Tanechka grins. “We all fell out of our chairs to see Kiro on the internet.”
“Does he know they wanted to find him?” I ask. “Does he know he had brothers out there who loved him all that time?”
Kiro bursts into the room. He comes to my side. He takes my hands.
His face is bloody, and his clothes are torn. He looks every inch the savage, and so do his brothers. And they’re all smiling. All so happy.
Chapter Forty-Two
Ann
Two months later
Istart upa fire using a starter log, something Kiro would laugh at, but he’s spending a rare night out with his brothers.
Kiro and I bought a big old apartment near Washington Park in Chicago. It cost a fortune, but it turns out the Dragushas are fabulously wealthy.
Kiro’s gotten used to the city surprisingly well. He says it’s just another forest, just another system. He’s kind of amazing.
He’s starting to trust people and fill the gaps in his education. He’s learning new things and falling into step with his brothers like they were never apart. I’m not so sure how I love his newfound delight in drinking vodka with them, and the way they like to sit around throwing knives at targets…well, I guess he missed a lot of little-brother time.
Still, I know he’s looking forward to getting land up north once I’m fully recovered. A place of our own for the warm months. Lots of wilderness. We spend a lot of time these days dreaming up a life for ourselves. Part time in Chicago, to be with his brothers. Part in the wild.
Aleksio’s girlfriend, Mira, found a great lawyer who got him off on all the charges against him. The six of us go out to restaurants a lot—Kiro and his two brothers and Mira and Tanechka. Like an instant family—for both of us.
At first he wanted us to go overseas together, so I could chase my stories, but chasing those dangerous stories was never something I meant to do all my life. There are stories here. We’re talking about writing a book on the wolves. I’ve always wanted to write a book.
I arrange the presents under our tree and find a new one for me from Kiro. It’s a large box. Hat-sized. Did Kiro go on a secret shopping trip?
He’s been trying to make up for kidnapping me and tying me up. He’s apologized a zillion times. I’ve forgiven him just as many times. But words still don’t mean much to Kiro. He gives me lots of presents. He’s been by my side nearly nonstop while I recover from my injuries.
He’s a good mate. I tell him that sometimes. Understatement of the year. I love being with him. I love him.
Viktor and Tanechka want us to go to Ukraine with them when they visit there this spring. They’re planning on rebuilding the bombed-out convent where Tanechka spent time, but Kiro’s not quite ready for flying. It’s a little suspicious—rebuilding the convent sounds like it might involve a few armed battles.
Maybe someday.
I shake the box. Nothing rattles. It’s heavy, though.
I hear a growl at the doorway. Kiro. He stalks toward me. “What are you doing?”
“Snooping.”
He comes to me and kneels and takes the box from my hands, puts it back under. Then he kisses me. “I love you,” he says. Words mean nothing to Kiro, but he knows they mean everything to me. “But you don’t get to see what’s in the box until Christmas morning.”
“I love you, too, but that doesn’t mean I won’t snoop.”
He twists one of my curls around his finger. He’s always doing that. Still.
“Where were you guys? Out being royal?”
He snorts. The second he was back with his brothers, an entire mafia empire coalesced around them. Apparently everyone was waiting for the return of Kiro. It kind of stunned us, like walking into a royal court and finding a throne waiting for you.
The men who worked for their enemy, Lazarus, either fled or came over to beg for forgiveness. People regard the three of them like…well, royalty.
They never found Lazarus’s body, but it barely matters. Even if he were alive, even if he came back, he would be neutralized so fast.
I’m not so keen on the criminal empire. Luckily, Mira and Tanechka aren’t either. And, while Viktor and Aleksio are pretty damn badass, they’ve been getting into more wholesome things. Aleksio is opening a restaurant.