I saw Timur’s hands flex and relax, a muscle under his jaw ticking, and then he exhaled.
“I have to speak to Moscow, to the others in charge—”
“Talk to whoever the fuck you need to.” Dmitry cut him off. “It’s already done.” He pointed at me then. “Tell Ruin and your daughter to have a good night and that you wish them the best in life.”
Timur’s nostrils flared and I tensed, wanting the bastard to come after me so I could just be done with it and kill him. Timur looked over his shoulder at me for only a second before glancing at Anastasia. For a long moment, he just watched her and he didn’t mask the emotion on his face.
“All I ever wanted was for you to know you were mine—”
I stepped forward, not realizing I’d curled my hand around his throat or lifted him off the ground until we were nose to nose. “She was and never will be yours,” I snarled. “She’s fucking mine.”
“Let the bastard go,” Dmitry said in a calm voice.
I held his gaze for a second before unceremoniously dropping him to the ground and taking my place beside Anastasia.
“Go on, Ruin. Take your girl, leave, and don’t worry.” Nikolai was the one to speak. “We’ll handle Timur’s transition into knowing this is the only acceptable route.”
Every part of me wanted to go against the orders thrown my way, but I looked at Anastasia, saw she was staring up at me with those gorgeous big eyes of hers, and knew this wasn’t just about me.
This was all about her now. My life was for her.
I took her hand in mine, sneered at Timur as we passed him, then nodded at the Petrov brothers… the only gratitude I’d ever show anyone.
I left with the most important thing in my life close at my side.
I told myself I’d give Anastasia the happily ever after she fucking desired, even if that ending was with me… the beast who took her.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Anastasia
Six months later
I always thought ballet was ingrained in every part of me, in my very DNA.
It had been for so long that the very thought of not doing it had never crossed my mind. It hadn’t seemed feasible.
But then my entire world changed. I lost my family but had gained something far more important. And that was a new life. A new future. And finally having the only important thing in my life.
A future and happily ever after with Kostya.
Although the latter was certainly not in the traditional, conventional sense.
I knew he’d never be a functioning member of society. He’d never have a corporate job, would never work nine to five, or drink beers with the boys after a day on the job.
We’d never have the type of “normal” relationship other couples did, where we could laugh, share memories, sit on the couch on a Saturday evening and watch rom-coms while eating out of a pint of ice cream.
Our nights consisted of Kostya making sure the security system was working correctly, that his weapons were at the ready, and that his body was honed and cut to beast performance. And then he ended the night by fucking me with so much primal force, he was nothing but an animal. He’d growl I was his, making sure I couldn’t walk straight the next day.
But I’d never want anything that took away from our “normal.” Because I knew who and what Kostya—Ruin—was. He’d never be that boy I knew. And I loved him regardless.
Because although there was no going back, no bringing out that humanity he once had, each day I spent with him and with every little touch he gave me, I saw a little flicker of emotion in his eyes.
I’d see it when he looked at me, or when he dragged his thumb across my cheek, or when he told me that the boy I’d once known was still there, but buried deep inside.
Maybe one day he’d come out. But even if he didn’t, I loved Kostya so much it consumed me. And I knew he felt the same way.
He was no longer doing the underground shit for the Russian mafia, but that didn’t mean he was free and clear. Once you were in the Bratva, you were in. There was no getting out, no taking a break. It just… was.
But now he made his own decisions. I didn’t know exactly what he did, didn’t want to know, if I was being honest, but if I had to guess I could assume it was of the mercenary variety.
I pulled my car to a stop in front of the garage and killed the engine, just sitting there for a moment. Kostya’s large, dark SUV with the blacked-out tinted windows sat in the space beside me.
Over the last six months so much had changed. So much. Although my ankle had healed, it wasn’t one hundred percent, and therefore dancing professionally was no longer in my future.