Page 58 of Escaping the Bratva

Epilogue

V

“V, will you let Teddy back inside?” Sasha yells from the upstairs bedroom. I was able to move back to the house in Seattle with no issues. Sasha sold her condo and immediately moved in. Moving in was an adjustment period for the both of us, especially for me as I realized my kitten is a clean freak who likes to get up in the middle of the night to work on her business. It makes no sense to me, but I just go with it.

“Teddy,” I call out the back door. A moment later, Teddy waltzes inside. He’s healed from his injuries, and although he’s still not my biggest fan, I owe that dog a lot for stepping in and trying to save Sasha. In return, she’s treated the dog like our first-born child. I can’t blame her.

I close the back door and turn around as she comes down the steps. She’s dressed in one of those pencil skirts she’s been wearing since the weather has gotten warmer. Every time I see her in one of those, I want to bend her over the table before sending her off to work. She fixes her hair into a tight ponytail as she walks the rest of the way into the kitchen. She grabs the coffee pot and pours the hot liquid into a travel mug.

“I have to be at the office early because I need to get these ads corrected before presenting this afternoon. I already called Jessica to let Teddy out…” she continues talking, but I stop listening to her words as she flutters around the kitchen. I take a step towards her and wrap my arm around her waist. I pull her petite body into mine, and I can feel her physically relax into my arms. She gets like this sometimes.

“You didn’t hear anything I said, did you?”

I land a kiss on her plump lips, and she sinks further into my embrace. We both work a lot. Running our own businesses takes a lot of time and energy, but together is where we can let our guards down. I move my hands to her ass and grab her cheeks.

She giggles against my lips. “V…” she warns.

“Hmm?”

“I have to be…at work,” she says breathlessly as I move one hand under her skirt.

“Take a walk with me,” I say

“I can't, I'm going to be late.”

“It will only take a minute, and we both know there’s no specific time you need to be there.”

She relaxes against me. “Fine, a fast walk.”

“As fast as I can go.”

We head outside and I start towards the beach. Since it's still early, the sun hasn’t completely come up, but the heat is still fierce. In a couple short months, we’ll be back to cool weather, so walks on the beach have become commonplace for us; we usually go after we’re both home from work as a way to decompress. She takes off her heels as we step on to the sand, allowing her toes to dig into the warm grains. I love her like this, relaxed and happy. Since selling the company, she’s struggled to back away and find balance again, but I can tell we’re getting there. Sasha will always be ambitious and hardworking—it’s part of what I love about her—but lately, she has acknowledged that there’s more to life. I place my hands in my pockets, feeling the velvet on the small box. I had the ring custom-made, so it took a few weeks to get to me.

“It’s so pretty in the morning,” she says. I follow her to the edge of the ocean where she lets the water lap at her feet. I bend down on one knee while she’s facing away from me. The ends of her purple hair blow gently in the wind, and my heart rate starts to pick up. Turn around, kitten. I grab the box from my pocket and hold it out.

“V?” She turns around and spots me with my knee in the sand. “Are you…is this…”

“I’ve known since I was twenty-one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I probably will continue to make a lot of mistakes.” Tears well in her eyes, but they don’t spill over. “It took me longer than I expected to get here, but I need you to spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me, kitten?”

The tears fall down her cheek, and I stand as she rushes into my arms.

“Fuck yes,” she says. She presses her lips to mine, and I hold her tighter.

“This is real? We’re really getting married?” she says against my lips.

I let out a laugh. “Yeah, kitten, this is real. Me and you, for the rest of our lives.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I have every intent to ignore it, but Sasha pulls away from the kiss.

“Answer it. It could be important.”

I groan but answer the phone. “V.”

“We need you in Boston tonight,” Alek says.

I look at Sasha, whose excitement starts to be replaced with confusion. “Why? What’s going on?”

“We’ve been hit by the Miami brotherhood.”

“Oh, shit.”

“And I need you to be a witness at my wedding.”

“What?”

“It’s a lot to explain. Just get your ass to Boston.” He hangs up.

“You have to go?” Sasha asks.

I nod. She surprises me by wrapping her arm around my neck. “I’ll be here when you get back. Always.”

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