She nodded, and I was glad to see that the frown than had taken over her face had eased. “We can do a blood test, just to make sure. And I can get an ultrasound machine up here so we can have a look and double check what’s going on, but I think both you and thebaby are fine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
In the doorway of the bedroom, I saw Maxim sag visibly. “Thank God.”
When he closed the door behind Dr Petrova, he came back into the bedroom and sat down, and took my hand in his large palms, stroking over the stone of my engagement ring like he was trying to wear the shine off it.
“Let’s get married.”
“I already said yes, Max, remember? You don’t have to ask me again.”
“No, I mean, let’s go to the register office and make it legal.”
“What? Why?”
He smoothed his hand over my belly, lingering there before he made a grab for my hip and pulled me down the bed enough that he could close his mouth possessively over mine.
“Because you have our child inside you. And you need to be my wife right now. We can’t do this any longer. Run around with people shooting. Not when we have a family. I have to find another way. And I need to know you’re with me.”
I swallowed hard, trying to stem the sting of tears that were threatening to creep into my eyes. I’d been so worried about the life that I knew was growing inside me, and what it would mean for our future together. I’d thought that Max hadn’t wanted the kind of life that involved settling down, but I was so, so wrong.
“I’m with you Maxim. I’m always with you.” I couldn’t believe the sacrifices he was making, all for me. Without the Bratva, St Petersburg wasn’t an option. We’d be walking away from all the perks the company gave him and I couldn’t stay in London, even under my new name. My face was too recognisable for me to hide in plain sight.
But Maxim didn’t seem to care about any of that.
“Good. Then I will go and sort our government friends out. And then we will have to plan how the rest of our lives are going to go. Together.”
CHAPTER 37
Elizabeth
I could only imagine how much string pulling it must have taken to get the Kensington and Chelsea Registrar Office, at the Chelsea Town hall, with its columns and sweeping steps at any kind of short notice. I knew the place was booked out for months and months, if you didn’t have the right connections.
But Maxim managed it.
A few days after our encounter with the FSB in the park and my scare over the baby, he announced he couldn’t wait any longer to marry me.
At first I thought he was reacting to the baby – doing the right thing – but then I heard him on the phone to his contacts, putting pressure on like getting the most beautiful civil venue in London for our wedding held the same importance to him as the reason he’d found me in the first place. This wasn’t duty. He wanted our wedding day to be as close to perfection as it could be.
“They say we can have it out of hours,” he grumbled, hanging up the phone with irritation rising off him like steam and I stepped in closer to him, curling my arms around his chest.
“That sounds perfect.”
I didn’t care that it was out of hours. That the columned facade of the building would be all lit up, and the curved steps down from it would lead out onto the deserted Kings Road, which was far better than colliding with a bunch of shoppers who’d just come out of Peter Jones.
I loved the bustle of London, but having it to ourselves at a time when the city was sleepy made it all the more special, unique.
“We can fill the place with candles.”
Maxim’s scowl softened. “That sounds alright. No one else is going to say their vows by candle light.”
Maybe it wasn’t the wedding I might have dreamed of growing up, but I’d put away so many fantasies that I would never have. This was everything I wanted as a woman who hadno longer believed in fairy tales. It was going to get my happy ending, and I couldn’t wait for it to be real.
“As long as I have flowers, and a beautiful dress, and Cassie and Mitch there, then I don’t need anything else. All I want is to be your wife.”
“All I want is to be your husband.”
I smiled at him. “Then let’s get married, Maxim. What are we waiting for?”
Maxim
Cassie helped me deck the entire building out with flowers. Lilies and roses in deep, dark colors that suited Elizabeth far more than the pastel and white shades the florists tried to offer. She was as pure as snow when I’d met her, but she’d lived through too much to ever be called delicate again, and I loved her steely strength. This day, this evening, was something I put my heart into, because it wasn’t just Elizabeth I was making mine, this was about our child always having a family too.