to be a fantastic interior design assistant, we remodeled and redecorated the house from top to bottom. It now bears no trace of the hedonistic Bratva sin den it was before. Now it looks like a real home, with muted colors and homey touches. Konstantin and I had a fantastic time painting much of the house ourselves. It was messy, and it took us much longer than it would have taken a team of professionals, but it was fun. And that’s what we’re living for now — good memories.
As we walk up to the top deck, Daisy and Sunny come running over to throw their arms around Konstantin’s waist, giggling excitedly. Cassie and Valerie are cooing over baby Susanna, while Andrei chats — albeit a little awkwardly — with Valerie’s boyfriend. Little Max toddles around making whooshing noises as he holds a tiny toy airplane above his head. My heart feels full to bursting as I look around at the beautiful family I’ve found.
Of course, there are times when I look back on bad things that have happened to me, and occasionally I still feel a pang of bitterness, wondering why me? And then, I look around at all the happiness surrounding me and it all starts to make sense.
Maybe all those years of suffering comprised a test of fate, to see if I would give up or keep going. And even when my life became so daunting, so overwhelmingly hard that I felt crushed by the weight of my responsibilities and fears — I pressed on. I passed the test, and now I’m collecting my reward.
I am determined to spend the rest of my life making so many wonderful memories that I can scarcely remember the bad ones anymore. I want my head to be so filled with light that there’s no room left for darkness. Konstantin has a shadowy past, as well, and he understands me better than anyone else when I say that I refuse to let my yesterdays define my todays.
And I damn sure won’t let anything stand in the way of a bright, shining tomorrow.
Glossary
Russian
pakhan : the leader of an area’s Bratva presence, similar to a Godfather
boekiv : literally ‘warrior,’ the rank of a made man in the Bratva
zvyovdochka : little star
kozyol : goat, used as a male-specific insult
mudak : asshole
Italian
toro : bull
la tua ragazza : your girl
che cazzo : what the fuck
figlio di puttana : son of a bitch
Also by the Author
Romantic Suspense:
Alexis Abbott’s Hitmen Series:
Owned by the Hitman
Sold to the Hitman
Saved by the Hitman
Captive of the Hitman
Stolen from the Hitman
Hostage of the Hitman
Taken by the Hitman
Other:
Criminal
Ruthless
Romance:
Falling for her Boss (Novella)
Erotic Thriller:
The Dangerous Men Series:
The Narrow Path
Strayed from the Path
Path to Ruin
About the Author
Alexis Abbott writes about bad boys protecting their girls! With super steamy sex, gritty suspense,
and lots of romance, she’s a fixture on Amazon’s best-seller and all-star lists.
She also writes as Alex Abbott for her erotic thrillers and contemporary romance.
She lives in beautiful St. John’s, NL, Canada with her amazing husband.
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Hitman - the Series: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance Collection (Alexis Abbott's Hitmen #0) Page 109