“He’s hardly a man. The minute he found out I was pregnant, he left.”
Dmitri snarls. “Coward.”
“I’ve learned over the years not to rely on anyone. It’s probably one of the reasons that I hadn’t dated anyone until you.”
“Thirteen years? Does that mean you’ve been celibate for that long?”
I press my lips together, and the air feels warm outside. Am I blushing? At least the darkness hides the color in my cheeks. I glance down at my lap, avoiding his heated stare.
“You don’t have to answer that,” Dmitri says. “It’s none of my business.”
I’m relieved, and while I’d likely tell him anything that he wants to know, it’s also embarrassing. “You’re the only man I’ve ever had a fake relationship with and a real orgasm.”
His jaw drops, and he laughs. “I don’t even—are you telling me that you normally have fake orgasms with your real relationships?”
I smile and give a faint nod.
“That’s no good,” he growls, and leans closer, his lips crushing mine.
I whimper, not from pain but from need.
He pulls back. “Did I hurt you?”
“Gosh, no,” I whisper against his lips. My insides are pulsating with need. He has the uncanny ability to make me weak at the knees. “But we have to take it slow.”
He lifts me into his arms, carrying me toward the house.
“Dmitri, put me down!” I squeal with laughter, grimacing from the pain of my giggles.
He obliges. “I’m only putting your feet down, so you don’t hurt yourself further.” His insistence is cute, and I want to kiss him until the sun comes up and our bodies are intertwined together as one.
Perhaps going slow isn’t the worst thing in the world. We can truly savor every moment as we grow together into a family.
And I think I might be falling madly in love with him.
Maybe I’m just too scared to admit it aloud?
EPILOGUE
Dmitri
“Are you ready?” I ask, knocking on the bathroom door, giving Sadie her privacy while she gets dressed for Luka’s wedding.
Weeks ago, I pulled Luka aside after visiting Anton in Breckenridge.
Luka came clean about everything. He felt awful and guilty having shot me and thought for weeks that I was dead. It had given him nightmares that only Hannah had known about.
I understood what he did, wanting to buy time for Anton and Savannah to escape. He didn’t mean to betray the family, just as Anton hadn’t meant to with Savannah.
And while it hurt that he hadn’t trusted me and chose them, all of it led me to meet Sadie.
The universe had a crazy plan for my happiness, and I would accept it even if I were still bitter about being shot and left for dead.
Mikhail was kept in the dark about Anton and Savannah’s whereabouts. Luka and I agreed that it would be safer for all parties involved. And Mikhail had been out of line, deciding that he acted too hastily without enough information.
I hadn’t fully understood the situation at the time. I’d been given orders by Mikhail and followed them.
No one would dare tell the pakhan he fucked up. He was in charge, and the weight of what he had done would weigh on his shoulders and those of his men, believing that he had done what was necessary to protect the family.