To her surprise, Dimitri nodded. "I get it. I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening, but I'm glad that I could help you and Sophie return to us, safe and sound."
She stared at him in surprise.
"But I have to tell you, I'm really angry with you," he continued, and her heart sank.
She tried to brace herself for the next part, but she knew no amount of preparation could prepare her for having her heart shattered.
And you did it to yourself by lying to him.
Once again, Dimitri surprised her. "You didn't trust me enough to ask for help. I can't believe you went after those guys on your own! Even if I wasn't around, you're a Swanson now. You should have asked Elle for help!"
"And get her killed? I didn't want to cause any more trouble than I already had!" Damaris protested, shocked to the core.
"You're my mate. And I'm supposed to protect you and our family."
Damaris didn't dare let herself hope that maybe her relationship could be saved, after all. But she couldn't resist the urge to lean forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you, Dimitri. And I'm so sorry."
He slid his big, warm hand over hers and left it there. She wanted to cry with the comfort that his touch brought.
"Just stop trying to handle everything yourself. Lean on me, at least once in a while. Give me a chance to do my job as your mate."
"But—you mean you're not breaking up with me?" She couldn't believe it. This had to be some kind of cruel trick. How could he possibly want to marry someone like her, with all that blood on her hands?
Dimitri shook his head. "When I said that there wasn't any going back, I meant it. You're mine, Damaris. Forever."
"But—but I'm a—"
"A person who felt she had no other choice, if she wanted to protect her daughter," Dimitri said firmly. "Swear to me that you're done with all this. That you're ready to make a fresh start here, with me."
"With all of us," Ash added. "You still want to be part of the Swanson clan, don't you?"
"Yes," she said fervently. "Yes, I swear I'm here to make a fresh start. You guys are the family I've always wanted. And I'm almost done," she added. "I mean, I'm done with the hitwoman part, but I still have to return to New York to testify against Tony." She hesitated. "You know the big picture now. But the details—the stuff I have to talk about in court…it's going to be ugly, Dimitri. I'm afraid you—"
He didn't let her finish her sentence. Instead, he turned his head and kissed the back of her hand, branding her with the heat of his lips.
"I'm your mate," he reminded her. "And I've got your back. You won't be walking into that courtroom alone. I'm coming with you."
"And in the meanwhile," said Ash. "We have a product launch to plan."
Chapter 23 – Happily Ever After
September, Labor Day Weekend
"You ready for this, hon?" asked Jim, as the strains of the wedding march music played over the sound system.
"You look like a genuine princess," Dan said and wiped his eyes with a cotton handkerchief.
It was a beautiful day, with cloudless blue skies, and the wedding venue set up in the ranch's riverside pasture was crowded with guests seated in rows of white folding chairs.
Two large party tents had been set up with refreshments, dining tables, and a dance floor, and the breeze carried a fragrant whiff of mesquite smoke and roasting meat to Damaris's nose. The exquisite four-tier wedding cake crafted by Annabeth stood in the place of honor in the dining tent, surrounded by a lavish arrangement of fresh flowers.
At the far end of the red carpet stretching before her, Damaris saw Dimitri waiting for her, breathtaking in the designer tux he had bought in New York. Ash and Nika stood behind him as his attendants.
As was traditional for Swanson family weddings, Ash's Aunt Margaret was serving as the officiant.
She was a tall woman with shoulder-length straight brown hair heavily frosted with gray, smooth skin bare of any makeup, and a warm smile. Crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and the smile lines bracketing her mouth enhanced the air of quiet strength and kindness that surrounded her. She was dressed in a beautiful floral print dress and low-heeled pumps and was holding a copy of Dimitri and Damaris's wedding vows.
On Margaret's other side, Damaris saw her maid of honor, Sophie, looking lovely in a heliotrope-colored sundress, her hair French-braided with pink rosebuds and baby's breath. Standing next to her was Steffi Tristan, wearing the same color, but as a maxi-dress in a flattering cut. Steffi, too, wore pink roses in her elegant up-do.
Little Mitya, proudly carrying a small cushion with a pair of wedding rings pinned to it, was halfway down the aisle and heading for his parents.
It was almost time for Damaris to begin her own walk down the aisle.
"I've never been readier," Damaris told her second dads. "Thank you so much for always being there for me."
"You're our girl," Jim told her with a proud smile. "And I'm sure your parents are smiling down on us from Heaven right now."
"I hope so." Damaris touched the antique silver locket that had been Elle's gift to her this morning.
"Something old for your wedding, my dear," she had said, kissing Damaris's cheek. "Open it."
Damaris had pressed the tiny clasp with her thumbnail, then gaped in surprise to see photos of her mom and dad facing each other.
"Dimitri contacted your cousins for those photos, and we scanned them in and resized them to fit the locket," Elle had explained. "We wanted to find a way for you to be able to include your parents on your special day."
Damaris had looked up at the Swanson clan matriarch. "Thank you. This means so much to me."
She wondered now if her parents had been watching over her all the years since the accident. If they knew about all of the things she'd had to do to survive and protect Sophie.
Mom, Dad, I'm sorry I haven't been a better person until now. But I promise I'll do better going forward. I only wish you were around to meet Sophie…and Dimitri.
Then it was time. Dan took one of her arms and Jim took the other, and together, her second dads walked her down the aisle to where Dimitri was waiting for her, surrounded by her new family and friends.
* * *
Much later, after the food had been eaten, the cake cut and savored, and they had danced until the stars emerged from the deep blue dusk and glittered in the night sky like Damaris's rhinestones, Dimitri carried his bride across the threshold of their home.
He didn't put her down until he had swept clear across the house to the master suite.
Tonight, they had the place all to themselves. Elle was hosting a sleepover at the big yellow Victorian for all of her grandchildren and had included Sophie in the invitation.
Their wedding night lay before them, and Dimitri intended to make the most of it. They wouldn't have to be quiet. And they wouldn't have to rush.
They undressed each other slowly, with lingering touches and soft kisses, until they were bare, skin to skin, heart to heart, their scents and pulses mingling as they sank down together on their marital bed.
She was his. And he was hers, and the truth of that could not be denied as he kissed and caressed every sweet curve before claiming her with deep, hard thrusts.
"Mine," he murmured to her, as he filled her. "My mate."
She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him close.
"My husband," she said, savoring the word as if tasting a new and delicious wine. "I love you so much."
Dimitri made love to her with every bit of skill he had, using everything he had learned about her in the weeks since they'd first met.
And when she climaxed, he drowned in the sheer bliss of seeing and hearing her come. Her core squeezed and caressed him, summoning his own release.
That was just the beginning of their wedding night.
As she touched, stroked, nibbled, kissed, and caressed every inch of him, he did the same to her, glorying in her soft gasps,
her whimpers of need, and the tensing of her muscles as she begged for what he wanted to give her.
He made love to her again and again, until they were both satisfied at last, and she lay limp and dozing in his arms.
Dimitri pulled the comforter over them both, and Damaris wrapped herself around him, seeking his warmth against the first chill of the coming autumn.
Even then, sated as he was, he couldn't keep from kissing her sweet lips. And sleepy as she was, she responded to him with the same eagerness she had shown the first time they kissed.
"I love you. And I've never been so happy," she murmured.
And with that, Dimitri knew that his own happiness was complete.
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
A Hitwoman in High Heels?
This deadly dame claims she took out a string of mobsters without breaking a nail!
Now she's taking down Tony the Fixer for threatening her daughter!
"Really?" asked Damaris, tossing side her copy of the New York Daily Tattler in disgust. "Could this rag be any more sexist?"
Dan and Jim had sent her a copy of the colorful tabloid, complete with a front-page photo of her wading through a crowd of reporters on the courthouse steps in New York last week, Dimitri and Mark looming on either side of her like huge bearded bodyguards.
It made for uncomfortable reading over breakfast, especially with the unpleasant memories of the long hours and days in the courtroom that had followed, complete with a scalding cross-examination by Tony Rizzo's defense attorney.
She reached for her coffee cup, hoping for strength in the steaming brew.
"'She might only be five foot five, but this little lady packs a deadly punch,'" a smirking Dimitri read aloud from his own copy. "In her depositions, Damaris Markidis claimed to have taken out at least five major Mob enforcers on the orders of nightclub owner Tony Rizzo, better known as Tony the Fixer, and local Mob boss George Leonetti. Now, she's putting the hit on Tony for abducting her daughter Sophie, an innocent eight-year-old angel unaware of her mother's taste for vengeance. With her hunky firefighter fiancé and a small-town lawyer at her side, Deadly Damaris took the stand in exchange for full immunity—'"
"Please stop," Damaris begged, her face burning with embarrassment. "I'll pay you. I'll cook dinner. Anything."
She hoped to God that Sophie never saw the article. It had been over a year since the abduction, and Damaris had done her best to shield her daughter from the details of the trial.
Within forty-eight hours of Tony's arrest in Bearpaw Ridge during the previous year's summer, the authorities had closed in on every major member of the Leonetti Crime Family, which had controlled a large network of bars and clubs for the past fifteen years.
Under pressure from the FBI, and with the help of Damaris's sworn deposition, Tony was extradited from Idaho to New York and charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, wire and mail fraud, and narcotics distribution, in addition to the raft of charges stemming from his abduction of Damaris and Sophie.
In return for the attorney general's promise not to seek the death penalty, Tony promptly flipped on his boss, George Leonetti.
Combined with Damaris's testimony, the prosecution's case was now airtight. The jury had deliberated for less than an hour before returning verdicts of guilty on all counts, and the judge had sentenced Tony Rizzo and George Leonetti to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Dimitri broke off reading and gazed innocently at her over their breakfast table. "I didn't know that you cooked. Deal!" His eyes returned to the paper. "Hunky firefighter fiancé? Hm, I think I like that. But I'm surprised that they didn't mention my connection to the Medved Investment Bank."
"Oh, that's on page three, right after the breathless announcement that Paulette Ankers might have a baby bump," Damaris informed him, "You're trying to redeem your troubled past as the hard-partying heir to the Medved fortune by living a life of quiet public service in America's heartland."
Now it was Dimitri's turn to squirm in embarrassment. Feeling better, she lifted her cup of coffee to her lips and took another deep sip.
"And for the record, if you start calling me Deadly Damaris, I swear I will arrange an accident for you, and it'll be an embarrassing one that no one in town will ever forget."
Dimitri laughed. "I know that's not an empty threat. I swear my lips are sealed."
With the exception of the stress involved in testifying at Tony's trial, the past year had been filled with love and happiness for Damaris.
She loved working at Grizzly Creek Games. It was the dream job that she had never dared to dream about and the one she'd never thought she could keep.
And even after finding out her secret, Ash hadn't fired her as she deserved. He'd just given her that boyish grin and said, "If word gets out about your past life, I'm sure it'll only make it easier for you to get my employees to cooperate with HR policies."
Truth was, she knew she'd never have to threaten any of the Grizzly Creek Gamers with any kind of accident, ever. She loved everyone who worked there, especially Ash, Steffi, and of course, Dimitri.
"Speaking of baby bumps, is there something you want to tell me?" Dimitri asked, around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.
Damaris stared at him in shock. She'd been planning to tell him and Sophie tonight, over spaghetti and her homemade meatballs. It was the one of three dishes she had learned to cook well over the past year.
"Did Dr. Nika say something to you?" she asked, feeling the sting of betrayal. Aren't tests and medical stuff supposed to be confidential?
Dimitri shook his head and tapped his nose. "Super senses, remember?"
"Morning, Mommy! Morning, Mitya!" Sophie emerged from her room, looking adorably rumpled and bright-eyed.
True to her word, she set her alarm every morning to give herself enough time to take care of her pony, Coconut, who lived in the stall next to Oreo in the barn.
"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any," Damaris said, with a mock pout at her husband. "Ms. Kiddo? I've got some wonderful news. How would you feel about getting a little brother or sister for Christmas?"
Sophie's eyes widened, and a delighted grin blossomed on her face. "Really? I'd love a baby sister!" she said, in the exact same tone that she used when ordering food at a restaurant.
"We can't make any guarantees, but I'd say you've got a 50-50 chance of a sister," Dimitri told her, smiling.
He rose from the table, casually folding the tabloids and tucking them out of sight under a pile of other papers on the end of the kitchen island. Then he went over to the stove. "Pancakes? With blueberries?"
"You're the best, Mitya!" Sophie said enthusiastically as she went to the fridge to fill a glass with milk.
Her coffee cup cradled between her palms, Damaris looked around at her cozy home, her sweet daughter, and the wonderful man in the kitchen.
I'm the luckiest woman in the world to have found a happily-ever-after like this.
The End
Thank you so much for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you liked it, would you please leave me a review?
I'm currently working on the next book in the Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters series, tentatively titled Ember. Be the first to hear about upcoming Bearpaw Ridge books and special promotions! Sign up for my email list at http://eepurl.com/b0ojU1 or like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OpheliaSextonAuthor/
Books by Ophelia Sexton
Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters:
Heat (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 1)
Smolder (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 2)
Ignite (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 3)
Flame (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 4)
Burn (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 5)
Ash (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 6)
Smoke (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 7)
Beast Warriors (co-authored with Bliss Devl
in)
Fugitive: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 1)
by Bliss Devlin and Ophelia Sexton
Hunter: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 2)
by Bliss Devlin and Ophelia Sexton
Leader: A Werebear + Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 3) – coming soon!
Blaze (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 8) Page 22