Page 92 of Brooklyn Bratva

“Jinx what?”

His hand went to his pocket, and Ivan dropped to one knee. I let out a gasp and my hand darted to my mouth. Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious!

I was in tears before he even opened the small velvet box, and I could barely see what was inside because my eyes were so blurry.

“Oh my God, Ivan. Yes.”

“I haven’t asked you yet, woman. Be patient for once in your life.”

I snorted a laugh, sniffing back tears and nodded, trying to calm my breathing. “Okay. Okay, I’m sorry. Go again.”

Ivan let out a deep breath, and he shook his head gently. I saw nothing but adoration for me in his eyes, and it was mirrored in mine with adoration for him.

“Will you marry me, Becca, and be my wife? I want everything of mine to be yours.”

I nodded, tugging on Ivan’s hand to get him back up on his feet. Flinging my arms around his neck, I pulled myself in against him, attacking his lips with a flurry of kisses. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

“Hold still.”

Ivan pulled the glinting ring out of the box and held my hand awkwardly as he tried to thread the ring onto my finger. With a smile, I guided his clumsy hands, feeling another swell of emotion as I finally saw the ring on my finger. It looked like it was always meant to be there.

Three slim bands twined around each other. Rose gold and yellow gold rolled around a third white gold band studded with diamonds. A Russian ring from my Russian man.

“It’s perfect.”

This was everything I’d ever wanted. My dream come true, and none of it would have happened if Mama hadn’t been bringing enough pills home with her to slay an elephant. I let out a laugh, and Ivan looked at me.

“What?”

“We never would have gotten here without Grigori Menshikov. Maybe I should send him a wedding invite.”

“Oh, he’s not getting out on bail. It’s not Little Odessa anymore. Brighton Beach is ours.”

“Good.” I never wanted anything to threaten what we had here, or the community Ivan worked so hard to protect.

Ivan smiled and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “You have a ruthless streak. I like it.”

I blushed slightly, curling into his arms again. “Only when it comes to protecting the people I care about, Detective Kovalenko. Just like you.”

“I love you Becca.”

“I love you too.”

EPILOGUE

Ivan

Six Months Later

The heat of the sun seeped into my bones, and I stretched lazily, rolling my shoulders. Inactivity didn’t suit me, but for Becca, I could lie on a beach for hours.

Rolling over onto my side, I had a better view of my perfect wife dozing next to me under the shade of a palm tree. Her toes were buried in the pale silver sand, and the taut swell of her belly was shiny with suntan lotion, and steadily going a deeper shade of bronze.

After the wedding, plane tickets to the Bahamas had turned up with our names on them. A hotel booking came through in a separate envelope. They arrived special delivery on Valentine’s Day. I got the message. It wasn’t especially subtle.

The boss-to-be was stating his claim. As long as it benefited me and mine, I’d let him.

So now, finally, I had my time alone on a beach with the woman I loved. Listening to the waves lap at the shore and the wind rustle the leaves over us while we lazed in paradise on the company’s expense wasn’t the worst thing in the world. And we had nothing to do for another ten days other than enjoy each other and soak up the sun.

Timoshenko had sent a bottle of champagne. It didn’t quite have the same weight behind it.

I slid my hand over her navel, and Becca’s lips twitched as they baby inside her kicked against my palm. The fluttering of her skin made me laugh.

“Hello, Ivanovich.” My son.

She cracked an eye open, pulling her sunglasses down her nose a little.

“He always knows it’s you.”

“Of course. It should be that way.”

Feeling our child inside her did things to me that I couldn’t even comprehend. Becca had always made me crazy – I couldn’t do enough to protect her, but above all, I wanted to ravage her, and make her mine. Now that she was, and she was carrying our baby to prove it, my urges were the same but even more so.

I have could easily killed anyone who looked at her funny, because it wasn’t just her anymore, she was growing our future inside her. And it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life.

My hand slid along the inside of her thigh, smoothing along the sleek, bronzed skin, sneaking along towards her bikini bottoms, and Becca let out a soft moan as I teased along the hem. Her smile curled, and she let me pull her close enough to kiss.

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