me she wasn’t going to leave that I fully understood the meaning of the word.
It’s about sacrifices and dedication. Putting yourself at risk no matter what the stakes.
That’s real love.
Victoria returns with Nikolas a few minutes later, and after we eat, Timofei takes Nikolas home to get ready for his nap. I stare at the television, not watching anything that’s happening. It’s a blur of voices and shapes on the screen.
“I’ll take care of Nikolas while you’re dealing with the police,” Victoria says.
I turn my head to face her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll take care of everything. I’ll get a lawyer to help with the case, too. I don’t care what it takes, I’ll do it.” She reaches forward and laces her fingers through mine, squeezing my hand reassuringly. “I promise.”
“Let’s not talk about any of that right now,” I suggest. “Even if the police open an investigation, I’ll deal with them. I know exactly how to deal with these people.”
There are endless possibilities. Sending them in the direction of the illegal activities of the Albanians. Threatening them. Doling out money in the right places. Whatever it takes, I will manage the situation. I’ve finally got Victoria and Nikolas, and nothing and nobody is going to take that away from me.
“What should we talk about instead?”
“Well, first we should talk about getting you out of your bedroom and into mine. My bed gets lonely.”
She smiles coyly. “You sure it’s your bed and not just you?”
“Me? Never. But if I did …”
“Then I’d keep you company,” she laughs, leaning forward to peck my lips. When she pulls away, I bring her back down for a slower kiss. She sighs and returns it happily. As we part, she cups my face and looks deep into my eyes.
“I’ll be here for you, Matvei.”
“I know you will.”
Victoria isn’t going anywhere, and for the first time, I believe her. There’s no doubt in my mind.
Epilogue
Matvei
A FEW MONTHS LATER
Being free is a strange feeling.
Timofei stands by his car waiting for me to emerge from the courthouse. I can’t even describe how good it is to step out into the clean, fresh air.
It tastes like freedom.
It’s been a long few months of negotiating. The D.A. thought he was going to have me drawn and quartered with a whole litany of charges. But no Bratva man would ever go down so easily. And as it turns out, having hundreds of millions of dollars at my disposal means I can hire the best lawyers on the planet. They’ve gone to war for me in all these backroom dealings, and when they’ve reached their legal limits, I’ve stepped in to do the rest of the things that needed doing. It was an ugly process, to be sure, but I’m emerging victorious in the end.
The one factor I never expected to help get me out of my legal troubles faster was Chris Walter. He came to me months ago, asking for his job back, and I didn’t have any plans on working with him again. After all the shit we’d been through and the bad blood between us, there was nothing to talk about. But with his judge father, he came through and quickly became one of the biggest reasons I beat the charges.
“The bastard lives to see another day,” Timofei says when I’m close enough. He pulls me in for a one-armed hug and pats my back. “Glad to see you free again, boss.”
“Glad to be free.”
Timofei brings me up to speed on everything that’s been happening while I’ve focused on the court case. Like how Chris is back to taking care of bullet wounds and patching up stabbings, or how the Albanians launched an all-out war on the Italians, and it’s been nothing but drama since then. He says Gavril Vaknin of the Toronto Bratva and Tomas Dubrovsky from New York have both called to express their support as fellow members of the Syndicate.
I smile as he talks. He’s done well during his time holding down the fort. I wouldn’t have hired him if I didn’t think he could manage in the event that something ever happened to me. Looks like I chose wisely.
Truthfully, though, the last thought in my mind is Bratva business. More than anything else, I just want to get home and see Victoria and Nikolas. He’s probably still at school, which is perfect, because right now, I just want to be there with her.