Page 77 of Sold to the Bratva
I glance around the gallery at the lights, the canvases, the framed quotes from Katya about what art means to her, what it saved her from, what it gave her. I watch the patrons gaze in awe at the world she’s created.
“It’s real,” I say. “You did it,solnishko. You made it real.”
My sunshine. She’s poured more light into my life than I ever knew existed. She exhales a long breath, as though she’s been holding it for months, and rewards me with a chaste kiss.
“Mommy, can I show Aunt Evie my sketch?” Kira asks, tugging on Katya’s dress.
“Of course, baby,” Katya answers affectionately. “Just don’t run, okay?”
Kira nods solemnly and skips away before Katya finishes her sentence.
“I said,don’trun,” she mutters, and I chuckle.
“Technically, skipping isn’t running,” I point out, and she just shoots me with a withering stare.
Katya shifts Alina into my arms again and runs her hand down Nikolai’s soft hair, brushing away a crumb from his cheek.
“You know,” I say, watching her touch each child as though she’s grounding herself through them, “I still don’t understand how I got this lucky.”
Her eyes flick up to mine, amused. “You kidnapped me into an arranged marriage. Ringing any bells?”
I grin. “I did not kidnap you,” I argue. “You could have left any time you wanted. If I remember correctly, you eventually realized that you could never live without me and chose to stay.”
She rolls her eyes but can’t help the smile that breaks through. “It was coercion,” she teases, before pressing her lips close to my ear. “Because you were really good at giving me orgasms.”
For a fraction of a second, I forget that we’re in the middle of a crowded room, and all I want to do is push her against a wall and take her right there. Then Alina moves against my chest and breaks the spell. I start counting down the seconds until we’re finally alone again.
“You’re perfect,” I say quietly, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, the most I dare touch her in the middle of this crowd. “I don’t say it enough, but I’m proud of you. What you’ve done is simply amazing. You’ve built something beautiful. Something that’s entirely yours.”
Her expression softens, and she looks away for a moment, blinking too fast.
I lower my voice. “I know it hasn’t always been easy. I know we started in a way neither of us would’ve planned. But Katya, you’ve turned it into something I never dreamed I could have. A family. A home. And now this.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” she whispers. “You’ve always had my back, even when I didn’t think I deserved it.”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “You deserve everything.”
A small voice beside us pipes up. “Papa, someone took the last cupcake,” Nikolai whines with a pout.
Katya laughs and ruffles his hair. “You’ve already had two,” she reminds him, wiping at the crumbs still at the corner of his lips.
He looks at her with the stormiest expression and starts mindlessly moving his fingers as if he’s counting.
“My tummy has room for more,” he finally says, and we can’t help but laugh at our boy’s insatiable sweet tooth.
I hand Alina to Katya and scoop Nikolai into my arms. “Come on, let’s go raid the secret stash I keep behind the drink bar. But don’t tell your mom.”
“You’re paying his dentist bill,” Katya calls behind us.
As I walk away, I glance back at her.
She’s standing there with Alina against her chest, watching the room like it belongs to her. And it kind of does.
She’s still the girl who defied her father, still the woman who challenged me to be better, still the heart that beats in perfect rhythm with mine. But there’s something imperceptibly different about her now. She’s in charge, and she likes it. I like it, too. I love that she’s found the thing she’s most passionate about, and she’s made her dream a reality.
When the night winds down and the last guests leave, we pack up the kids, tuck them into bed at home, and collapse together in the living room, surrounded by half-empty wineglasses and the smell of oil paint still clinging to Katya’s hands.
She leans her head on my shoulder. “How do you think it went?”
