Page 102 of Redeem Me

Natasha is exhausted by the time we get back to her bedroom. Meanwhile, the kids are hyper as fuck. Natasha asks the nanny to take them to play for a few hours while she rests. Once the kids bounce out of the room, Natasha requests the nurse sit in the hallway for a while.

“I can’t rest with all these people here,” she says in a weak voice. “I’m sick, and no one will let me sleep.”

The nurse leaves without complaint. I wait to see if Natasha will send me away next. Instead, she throws back the blanket and smiles at me.

“I need to be sexually ravished, Mister O’Malley.”

Yanking off my clothes except my boxers, I slide under the covers and against her body. Natasha cuddles closer.

“I’m too weak to do anything. Feel free to wear yourself out,” she teases as her lips nuzzle my throat.

“We’re not really going to fuck, are we?”

“Aren’t you in the mood?”

“My body hurts, and my dick is drugged up. Can’t we spoon or some other chick activity? Maybe we can talk about fashion and cute boys.”

Natasha snickers against my lips. “You’re probably right about how our bodies won’t cooperate. I still need to be alone with you for a while.”

With no hurry to get naked or expectation of orgasms, Natasha and I make out old school-style.

“Don’t give me a hickey,” Natasha moans when I suck at her throat. “I need to look flawless for my wedding.”

At first, I think she’s serious. Then, I realize she can’t hide all her cuts and bruises with makeup. Taking advantage of her battered body, I leave a big hickey on her throat near her earlobe.

Natasha and I eventually wear ourselves out and just look at each other. I feel us coming to terms with what happened. I believed I had lost her. Even after she was in the hospital, I kept waiting to learn she was dead.

Right now, though, I truly feel how Natasha Kovak isn’t only alive but will be my wife in a few days.

NATASHA

Two days before the wedding, Petra’s daughters—and their nanny—arrive in Banta City. Shari and Vica look like dark-haired versions of their mother. The ten-and eight-year-old girls explain how their father left the country without telling them goodbye.

“He viewed everything as a competition,” Petra tells her daughters who cling to her in bed. “And he doesn’t like to lose.”

Despite Petra’s battered body, she’s still expected to attend my wedding. From my dressing room, I watch on the security feed as Maks pushes Petra’s wheelchair down the aisle while her daughters and son follow.

In the past, I would view such displays as ridiculous. However, I see the benefit of having the world believe you’re indestructible. Viktor Kovak’s three children should have died that night, yet the wedding goes on.

Roman walks down the aisle with our mother. He is likely heavily medicated to deal with the pain, but he holds his head up and exudes the Kovak determination.

As for me, I’m tired and loopy on my wedding day. There’s no way to completely hide my many cuts and bruises, yet a team of makeup artists gets close. From a distance, I look flawless.

As we near the start time, I’m regularly distracted by how adorable the kids are. Hector looks so handsome in his black slacks and shirt. He wears his mini club vest. His blond hair is slicked back.

My son remains bummed about not getting a dress. I can’t blame him for feeling shifted. Jacinda is an absolute vision in her pink dress covered in red flowers.

She and Hector keep trying to count them all. When I nearly sit on the floor to help them figure out the number, my mother sends the children to the next room.

“You’re a very attentive mother,” Katja insists when I frown at her for taking charge. “But you’re lousy at multitasking.”

Pouty under her criticism, I feel lightheaded and paranoid. My mother wisely distracts me by drawing my focus to the security footage. I smile at the sight of Bear standing on the stage with his club brothers and Leon.

The grand Thibeaux Hall is located on the southside of the property. Many extravagant parties have been thrown here over the last hundred years. My wedding is a small affair in comparison. Only a hundred people are present.

Yet, those strangers are enough to freak out Jacinda and Hector during their walks down the aisle. Yesterday, the kids had a blast at the rehearsal. They loved walking down the aisle and stayed focused.

Now, with so many people watching them, they get confused. First, Jacinda stops walking near the front stage while Deirdre and Kiera finish their journey. When Nat tries to coax Jacinda to walk the rest of the way, my baby starts crying.

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