After the set, I hop off the end of the stage to smother her with love. I push her back against the stage and kiss her senseless until Adrian taps on my shoulder.
“Hey, loverboy. A word.”
“Sure.”
He tips his head toward the stage, and we walk out the back door to the parking lot behind Rue’s. Nikolai and Maxim have come with him. The three of them form a semi-circle in front of me.
“In bratva, we get tattoos to mark our crimes,” Adrian says.
I nod. I’d gathered as much considering how much menacing ink they all wear.
“You honored the brotherhood when you took up arms against our enemy. You protected one of ours.”
I swallow, the image of Nadia’s abuser’s blown brains flashing before my eyes. Yeah, I might have nightmares now over that, but I could handle it.
“If you like, you may choose a bratva marking. As honorary member of the brotherhood. You are under our protection now.”
I go still. They’re offering me…some form of membership? In the Russian mafiya? An honorary membership.
As if guessing at my hesitation, Adrian clarifies. “It does not obligate you. It is more honor. Not a true position.”
I draw in a breath. My sister is already closely tied to the Chicago Bratva. I trust her life with them. And Nadia is, too. The girl I’m all in with. The one I plan to spend the rest of my life with. So yeah, why refuse their honor? Especially when it’s offered by Nadia’s brother, the guy who threatened to kill me on multiple occasions.
“Thank you. I’d like that.”
“Good. It is done in ceremony. Next time you are at Kremlin, I will introduce you to Stepan, our tattoo artist, and he will learn your story to come up with the design.”
The three men clap me on my shoulders and back. “Well done, Flynn,” Nikolai says. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “I’m all right. Nadia’s good. That’s all that matters to me.”
Adrian offers me his hand. I realize it’s the first time he’s given me any sign of goodwill. I clasp it, and he squeezes it firmly and looks me in the eye. “Thank you. I won’t forget what you’ve done.”
“I’d do anything for her,” I tell him.
Just then, Nadia pushes open the back door. “Everything all right?”
I reach an arm out and pull her into my side. “All good, Peaches. Your brother finally shook my hand.”
Nadia kisses my cheek. “He finally sees what I know about you.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“That you’re the guy for me.”
Satisfaction courses through me with those words. “Say it again.”
“You’re the guy for me.”
“One more time.”
“You’re the guy for me. Now come inside, there’s a guy from a record label talking to Story and the guys.”
EPILOGUE
NADIA
“One more time, and I think that’s a wrap,” the director calls out.
I dart forward to adjust the collar on Flynn’s de-sleeved suit jacket, and Sasha hands a bright red lipstick to Story. “These costumes are everything,” Sasha says, looking over her shoulder at me. “You are a design genius.”
I flush with pleasure. We’re in a studio in Los Angeles where the Storytellers are shooting several videos with a director Sasha and her actress friend, Kayla, connected us with.
Sasha and Kayla are here, which means their bratva partners, Maxim and Pavel, are here. Oleg came along for Story, of course. The band is wearing the ripped suit design concept I created for them, and they look absolutely perfect.
Sasha and I stand back, and the band starts up again. They look amazing. That scrappy-grungy hometown band look has been replaced with a more professional, already-arrived vibe.
I’d like to think my styling is part of that, but it’s also their confidence level.
After a lot of discussion and advice from Ravil and Maxim, The Storytellers decided not to take the record label deal in favor of remaining indie. Chelle’s public relations firm is handling their publicity. Oleg and I offered our individual savings to fund a huge advertising campaign to launch the next album, but instead they did a Kickstarter and raised over three million dollars in three weeks. Shawn, Story and Flynn’s dad, was a little disappointed they didn’t go with the label at first, but after the Kickstarter, he got on board with them being indie. He’s now over the moon with their burgeoning success.
I take some photos of the band with my phone, zooming in on Flynn to capture the new tattoo on his shoulder. It’s a peach split apart, but arranged like two halves of a heart. At the center is a single bullet.
Flynn’s Tiktok fans ask about it all the time, but obviously, they’ll never get the true story.
I asked about getting a bratva tattoo, but Ravil explained to me that Flynn took the mark on his soul for me, to leave me free of its stain. “You already bear scars, you don’t need to carry even a drop of ink for this crime. Let Flynn have the honor. He gave you that gift.”