A wave of relief filled Andrei’s face as he placed the beautiful emerald-cut, three-carat diamond on her ring finger.
Victoria was still in shock as tears ran down her face. For the longest time, she doubted that he could have actual feelings for her. His proposal only confirmed what his actions in the words had done leading up to it.
Andrei pulled her up into his arms, and she realized there was no better place she’d rather be than right there with him.
When he finally kissed her, she felt her usual sensations of longing and desire. But deeper than that, she felt wanted and needed.
“I love you. Now and always, Victoria.”
“I love you, too,” she said. When the smile grew on his face, she repeated the other words. “Now and always.”
Epilogue
Andrei
“This case is ridiculous, Andrei.” Victoria sat up in bed with a stack of papers all around her. “You can’t really believe he’s innocent.”
Andrei ran a nice, hot bath for her and returned to the bedroom to find her still reading legal documents. He couldn’t believe that their baby would be coming in one month. His very pregnant fiancé looked beautiful, even though the woman didn’t know when to take a break to save her life.
He was at least grateful that her job had given her early maternity leave so she could rest, and although he had gotten her to promise not to do any of her work while she was off, he realized he hadn’t said anything about his cases. Leave it to a lawyer to find their way out of a verbal commitment.
“I know, baby,” he said. “That’s why I’m leaving those cases for my father and Sam to defend. I told you, I’m not doing criminal cases anymore. It’s medical malpractice all the way, especially since my father’s letting me open up a new office to focus on that.”
“I still can’t believe you got him to accept your proposition.”
/> “With you on my team, was there any doubt?”
“I can argue pretty damn well, can’t I?” she asked.
“Let’s put it this way. I will never go up against you in the courtroom ever again.”
“Are you giving up fighting against me already, love?”
He enjoyed the endearment for him she had settled on, especially since it meant she said his favorite word to him every time she used it.
Andrei crawled into bed next to her and kissed her beautiful belly with their baby resting peacefully inside before kissing her. “I’ve come to see that fighting with you is so much better than fighting against.”
“Oh, really?” She watched him above the papers in her hand.
“Absolutely.”
The fireplace was lit to warm up the bedroom, and he’d gotten some hot chocolate for them to enjoy. Even now, he wanted her as much as ever with her addictive skin glowing and those growing breasts tempting him. He’d tried to ease up fulfilling his constant need for her, but Victoria would have none of it. In fact, it seemed like her libido increased with every trimester.
“You were supposed to be reading about possible wedding venues, remember?” he teased. He moved all the papers, so she couldn’t read them anymore.
“But planning a wedding is so stressful. Law is so much more interesting.”
“If you keep avoiding it, I’m going to think you don’t want to marry me.”
Her eyes widened. “Never. I am meeting you at the end of that aisle, Rusak. You can count on that.”
“Glad to hear it,” Andrei said. “Now are you going to join me for that bath, or do I have to bathe alone, and I really hate bathing alone.” He kissed her longer this time, so she’d feel how much he wanted her.
“Help me get out of my gown?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” said Andrei. He didn’t wait for her to go to their bathroom. He lifted her up into his arms and carried her there himself.
“I’m not an invalid, Andrei.”