Page 39 of Chased & Bred by the BRATVA
Rachel stands beside me, her shoulders back, steady as stone.
“This is good work,” Maksim says, glancing at her. “Very good. You’re wasted in accounting.”
“I’m glad to be useful,” she says.
“You are,” Roman says. “To us, you are.”
Maksim straightens. “We’ll handle Antonov. Quietly. If he’s moved any of the money outside our reach, you’ll track it down?”
Rachel nods, “With pleasure.”
Roman’s already texting Aleksei and Mikhail.
I feel Rachel shift beside me, and instinctively I reach for her, placing a hand at her back.
“Go,” I say to my brothers. “I’ll stay here.”
Maksim doesn’t argue. He knows my skills will come in later, once they have Antonov caught and caged like a trapped animal.
Once they’re gone, the room feels quieter, heavier. I turn to face her.
“You just saved us millions,” I murmur. “Do you understand that?”
She shrugs, a little bashful for the first time. “I just saw patterns.”
“You saw betrayal,” I correct. “You saw what no one else did. Including me and my brothers. We’ve known Anton our whole lives. This cuts deep.” I reach for her face, cradling her cheek in my palm. “You didn’t just walk into my world, Rachel. You reshaped it. You proved I could trust you with everything.”
She softens, lashes lowering. “You already gave me everything, Nikolai. Even when I didn’t understand what that meant.”
“I still don’t think I’ve given you enough.”
Her lips part, but I press a finger there before she can speak.
“I was going to wait,” I admit. “Plan something. But I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to pretend I’m capable of being patient when it comes to you.”
I pull the small velvet box from my inside jacket pocket.
Her breath catches. “Nikolai…”
“I want you to be mine. Fully. Legally. Permanently.” My voice is low, rough. “Marry me, Rachel. Let me put a baby in you. Become a Vasilieva. A queen.”
She stares at me like I’ve split the sky open just for her.
Then she nods. Just once. Fierce. Sure.
“Yes,” she says.
I rise and kiss her, hard and deep, tasting the promise on her lips.
“But there’s something else you should know,” she says, breaking from the kiss and searching my eyes. “I’m late.”
“Late for what?” I ask before realisation dawns. “Really?” I look down at her stomach, soft and perfect and ready to carry my baby. Could it really have taken already?
“Yeah, I mean, I could just be late, you know. But I’m not usually. Usually I’m like clockwork,” she’s rambling and I’ll bedamned if it’s not the cutest thing. “It’s so soon, too soon, it’s insane, right?”
“It’s perfect,” I reply, because it is. “Absolutely fucking perfect, just like you.” I slide the black sapphire ring onto her finger and pull her against me for a kiss that is so full of everything she means to me, of all the things she makes me feel, it steals both our breath away.
“You’re going to be my wife and the mother of my child. Rachel Reynolds, you are going to be Rachel Vasilieva before the end of the month.”
