Page 96 of Forgotten Vows
“Others will try,” Gabriella said as she sat with me back home.
After that first stop at Emil’s apartment, where I could clean up and make sure I didn’t look too beaten and ragged to scare Lev, I came home. And I never wanted to leave.
Ivan didn’t leave my side. Lev hugged me and cried happy tears that I had been saved by his daddy. That wasn’t true, though. I’d done the dirty work. I killed my father. But in so many other ways, Ivan had saved me and given me a reason to fight and live. His love gave me the strength to be this powerful and secure in the choice to shoot my father like that.
Lev hadn’t left my side for long. Nor had Gabriella. She was very protective of me, showing me how she could be a mama bear and want to take care of those she cared about as well.
Ivan, of course, was right there. Comforting me if I needed it. Loving me when I wanted him to. And just being present, making sure I knew that he would provide whatever I needed. I would never be alone again, not just because of him but also due to his other family members supporting me during my recovery.
“Hmm?” I asked Gabriella.
“Others will still try to cause trouble, won’t they?” She frowned. “Like Luka still has to deal with people threatening him for marrying me.”
“Oh, sure.” I shrugged. “But that’s just life. It is what it is.” She had a long way to go in acclimating to being a Mafia wife, and I would continue to help her and guide her. For now, though, I had to embrace the relief that my father would never pull off an act of double jeopardy like that. He would never threaten me again.
One week after I came home, I was checked out by the private doctors the family relied on. All the bruises faded. All the cuts had healed over. I was shocked that nothing had been broken, but I really had lucked out physically when my father took that poker and used it on me.
I knew that this meant Gabriella would shift her focus back to the wedding. My wedding. She’d told Luka about her pregnancy, and that took the spotlight for a while. But now that I was cleared to resume my normal life after recovery, she’d be back to looking at me as a bride.
I never cared to be the center of attention. Andre could claim that role. But I knew it was only a matter of time. I was excited to marry Ivan, for real this time, and it would happen soon.
“As soon as he officially proposes,” I reminded Gabriella every time she talked about the wedding.
Then, he did.
At dinner, on my birthday, actually, he took my hand and smiled at me. Because this was us and because I could always guess what he was thinking and about to say, I smiled wider and knew the moment had come.
“Raisa—”
“Yes.”
We both laughed, because he was just as amused that I knew what he was going to say. And he knew I knew.
“I had this whole romantic thing planned. A speech and all.”
I grinned, giddy that he’d taken this step. He was busy house hunting with me and working with Luka on everything. Other than that, there wasn’t a reason for him to delay this.
I respected that he wanted to do it right, though. He would always do what he thought I wanted, a true soulmate.
I watched as he slid the gorgeous ring on my finger. Candlelight sparkled in the facets of the diamonds, but it was theglimmer of excitement and love in his eyes that mesmerized me. Like it always did.
“Okay. Let’s hear this speech then.” I leaned in to kiss him.
He was still chuckling.
“Oh, come on. It’s not like I didn’t know it was coming.”
He nodded, sitting back and sighing. “That’s true.” He cleared his throat and rubbed his thumb over my knuckle. “I just wanted to let things die down a little. All the talk about Lev being my heir and accepted in the family, then the threat from Konstantin.”
Which I handled for us.
“I didn’t want you to ever think that I was marrying you out of an expectation to do so.”
“Oh, Ivan.” I knew that. Tears burned my eyes at the passion in his simple explanation for waiting.
“I want to marry you—and I’ve always wanted to marry you—because I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you from the time we met. And I never will. I want to be your husband because I don’t want our second chance at love to slip away.”
“It won’t.” I leaned in to kiss him, knowing that while more danger would come up in the future just from the nature of our lives, we would stay together.
