22
CATERINA
Ilook at him, speechless, my heart pounding in my chest. When I can finally speak, I look up at him, feeling breathless.
“What do you mean?” I ask quietly, and Viktor takes my hand again. This time, I don’t pull it away.
“I see things in a different light now, Caterina.” Viktor pauses, meeting my eyes, and I can see the sincerity in them, how hard he’s trying to make me believe him. “I almost lost you. I almost lost mychildrento the same ordeal that I’ve put hundreds of other women through, and I see it now. It shouldn’t have taken almost losing my own wife and children, and other women I was supposed to protect, for me to understand what you’ve been trying to tell me all along. But I see it now, and I’m so sorry, Cat. I’m sorry I didn’t understand sooner.”
He takes a breath, his hands tightening around mine as he reaches for my other one. “I’ve told myself my whole life the things that my grandfather and father said, the things that I came up with in my own head to justify it. I’m not going to repeat them to you; you’ve heard them all. But I’m not lying when I say that I’ve been struggling with it for some time, Caterina. I was just stubborn—too stubborn to admit that you might be right, to admit that my entire life has been built on something that could never be justified no matter how hard I tried.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask him, feeling my pulse lodged in my throat, beating wildly. I’m terrified to trust in what he’s saying, to believe him only to be disappointed. I need to hear it aloud, in plain words, to know beyond a shadow of doubt.
“I’m getting out of the sex trade, Caterina,” he says bluntly, and I let out the breath that I’ve been holding in a rush, my shoulders sagging forward.
“Viktor, I—”
He shakes his head, still speaking. “Luca and I are working out deals to see what businesses we can invest in together instead, perhaps even bring Liam in on it. Our three families, working together. We talked about it on the plane, while you and the others were sleeping.” Viktor pauses, breathing in slowly. “I’m never going to be legit, Caterina, I need you to understand that. Men like us—Luca and Liam and myself—we’re not made for a straight-edged life. We’re always going to be what we were born to be to some extent—mob bosses, mafia, men that other men fear, dealing in things that are illegal and in the shadows. But I won’t sell women any longer, I can promise you that.”
“There might still be some element of sex to my businesses,” he continues. “That’s what I know, and there’s other things I can invest in. Strip clubs, porn—there’s always a market for anything involving sex. But whatever I do, the women involved will want to be there. It will be consensual, and I’ll make sure that none of them are ever coerced.”
I stare at him for a long moment, afraid to believe what I’m hearing. I’m so afraid to trust it, but Viktor is looking at me with that deep, intense gaze, holding mine in a way that tells me that he means everything he’s saying, that it’s not a trick or a lie. Somewhere between our fight and now, he’s seen what I’ve been trying to tell him all along. He’s right that it shouldn’t have taken so much for him to understand—but he does now. I’m certain of it, looking into his eyes, this man that I’ve come to know so well no matter how hard I’ve fought against it.
I want him. I wantthis,us, our marriage. I want everything we could be together, and the very last reason that I had to fight against it has just been wiped away.
“Do you really mean it?” I whisper. “Truly?”
Viktor nods, his gaze never leaving mine. “I love you, Caterina,” he murmurs. “And no matter what I have to change in order to be with you, I will.”
He reaches for me again then, pulling me into his arms, and this time I go willingly. “I love you too,” I whisper as his mouth comes down onto mine, claiming me in a searing kiss as he spills me back onto the pillows, his hands roving over my body as I feel him rise against my thigh, hot and hard and eager for round two.
“I love you,” he groans against my lips. “Lyubov moya.My love. My wife.”
“And I love you.”
I kiss him back, fierce and hot, and I whisper it against his lips again and again as he slides into me, claiming me for his own.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
I love you.
---
The next morning, in the lobby of the hotel, we part ways. Luca and Sofia are returning with Viktor, Max, Levin and I to Manhattan, and we stand there with Liam and Sasha, discussing what happens next.
“I haven’t forgotten what you asked of me,” Viktor says to Max, glancing at him. “Nor will I forget how you stood beside me in that fight. Luca and I have talked briefly, but we’ll talk more once we’re in Manhattan, and I’ll do what I can. You can stay at our home with us, until it’s all settled.”
“Thank you,” Max says sincerely. “It’s all I can ask.”
“I’m headed back to Boston,” Liam says, looking at Viktor. “But as soon as I settle a few things there, I’m going to begin looking into what happened to Ana.” His gaze flicks to Sofia, who is pale again at the mention of her friend, her lips pressed tightly together. “I’m going to find her,” he says quietly. “I promise. No matter what it takes.”
“I’ll give you access to the files I have on my old clients,” Viktor tells him. “Come to Manhattan as soon as you can. If this Frenchman is someone I’ve sold to in the past, we’ll find him.”
Liam nods. “Thank you. I’ll come as soon as I can.”
Viktor glances at Sasha then, who is standing nervously to one side, stealing glances at Max every few moments. “I’ve done you a great disservice,” he says quietly. “And I want to apologize to you, sincerely, though I know it can’t undo all that you’ve suffered. I want to make it right. There’s no need for you to return to New York with us, if you don’t want to. I’ll set you up here in Moscow if you want to stay, pay for an apartment for you and cover whatever you need or want. If it’s school, I’ll pay for that as well. I know that it’s not enough,” he says, looking at her directly. “But I want to do what I can.”
Sasha hesitates, and I can see the indecision in her face. She looks towards the large window of the hotel lobby, the view of Moscow just beyond it, the grey skies and streets, the colorful domes of St. Basil’s cathedral rising up in the distance. I can see the longing in her eyes for just a moment, the desire to stay here, in the place where she was born, the place that she was stolen away from.