Page 26 of Secret Baby and the Bratva

Let’s go home.

We’ve finally secured the family we want, but home feels so different.

I glance at the blue and white hand-painted, old-world Gzhel ceramics. The Matryoshka dolls, which Margot prefers to stand side by side in order of height rather than nesting them in one another. The high ceilings… None of it matters when my gaze trails to the center of the living room floor, the blanket laid out, and Maxim and Yulian sitting on either side of Maverik.

I tighten my arms around Margot. She’s still shaken as I hold her on the couch.

I’m not ready to let her go. I rub my lips across her ear. “Thank you for coming back to us. Thank you for everything.”

Max rubs his hand gently on sleeping Maverik’s back before standing up. Coming to the couch, he kneels in front of us, leaning in, kissing the other side of Margot’s face. “I need to make love to you.”

My dick stirs at his request. It’s the same thing I want, we all want. God, this woman has practically ruined us. All at once, she makes it harder for me to focus and easier for me to focus. There’s so much clarity that I have to bring more safety to this world, and that what we do is more valuable than ever.

The love of a woman and the primal, fatherly need to protect my child compel me to be a better man. A role model. A life partner, with a focus on life, because Margot has shown me a value I never saw before.

Margot holds Maxim’s face close for a kiss then pushes him away and says, “I need you guys to make me a promise.”

“What is it?” Maxim asks.

“No violence, not just guns and the Solonik Bratva, but I need the three of you to promise me you will never be a part of instigating violence in this family’s name or otherwise. Pass the Ubiytsa on to the next generation for now, but I dream of the day this family can operate from a different place. You men are the perfect role models to do it.”

Yulian crawls over to us and takes her hand. “Margot, you have my word. We will be the role model our little one needs. We’ll make you proud. We’ll make him proud. We will be the change you want to see.”

Epilogue

Margot

Six months later

Wearriveatthebeach cottage at almost midnight, but the scent of the salty air and the crashing of waves ensure me that my guys are delivering the perfect vacation. After everything we went through, we took some time to settle down and work on plans to ensure the Lazovski family resorts to as little violence as possible. It’s a work in progress.

Their grandfather is not on board, as is the same with some of the older generation members. But with our little ones securing Yulian, Feliks, and Maxim’s authority over the family, which is slowly being turned over to them, they have more and more power all the time.

And with the pact they’ve made with their other six cousins, the future is much brighter for the Lazovski Bratva.

They wanted to take me on a celebratory getaway, aside from the fact that I needed one. I barely remember Virgin Night and the young woman I was back then.

Here I am, basically a woman kept by the Russian Mafia, just like my two best friends who are taking care of Maverik during our weekend getaway.

I told the guys I didn’t want to have to make any more decisions for a while, just a relaxing weekend with no plans.

I walk onto the balcony that overlooks the ocean. It’s pitch black. There’s no moon. It would’ve been nice to see the full moon over the ocean, one of those fancy super moons, or Strawberry Moons, or pretty colors, or whatever. But honestly, even something that glorious doesn’t matter when my guys are beside me.

Yulian wraps his arms around me from behind, the other two flank us. “You wanted to get away. No more decisions.”

“This is perfect.”

“We do have one question we need you to answer.”

“Vodka,” I say, jokingly.

They laugh. “It’s a little bigger question than that.”

“All right, go for it.”

He hands me a metal box with a button on top, which is only evident with the faint glow from the lights inside the beach house.

“Push the button.”

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