to Vasily.
His joy and humor fucked off faster than Maks when faced with a serious conversation. “I claimed my place, sweetheart.”
A wrinkle hit her brow. “What?”
“When we get back to New York, I’ll be stepping in to rule the family.”
Her eyes went round and it was a minute before she spoke. “What does that mean?”
“It means you have a choice to make.” He pushed off her and stood. When she sat up and he saw he had her full attention, he slowly took a knee. “I don’t have a ring yet, but that isn’t going to stop me from asking you to be my queen. I will rule our family in much the same way your father runs the bratva, which means the risks to you and our children will be low. But they will exist. Especially in the beginning.” He had to be honest. She had to know what a future with him would look like. “Reorganizing will take a couple of years. During that time, I’m going to piss some greedy people off and they’re gonna make a fuss.” He grimaced and stopped pussyfooting around. “I’ll have to bury some of them to prove myself. But I swear to you right now, I have never, and will never, take a life if there is another option. But you have to know with full certainty that I will kill anyone I feel is a threat to one of my own. And I won’t apologize for it.”
He reached out to take her hand from where it was limply resting in her lap. Her eyes were shadowed and achingly vulnerable.
“Can you live with that? With who I am? Am I worth the risk?” Please, love me enough to say yes, he begged silently, his life on the line.
She took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes. And, God, yes.”
Holy shit. He buried his face in her neck, thanking God repeatedly for blessing him despite the man he was. “I’m so goddamn in love you,” he whispered against her skin. “Please say you’ll marry me.” When she stiffened, her nails sinking into his biceps, he drew back.
“But, my father—”
“Gave us his blessing.”
“What? He did?”
“Yeah, baby. He did.”
“Okay, then, your friends—”
“Are aware I’m in love with you.”
Tears turned her eyes into glistening pools that overflowed when she smiled. “It isn’t polite to cut someone off when they’re trying to talk.”
He growled. “Your answer, Eva.”
She brushed her nose across his. “Yes, boss.” Her low tone was partly playful but fully sexy as shit. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Goddamn. As gently as he could, Gabriel gathered his smartass charge-employee-fiancé into his arms and took her down into the pillows, their mouths together, their bodies meeting.
It was a while before he let her speak again.
“I can’t believe you asked my father for his blessing.”
He shrugged as he adjusted their position so that he wasn’t causing her discomfort. “I had to, considering I have no desire to live without you.”
Her smile was brilliant as she came up on her elbow. “I had no idea you could be so romantic,” she cooed.
He snorted and slid his fingers into her hair so he could tuck her head back under his chin. He wasn’t hiding though. Not at all. “Funny how it took meeting you to unearth the starry-eyed shit. Let’s hope it crawls back into its hole before Maks overhears it. Bastard’ll never let me live it down.”
“And there it goes.” Her soft laugh was interrupted by an announcement from the pilot telling them they were nearing La Guardia. “At least I know you’re capable.”
As Gabriel covered her hand where it rested over his heart, he considered that word.
Capable.
He smiled a little. She had no fucking idea.
VENGEANCE UNLEASHED PLAYLIST
Hurt – Christina Aguilera
Broken Crown – Mumford and Sons
At Last – Etta James
Young & Free – Dermot Kennedy
Dark Side – Sebell
Beside You – Marianas Trench
Work Song – Hozier
Watch Me – The Phantoms
I’m Gonna Do My Thing – Royal Deluxe
Unsteady – X Ambassadors
The Power of Love – Gabrielle Aplin
Born For This – Royal Deluxe
WANTED MEN GLOSSARY
Characters, Places, and Terms
(D) deceased
Abel Berkman – Moretti family soldier, Jerod Berkman’s twin brother
Adrianna (D) – Stefano’s girlfriend
Albert Moretti (D) – former Don of the Moretti family, Gabriel and Stefano’s father
Alekzander (Alek) Tarasov – Vasily’s nephew, Eva’s cousin
Alesio Moretti – Gabriel and Stefano’s cousin
Aron – Tarasov Bratva, Vasily’s private guard
Avtoritet (Russian) – captain in charge of a crew in a Russian bratva, similar to a caporegime in an Italian/American mafia family
Baikov Bratva – main rivals of the Tarasov’s
Bobby T – Moretti family soldier
Bratva (Russian) – brotherhood, Russian crime syndicate
Caleb Paynne – vice-president of the ODMC, Nika’s brother, Eva’s best friend
Caporegime (Capo) (Italian) – captain in charge of a crew in an Italian/American mafia family, major social status in the family
Crown Jewel (The) – Gabriel and Alek’s luxury hotel in Seattle
Dmitri Zolin – Tarasov Bratva, Vasily Tarasov’s personal guard
Evangeline (Eva) Jacobs – Vasily and Kathryn’s daughter
Evgeny Tarasov (D) – Vasily’s older brother, Alek’s father
Furio Abella – Moretti family underboss
Gabriel Moretti – current boss of the Moretti crime family, Stefano’s brother
Ian Preston – a NYC private investigator
Ivan Tarasov (D) – Vasily’s father, former Pakhan of the Tarasov Bratva
Jakson (Jak) Trisko – Moretti family, Gabriel’s personal guard
Jerod Berkman – Moretti family soldier, Abel’s twin brother
Kathryn Jacobs (D) – Vasily’s love, Eva’s mother
Kevin Nollan – Nika’s husband
Lucian Fane – leader of the Fane organization, Markus’s brother
Maksim (Maks) Kirov – Tarasov Bratva, Vasily’s Avtoritet
Markus Fane – executive VP at TarMor Inc., Lucian’s younger brother
Micha Zaretsky – Tarasov Bratva, Maks’s right hand, assassin
Nika Paynne – Caleb’s sister, Eva’s best friend
Nick Delvecio – Moretti family, Vasily’s employee, Eva’s neighbor
ODMC – Obsidian Devils Motorcycle Club
Quan Mao – Moretti family, Gabriel’s personal guard
Stefano Moretti – current boss of the Moretti crime family, Gabriel’s brother
TarMor Inc. – Gabriel and Alek’s project management firm
Underboss – second in command to the boss of an Italian/American mafia family
Vasily Tarasov – Pakhan of the Tarasov Bratva, Eva’s father, Alek’s uncle
Vex – ODMC President, surname Mason—but only if the authorities are asking
Vincente (the Reaper) Romani – Moretti family, Capo
Dr. Yuri Davidenko, MD, PhD, Trauma – Tarasov Bratva, physician, surgeon, Vasily’s private MD
By Nancy Haviland
THE WANTED MEN SERIES
Bestselling, award-winning mafia romance series
Vengeance Unleashed
(Formerly titled A Love of Vengeance)
Vengeance Denied
(Formerly titled The Salvation of Vengeance)
Vengeance Obsessed
(Formerly titled An Obsession with Vengeance)
Vengeance Bound
(Formerly titled Ultimate Vengeance)
A WANTED MEN STORY
Vengeance Aside
Grievous
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NANCY HAVILAND is an award-winning, bestselling romance author who writes about her possessive alpha males and their obsessively loved women from her home in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.
nancyhaviland.com
facebook.com/nancyhavilandauthor
Twitter: @nancy_haviland
Instagram: @nancyhavilandauthor
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