Page 102 of Crown of Hate

“No, you came right on time.” I throw myself into his arms and bury my face in his neck. “I was so scared. I thought I’d lost you.”

He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. “I promised I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you or our baby, didn’t I?”

“You kept to your promise,” I sigh into him. Then I remember Dimitri and pull away. “Dimitri betrayed us.”

“He’s dead,” Mikhail states simply, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s all over, malyshka.”

I crack a smile at him. “So what do we do now?”

He takes my hand and traces soothing circles on my skin with his thumb. “Now? We rule Russia. Together.”

32

ALYA

“It’s a boy!” Mikhail’s voice booms across the room as he sweeps me off my feet. He’s beaming with excitement, his blue eyes sparkling with a joy I’ve never seen before. “We’re having a boy!”

I bite back a smile, feigning disappointment. “Looks like I lost the bet.”

It’s been three weeks since Akim Petrov was killed. Boris somehow escaped from the city, and Mikhail has taken his place as the new Pakhan. It took two grueling weeks for things to finally fall into place, but the moment they did, we threw ourselves into planning our baby’s gender reveal.

That’s where we are now, in the lush, elegantly decorated garden behind one of the most extravagant palaces I’ve ever seen. Mikhail said it once belonged to a prince. Now, it belongs to us.

It’s a fairytale I never saw coming. Not like this, at least.

Even Mama is here in Russia now, living it up in her own wing of the property—though she spends most of her time in the main house with Grace, Mikhail, and me.

She’s at the party, beaming with happiness. Kira and Ilya are here too, with Semyon and Alexei due back in a week. Even Viktor is on Mikhail’s payroll now.

All our family and friends are have gathered, except Sophia. A bittersweet pang hits me at the thought of her absence, but I push it aside. I’ll see her soon. I can’t let anything ruin this moment. Looking around, I catch glimpses of everyone’s smiling faces, and warmth spreads through my chest. This—being surrounded by family, celebrating the little miracle growing inside me—this is what happiness feels like.

Mikhail lets me down and pokes my nose with a playful grin. “Told you so.”

“Got any names brewing in that devious mind of yours?”

He nods. “A few. But my lips are sealed until he makes his grand entrance.”

I narrow my eyes, trying and failing to look stern. “It better be a good one, Mr. Zhirkov.”

He wraps his arms around my waist and hauls me closer. “Trust me, Mrs. Zhirkov. It’s a name fit for a future Pakhan.”

I bite my lip and snake my arms around his neck. “How about we make a break for it? Celebrate in our own… special way?”

His grin turns wolfish. “That would be terribly rude, wife.”

“Um. You two might want to look into getting a room,” Kira’s voice cuts through our little bubble.

When I turn around to face her, she’s wincing and shaking her head. “Hey there, newest aunt on the block.”

Her wince morphs into a wide smile. “I still can’t wrap my head around it. Me, an aunt! To a little boy! I’m going to spoil him rotten.”

I don’t doubt her for a second. “With so many people doting on him, I might as well be a birthing machine at this point,” I joke. “You’re all going to want me to push out another one asap.”

Mikhail presses a kiss to my forehead. “Are you jealous?”

I bob my head dramatically.

He grabs my chin with two fingers. “I’ll always have plenty of doting left for you.”

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